Virtualisation (the Americans spell it Virtualization) is one of the most exciting recent developments
opening up many opportunities in the server field. Often good innovations are out of reach of most people.
Not so with virtualisation. There is strong competition in this field. VMware, one of the front runners in this field, has made some of its products freely available to retain its market share. Do not for a moment entertain the thought that because it
is free it is somehow second grade software - not in the least. They are the market leaders but they are not the only players. Microsoft has included free virtualisation in Microsoft Server 2008 and there are a number of other vendors as well.
Because it is a relatively new development, many people do not
understand it. We are used to Operating Systems and teach that nothing can run
on a computer without an Operating System. Operating systems are programs such
as Windows, Linux, Unix etc. Well that is now old hat. All of these and many
more than you can dream of can be hosted on a VMware server.
Well, technically speaking, any software that interacts with the hardware is an Operating System, but this makes us to think of Operating Systems in a new way. With virtualisation you can run many Operating Systems on one computer where each functions completely separate from the others. You can even join many physical servers, each with a number of Operating Systems into one cluster and have a
whole cloud of computers to share and manage resources amongst them.
Look at what you can do with one of the free products of VMware called VMware ESXi:
"VMware ESXi is the easiest way to get started with
virtualization-and it's free. Consolidate your applications onto fewer
servers and start saving money through reduced hardware, power, cooling
and administration costs. VMware ESXi has been optimized and tested to
run even your most resource intensive applications and databases with minimal
performance overhead. With VMware ESXi you can:
You do not need to load VMware's server software on a
computer with an operating system such as Windows or Linux. Then again you may,
if you want to. See the table below that sets out this difference.
"How does VMware Server differ from VMware's other free
virtualization solution, VMware ESXi?"
The table below
highlights key differences between VMware Server and VMware ESXi.
That is just the beginning. Add some of the other VMware
products and your imagination is the limit. See the image below.
[From VMware Infrastructure Primer]
There are also some free virtualisation (virtualization) products available for desktop computers as well. Why don't you do a search on that and try it out. Then load a free Linux desktop version next to your current Windows version. You'll have the best of both worlds. What can you lose? On the other hand you can gain some valuable insight into a field that is going to change the landscape of computers in the near future.
Accredited Suppliers for Teacher Laptop Initiative
Written by Administrator
Monday, 25 January 2010
(From www.elrc.org.za the website of the Educator Labour Relations Council)
The Teacher Laptop Initiative, spearheaded by the Department of Basic Education (DoBE), addresses South Africa’s need for a quality education system and forms part of the cohesive plan by the DoE and other stakeholders in education to improve the overall quality of education by making resources available to learners and educators in the public education sector.
It is soon back to school for educators. Educators make an early start this year on 11 January 2010. Learners from all schools (coastal and inland) start on 13 January.
Here are two versions of the 2010 school calendar:
The Teacher Laptop Initiative is due to be rolled out in practice, although theoretically speaking it was supposed to have been launched in July 2009. This will probably only start happening in the new financial year which begins in April 2010.
There has never been so many free goodies available to the innovative teacher as now. Hot Potatoes (click on link to download) has become free software since 1 September 2009. The fact that it is free does not make it any less valuable! I think that is where many people don't quite get it. They equate the cost of software with its value. That is just not true.
Praetor Education Technology has now implemented a new forum for Educators and Learners. I have not yet come across a South African Educators' Forum that is red hot! Maybe this is about to change or maybe not . Time will show. In order for a forum to be effective it needs people that are prepared to share with others. You can visit the forum here and feel free to contribute by sharing ideas or asking questions.
or maybe not 
. Time will show. In order for a forum to be effective it needs people that are prepared to share with others. You can visit the forum