[Ubuntu PA] Fwd: Ubuntu help for a business

[Art Alexion]

--

Art Alexion
Sent unsigned from an iPod. That's the reason for the top posting as  
well.

On Oct 26, 2008, at 10:03 PM, "Brian Stempin"  
<brian.stempin at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Brent,
>
> A few points:
>
> 1.  VMWare-specific
> From the email, it sounds like he's using VMWare Server (VMWare's  
> free product).  This, as you may or may not know, breaks due to the  
> fact that it requires kernel modules.  VMWare Server is not pretty  
> on Ubuntu.  Perhaps he should look at a true virtualization  
> hypervisor (Xen, VMWare ESX, etc), which handle the hardware 100%,  
> as opposed to running on top of an existing OS.
>

Our servers run on ESX. ESX is Linux (jeos), but I can't remember  
which flavor.



> 2.  Virtualization-general
> CentOS is probably better for virtualization than Ubuntu.  CentOS,  
> particuarly RHEL and  Fedora, use Xen by default and has good  
> integration with Xen.  Xen can even do Windows virtualizaion given  
> the right type of processor (Intel VT, etc).  Ubuntu, OTOH, uses KVM  
> standard, which can also do Win virtualization given the correct  
> hardware (Ubuntu can run Xen, but it really stinks*) .  IMO, I think  
> that Xen is much easier to operate (and has better graphical tools  
> availiable) than KVM**.

Novell SLES is also built to run xen. It is included with the default  
install.



>
>
> 3.  Ubuntu stability
> As stated in item 1, certain things that rely heavily on special  
> kernel modules that are not 100% supported by Ubuntu by default tend  
> to have a lot of trouble during upgrades.  This is the vast minority  
> of software.  Using the VMWare example to justify being worried  
> about Ubuntu's usability isn't really fair given all of the special  
> stuff the consultant had to go through to get VMWare Server to work  
> in the first place (it's a bit of a PITA).

Its been a while since I've tried to run vmware on Ubuntu (dapper?),  
but my experience was as Brian describes.



>
>
> 4.  Lotus Approach
> From what I read, Approach is used to store data (possibly in a DB2  
> DB) and to create reports based on that data.  A) DB2 supports  
> running on a linux platform, and B) there are lots of tools that do  
> report generation that are cross-platform and/or support Linux***.   
> It might be worth looking into a new tool before moving to Ubuntu,  
> depending on the size of the project.

It is likely a balance between re-writing the Aproach apps vs  
virtualization. Approach is a desktop DBMS which should be easy to run  
virtualized. The bigger issue will be data sharing between the vm and  
the host.


>
>
> Also, is there anyone on the list that could say a bit about KVM  
> virtualization?  Perferably someone that's used it?
>

Kvm works great on Ubuntu (hardy) given the right CPU.



> HTH,
> Brian
>
> *  Ubuntu 8.04 has a lot of problems with kernel bugs in the Xen  
> kernel.  It works (I use it), but it's a pain.  I would not suggest  
> running a business on it.
>
> **  I've never used KVM, but I did do a lot of reading and evaluated  
> it before deciding to use Xen.  It just seems more intimidating than  
> Xen, and the Xen graphical tools seem to be more plentiful.
>
> ***  There are no products in the category that I can personally  
> vouch for.
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