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VirtualLogix Boosts Virtualization with Intel's MIDs Initiative

VirtualLogix Has Come Out With VLX Developer 2.0

VirtualLogix, the real-time virtualization outfit that some might better remember as Jaluna and that used to belong to Sun, has come out with VLX Developer 2.0 with enhanced support for performance-critical Intel systems, a first for Intel systems and a boot up for Intel’s so-called MIDs initiative.

It claims to be the only game in town.

Developer 2.0 complements VLX for Network Infrastructure 3.0, also out now, by letting architects quickly create and deploy high-performance virtual platforms.

These VLX-based systems offer embedded applications the traditional cost-savings benefits of virtualization, combined with deterministic support for real-time operating systems as well as device drivers and application code.

Developer 2.0 is built on the Eclipse open source IDE, which gives it a graphical drag-and-drop interface for configuring VLX-specific hardware and software elements, many of which, as VirtualLogix notes, are neither available nor appropriate for virtualization solutions that target enterprise or server applications.

So Eclipse is key.

Otherwise, Developer’s guest OS monitoring capabilities continue to provide the graphical CPU utilization and OS context switch displays that are critical to understanding and debugging real-time systems virtualized behavior.

VLX Developer 2.0 with Intel support is available for VirtualLogix VLX products and is licensed on an annual per seat basis. It is also included in certain product development license configurations with additional seats available separately.

VLX for Network Infrastructure supports Intel’s Core microarchitecture version 3.0. It blends the Windows operating system environment with the existing capabilities of real-time operating systems or Linux by applying real-time virtualization technology on platforms using multicore processors.

Communications applications often require separate hardware to handle Windows interfaces and mission-critical portions of the equipment. VirtualLogix’ real-time virtualization software simplifies the design by allowing all software to share a common hardware platform.

With it, networking and telecommunication equipment makers are supposed to be able to quickly develop next-generation products, reduce development and bill-of-material costs and lower power consumption. In the industrial and automation markets, where Windows is widely used to give machinery a user friendly interface, VLX can support the time-sensitive control and signal processing functions these areas demand.

It’s supposed to let engineers and scientists intuitively retain features and performance while migrating to lower-cost and simplified hardware.

The company contends that technologies such as VoIP, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and enterprise communication applications haven’t benefited from traditional virtualization due to the high throughput and performance they require. Heck, they’re having enough trouble utilizing multicore processors.

VirtualLogix is supposed to let users leverage real-time virtualization software to consolidate technologies onto a single hardware platform and create more efficient designs via a friendly Windows environment or any RTOS.

It lets a combination of guest operating systems including Linux, real-time OSs and Windows run while keeping the real-time performance characteristics of their overall system.

It has native Windows SMP support so the native BIOS and native Windows SMP can run as virtual guests in the real-time VLX environment, with shared memory access across virtualized guests and the use of emulated Ethernet ports.

It will also consolidate Windows and mission-critical environments onto a single hardware platform, reducing system complexity and product bill-of-material costs.

It’s supporting XP for the moment with Vista to come.

More Stories By Maureen O'Gara

Maureen O'Gara the most read technology reporter for the past 20 years, is the Cloud Computing and Virtualization News Desk editor of SYS-CON Media. She is the publisher of famous "Billygrams" and the editor-in-chief of "Client/Server News" for more than a decade. One of the most respected technology reporters in the business, Maureen can be reached by email at maureen(at)sys-con.com or paperboy(at)g2news.com, and by phone at 516 759-7025.

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