For a little background, can you describe the general topic of your
presentation and tell us what is new in the last few months?
Virtual machines allow you to run multiple operating systems on a single physical machine. It is very useful for testing new software in a controlled environment, and with today's fast hardware it is often possible to consolidate many virtual machines, each running different applications, in a single box.
Do you see testing as the main usage of virtualisation?
No, nowadays virtualisation is mostly used in compute centers to consolidate the servers on fewer hardware boxes. But when virtualisation was new on x86 machines, it was typically used in development and testing environments. And I think that the most interesting advantage with virtual machines is the abstraction of hardware, and the possibilities to achieve higher uptime. This is something which users out there only has started to realize just recently...
Can you give a summary of what you will present? Why should someone
choose to come to your presentation?
I will talk about open-source server virtualisation, with the focus on Xen. Both a general overview and brief history, as well as technical implications - what you should and should not do when using Xen. Since I work for Red Hat, I will use examples from Fedora to discuss how virtualisation works in practice.
How did you get involved in Free Software and in what way is
it important to you?
I have been working with Unix servers since 1992, and already from the beginning I used some free software like Bind, Sendmail and some GNU tools. Around 2000, I got to use a few BSD and Linux servers, but it was not until I started working for Red Hat three years ago when I focused completely on free software. My job is to discuss the technology in Red Hat's products with customers, in other words I do not work as a developer. But I am nevertheless involved in Linux which is some of the coolest technology in the IT world, and I just love it!
Ah, then what is the coolest thing out there right now?
Good question... the answer seem to change all the time. As long as I limit the answer to the IT world, my current favourite is XO, the OLPC computer. IT has a completely new desktop GUI, it has clever networking capabilities, it can be used out in the sunlight. And it is outright cute, with its antenna ears folded out!
Do you see a shift in the attitude among your customers and potential customers?
Definetly. In the Nordic countries, a lot of customers have opened their eyes and accepted the thought that open-source products actually can be reliable. Four years ago, only some of them understood that; while now, only some of them still do not accept the thought. Apache, Sendmail and Bind has been accepted and used for 10-20 years of course. Recently, Linux has become commonplace, and now other technologies/projects are gaining interest: Xen, OpenOffice and Evolution, to name some.
Is there any other particular presentation you'll be going to?
Why is that topic of interest?
There are many interesting presentations, but one I definetly will watch is Pierre Osman's talk on OLPC. Red Hat is quite involved in OLPC, one of our Swedish developers currently has two units on his desk. It is simply fantastic, a lot of very clever ideas put into a computer.
Contact: jan.hedstrom@redhat.com
Links: Jan Hedström
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