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V is for Virtualization No bold prediction here as many pundits are predicting that 2007 will be the year for Virtualization. In some regards, it’s been happening for many years and will for many years ahead, but I believe 2007 will be remembered as the year Virtualization hit the mainstream.  The foundation is present for an explosive year: Hypervisors (VMware, Xen) virtualizing processing resources; storage virtualization products like EMC’s Invista and HDS TagmaStore move into position; startups such as Incipient begin to make progress in the storage market; and 10 Gigabit Ethernet ushers in the next generation in network virtualization.  While this story has been evolving, what will be interesting in 2007 is that now, this story will become the norm. Virtual Lines Blur With the foundation in place, the lines of virtualization will blur.  Until now, virtualization technologies have existed in silos, rarely interacting...certainly not interoperating.

• Hypervisor companies like VMware have created their own management stack to manage their proprietary hypervisors and dominate the market.
• Storage virtualization products do not interoperate.
• Management vendors are left with the unenviable task of supporting multiple virtualization technologies or trying to pick the winners while the horses are still in the starting gate.

What will be interesting in 2007 is how these technologies start to merge.  The emergence of 10G Ethernet will play a big role in this, as it allows for various technologies to interoperate through tried and true standard IP interfaces.

• iSCSI will finally emerge from the shadows and ride the 10G wave.
• Desktop virtualization will become a reality with 10G pipes allowing the throughput and QoS necessary to deliver an enterprise service.
• Hypervisors will become part of the hardware platform in 2007 and will be looked at like BIOS is today—just another part of the hardware.

Virtual Cottage Industries With Virtualization moving into the enterprise mainstream, cottage industries will emerge that serve this new world.  From cool tools vendors like 3tera to big systems management companies like CA, everyone will want in on the action. The new virtual datacenter will be fertile ground for both new and legacy companies to vie for mindshare and labshare as the rules have now changed. The Bottom Line 2007 will be a year that is remembered as one that solidified Virtualization in the enterprise datacenter and fueled growth in the IT industry for many years to come. What are you predicting?