Today VMware TSX 2007 commenced with a big central keynote session in the auditorium of the Acropolis Convention Centre in Nice. This year there are more than 1000 people visiting the event.

During the two hour morning session the various speakers talked us through the latest developments in the world of VMware. Hardware virtualization is comming and VMware will (of course) take advantage of these new feature. In the future it will be possible to connect a Virtual Machine directly to a virtual instance of a physical HBA for example.

VMware is also working on the creation of open standards for virtual infrastructure solutions. In the future it should be possible to use Virtual Center Server to manage ESX, XEN servers and other virtualization platforms. Another example is the availlability of the ESX server source code to some selected partners. You can find more information at http://www.vmdev.net.

VMware also thinks that Virtual Appliances* will become more and more important. ISV's will distribute their applications by using Virtual Appliances. In this scenario no problems will occur when you are installing the application on a virtual machine, because the vendor supplies you with the application and the OS! A challenge related to Virtual Appliances is the creation of an OS that optimized for certain tasks. The term JeOS (pronounced "Juice") is mentioned in this context. JeOS stands for Just Enough OS. As an example VMware has created a virtual machine with an optimized Debian Linux distribution inside.

VMTN, VMware's Technology Network will add some cool new features. This include a Wiki, Blog and an extended profile for all the VMTN users!

The morning session was closed by David Day, responsible for training in EMEA. He announced that there are more and more VCPs in the EMEA. At this moment the UK has 1022 VCP's, Germany 960 and The Netherlands 865! Of course The Netherlands really should be in the first place because it has the least inhabitants of the three :).

During the rest of the day, various sessions could be attended. It was a very interesting first day of TSX!

For more interesting information, you can visit the following sites:

• Eric's Sloof personal Blog, containing some nice interviews with Mike Laverick, Richard Gharsthagen and others;
• The Dutch VMware User Group for a report in Dutch.
• More pictures @ Flickr

(* = A Virtual Appliance is a pre-configured Virtual Machine containing an OS and one or more applications installed)