A Look at the Virtualization Market

David Strom took a look at the state of the virtualization market on Datamation a couple of weeks ago, including a product comparison featuring the three big players: Microsoft, VMware, and Xen.

According to Strom, there are four reasons that virtualization is becoming more attractive to mid-tier users:

1. The free versions are more capable
2. Prices are coming down
3. Setup and management is easier
4. It reduces power and cooling costs, just as the environment and energy prices are popular topics (Happy Earth Day, by the way)

He also identifies four trends that have become established in the virtualization market in the past year:

1. Growth of the hypervisor
2. Interoperability
3. Falling prices and improved functionality
4. Widening channels

If you're interested in the news and views on virtualization, we also recommend the Virtualization Watch area on ServerWatch.com, which includes the weekly Virtually Speaking column.