Industry News Desk
Sun Nabs OEM for its VirtualBox Desktop Virtualization
Multi-Year OEM Deals with Avanquest Software, Q-layer and Zenith InfoTech To Move Its Bought-In xVM VirtualBox Widgetry
Aug. 17, 2008 03:00 PM
Sun has got multi-year OEM deals with Avanquest Software, Q-layer and Zenith InfoTech to move its bought-in cross-platform xVM VirtualBox widgetry. The stuff is free from Sun and runs multiple operating systems on the same desktop at the same time, which means OEMs can use virtual machines as self-contained distribution mechanisms for their solutions. Sun claims five million VirtualBox downloads since January 2007 although it only bought the stuff in February.
Sun sees VirtualBox as an entry ramp to its wider virtualization software, expected to be in place soon.
Avanquest Software, a software publisher, is supposed to bundle VirtualBox with OpenSolaris and sell it via retail outlets in the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and France and challenge Parallels in running Windows on Macs.
Q-layer is supposed to use VirtualBox to enable cloud computing.
And Bombay-based Zenith InfoTech has built a network attached storage appliance for SMBs using the stuff.
VirtualBox is free under a Personal Use License. OEMs have two options for licensing the thing. Take the open source edition under GPLv2 or under a commercial license.
About Maureen O'GaraMaureen O'Gara the most read technology reporter for the past 20 years, is the Cloud Computing and Virtualization News Desk editor of SYS-CON Media. She is the publisher of famous "Billygrams" and the editor-in-chief of "Client/Server News" for more than a decade. One of the most respected technology reporters in the business, Maureen can be reached by email at maureen(at)sys-con.com or paperboy(at)g2news.com, and by phone at 516 759-7025. Twitter: @MaureenOGara