OVF and its hypervisor-independence

[opfeffer]

Hi!

I'm relatively new to the concept of virtualization but have read a lot on different approaches towards virtualization lately. Also, I've learnt about different hypervisors and their implementation of virtualization on the different hardware platforms (x86, Power, SPARC)

Now, what I'm wondering and don't seem to fully understand, how can OVF be hypervisor-independent and not rely on the use of a specific host platform, virtualization platform, or guest operating system?

If I'm running a Windows XP virtual machine, can I simply deploy this on a Power System using a RISC architecture-based processor?

Sorry, in case this is a rather stupid question but it seems that I'm missing the larger picture ..

Thanks!
Oli

[WebMaster]

Hi Oli,

I know citrix launched project kensho back in 2008 to allow management of multi-hypervisor workloads but I am not sure if vmware or others have similar software to make it easy for software developers to design application independent of the type of hypervisors they run on.

Microsoft also seems to be taking on Citirix in this area.