VMware Poking Under the Server Covers with ESX Lite

SearchServerVirtualization broke the news that VMware may be preparing a reduced footprint version of its ESX hypervisor and calling it ESX Lite. This slimmed down version would operate within a server’s firmware rather than getting installed as part of a virtualization stack on the server’s hard disk.

Apparently, this is no simple task. Where a default installation of VMware’s ESX Server 3.0.1 hypervisor would take up approximately 8GB of disk space on a system today, VMware is planning on scaling ESX Lite down to where it consumes somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of megabytes. Doing so would make it a perfect fit to reside in firmware.

We all know that disks are one of the most common components prone to failure. So moving the ESX hypervisor from disk to firmware makes a lot of sense and would help increase the performance and efficiency of VMware’s virtualization solution as well as increase its reliability.

Principal IT Adviser with Illuminata Inc. believes doing so makes sense as well. “Right now, virtualization is being made into part of the operating system, and VMware thinks it should be independent of the operating system. If VMware could convince a systems vendor to include it like a super BIOS, so to speak, then they are the ones who are in a controlling role, and not the OS vendor.”

SearchServerVirtualization attempted to contact VMware for confirmation on the story, but they declined to comment.

This is one of the more interesting and significant updates about ESX Server in quite some time. I can’t wait for VMware’s confirmation on this story which will hopefully come with even more information about this new hypervisor delivery mechanism.