Project Kensho is set to deliver Open Virtual Machine Format (OVF) tools that, for the first time, will allow ISVs (independent software vendors) and manufacturing companies’ IT managers to create hypervisor-independent application workloads.
That’s the promise from Citrix, which says its new tools will allow application workloads to be imported and run across Citrix XenServer, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and VMware ESX virtual environments.
As virtualisation becomes a mainstream component of enterprise IT infrastructure, users need ways to automate and secure the lifecycle of their application workloads without being tied to a single hypervisor platform or virtual hard disk format, says Simon Crosby, CTO of the Virtualisation and Management Division at Citrix Systems.
“XenServer delivers the benefits of fast, free, ubiquitous and compatible virtualisation, whether from Citrix, Microsoft or VMware,” he says. “Project Kensho highlights the Citrix commitment to interoperability for virtualisation, while maximizing price/performance and richness of features at the virtual infrastructure level.”