Hyper-V boost pushes Microsoft virtualisation closer to VMware

Microsoft has done a lot to boost Hyper-V but the improvements do not justify switching from VMware, according to Gartner.

Speaking prior to the analyst’s datacentre conference at Westminster, Gartner vice-president and distinguished analyst Carl Claunch said: “Hyper-V is a viable alternative to VMware. Microsoft has improved the product’s position.”

Claunch said Microsoft’s push to establish Hyper-V as a VMware alternative means lot of added features that used to cost more in VMware now come free as part of Hyper-V, which is bundled free with Windows Server 2012.

“VMware will now have to deal with add-on virtualisation functionality that is now a datacentre commodity, " said Claunch. He believes Hyper-V will damage VMware’s revenue.

“Microsoft is a sizeable, capable competitor, but VMware is fast-paced and can innovate quickly to avoid competition.”

However, he said: “VMware has strong a strong position on x86 servers for Windows workloads, so people don’t feel they are going to miss out by not moving to Hyper-V.”

While there is no need to switch, he added: “If you are beginning to move to the cloud then Hyper-V is worth a serious look.”

For instance, in a fresh virtualised environment, Windows Server 2012 is more advanced than VMware, because it is able to move workloads around more easily than VMware, according to Claunch.

He said: “Hyper-V is much more flexible. VMware requires advanced planning. The machine needs to be in a compatible part of the network.”

Performance improvements include Hyper-V’s ability to combine multiple network adapters for load-balancing, its large memory support and the way it handles storage.

He said: "Thin provisioning, data deduplication, used to require SAN. Hyper-V now allows direct attached storage to be used.” This is considerably cheaper and could make it attractive to SMEs.

In system administration, Claunch said Windows management tools can be used to connect to each server individually. "You can now manage groups of servers in one go on Hyper-V.”

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Cyber attack reporting will boost defence capability, says Neelie Kroes

The European Commission (EC) is considering making it mandatory for companies to report cyber attacks to harness the benefits of open dialogue, says vice-president Neelie Kroes.

Despite industry opposition, open discussion about cyber threats is vital to enable organisations to learn and improve understanding of the issue, she told the German publication Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Details of the EU’s plans are likely to be revealed later this year with the publication of the its cyber security strategy.

Kroes, who is responsible for the EU’s Digital Agenda, believes cloud computing may give new impetus to the faltering economy, provided people are confident that the new model is reasonably secure.

The EC predicts that cloud computing could boost European economic output by €160bn a year because of increased efficiencies and lower cost access to resources by smaller companies.

Kroes believes that increased use of cloud technologies will also create 2.5 million jobs by 2020 and help redress high unemployment among youth across Europe.

In January, Kroes called on public authorities, industry, cloud buyers and suppliers to come together in a European cloud partnership.

Calling for action to support the speedy uptake of cloud computing in Europe at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Kroes said the main obstacles to cloud adoption like standards, certification, data protection, interoperability, lock-in, and legal certainty needed to be addressed.

The EC has established a working group to address the need for common technical standards to support and grow the cloud computing industry.

The working group is set to tackle thorny issues such as what happens to organisations’ data after the cloud services contract expires.

In early November, the steering board of the new European Cloud Partnership (ECP) met in Brussels to kick off the process of building an EU Digital Single Market for cloud computing.

The board aims to make the most of the public sector's buying power to shape the growing market for cloud computing services.

The ECP will develop common computing procurement requirements for use by EU member states and create a common framework for cloud computing across Europe.

The ECP is also tasked with stimulating the migration of public IT to the cloud by resolving barriers to cloud computing adoption in the public sector.

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