Release: FastScale Virtual Manager 1.0

FastScale is one of the youngest startup in virtualization market: launched in April 2007 the company proposes an innovative approach to application virtualization able to build around an application (just Linux at the moment) a tailored operating system, with only libraries and kernel modules really needed by the software (so called DABs).

This way FastScale, through its Composer, creates the slimmest virtual machines possible, dramatically reducing deployment times and resources demanding.

But the company is already moving forward, entering the hardware virtualization market with an enterprise management solution for virtualization platforms: Virtual Manager.

First edition of Virtual Manager is able to control VMware platforms only, including ESX Server, Server and Workstation.

The product is able to provision virtual machines, virtual hard drives and even physical machines on demand (depending on network workload).

FastScale also claims its new solution is able to boot virtual machines much faster than other competitive solutions, and that it’s able to deploy 3 times more virtual machines per physical hosts, but both metrics only refer to scenarios where you are deploying FastScale DABs and not ordinary virtual machines.

Virtual Manager is available since last day of August at the starting price of $20,000.

FastScale exclusive support for VMware products doesn’t come with too much surprise: the virtualization market leader is internally using startup technologies since the company was still in stealth mode, and there must be a tight connection between the two.

But the most interesting thing about FastScale is that they are grouping together such different products in a single solution: hardware virtualization and application virtualization together, along with smart datacenter automation tools, can build tomorrow’s liquid environments.

The virtualization.info Virtualization Industry Radar and the Virtualization Industry Roadmap have been updated accordingly.