Will virtualization make operating systems installed directly into servers become a thing of the past, along with the concept of centralized locations to house and process data? Depending on how far out you look, that's an almost inevitable conclusion to reach. VMWare, though, thinks the existing data center model is going extinct quicker than we know. According to the company, data centers will ultimately become components of cloud computing, where workloads are moved from one area to another based upon demand.
Decentralized computing is a very old concept, but one which VMWare has begun to personally capitalize on. Their VDC OS, announced this week, aims to provide just such a tool for what we call data centers today. It's the next step up from them, one which will of course elicit some sort of response from their competitors, such as Sun, Microsoft and Cisco.
Interestingly, VMWare still does not seem to perceive Microsoft as a threat. Even though Hyper-V is becoming a stock option with newer versions of Windows Server, VMWare thinks that the "traditional" operating system itself has disappeared - at least in the context of servers. Those are some strong claims, but in order for them to keep their hold on virtualization as it grows they will need to think and act bold.