Recently I have been asked on several occasions: What is up with all this “Virtualization 2.0″ and “Virtualization 3.0″ stuff I keep hearing about? Good question. First of all, these are just “buzz-words.” To my knowledge there is nobody that is officially stamping versions on the virtualization industry. Looking at the history of the technology and what we are doing with it today, it is easy to see clear trends and waves.
Basically, it breaks down like this:
Virtualization 1.0: Emulation, run things that cannot be run natively for testing.
Virtualization 2.0: Server consolidation and efficient use of hardware resources.
Virtualization 3.0: Using virtualization to proactively improve software quality by doing things that would not have been possible (or realistic) in the physical world.
Check out http://ztrek.blogspot.com/2008/05/what-heck-is-virtualization-30.html for a good explanation on all of this.
[...] over at vmhero.com is pondering what the numbers behind Virtualization 1.0, 2.0, etc. mean. I wish him luck with that. Personally, I’m not sure they mean anything to anybody. [...]
Bob Plankers:
You are correct in assuming the versioning means practically nothing to anyone. It is mostly just “buzz words.” Like your article says… most companies probably just do what works for them in terms of virtualization. But maybe like Web 2.0 or 3.0, the differences may become more important in the future. Only time will tell.