Microsoft and Novell Roll Out Virtualized Linux Solution

Microsoft and Novell, as part of their general interoperability partnership,
have verified running Novell's SuSE Linux Enterprise Server as a guest operating
system on Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V. The companies announced yesterday that
their channel partners will support the combined technologies.



Participating channel partners include "Computer Integrated Services Company of
New York LLC (CIS), Continental Resources Inc., Dell, Insight, Total Tec Systems
Inc., and 21Vianet," according to a Microsoft-Novell jointly released
announcement.



Dell plans to test and validate the virtualization offering at an
Interoperability Lab in Cambridge, Mass. that is jointly operated by Microsoft
and Novell. The lab runs Novell's open source Linux and
Microsoft Windows
solutions, mimicking heterogeneous environments found in the enterprise. The
lab specifically tests in four specific areas: document format compatibility,
identity federation, systems management and virtualization.



Microsoft and Novell recently added to the lab's tasks. Accessibility will be
tested. The companies are also testing Moonlight, an open source UNIX version of
Microsoft's Silverlight Web application product. The last new item to be tested
is "a new SuSE Linux Enterprise Server management pack for Microsoft System
Center product," according to the announcement.



Virtualization technology -- in this case enabled by Microsoft's Hyper-V
solution -- is generally supposed to be platform agnostic, enabling operating
systems and applications to run on different platforms. Microsoft and Novell's
collaboration ratchets up the assurance, especially for companies adding open
source Linux.



The virtualization offering represents "the first complete, fully supported and
optimized virtualization solution to span Windows and Linux environments,"
according to the Microsoft-Novell announcement.



The two companies first announced their collaboration in November of 2006. Under
the deal, Microsoft issues certificates assuring Novell's integration support.
Microsoft expects to pour an additional $100 million into the program by
November.



Microsoft's collaboration with Novell is also associated with intellectual
property assurances. Those assurances are highly controversial in the open
source Linux world. Microsoft essentially promises not to sue companies for
patent violations when they buy Novell's Linux through
Microsoft's
certificate program.