Novell, in effort to bring easier virtualization capabilities to Linux deployments, on Monday announce that its SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 operating systems now supports Virtual Iron Software Inc.'s data center virtualization and management platform.

Novell will ship the SUSE Linux software with a pre-configured kernel for use with Virtual Iron virtualization software. That will let users rapidly deploy and configure enterprise-class computing workloads in their data centers, says Mike Grandinetti, chief marketing officer for Virtual Iron.

The resulting platform will be the first so-called paravirtualized product to be supported on commercial Linux, he says. Paravirtualization means the companies are changing the operating system to replace processor instructions that cannot be virtualized with instructions that can be virtualized. In upcoming processors with built-in virtualization hooks from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., virtualization will be possible without the operating system changes.

"Companies are getting much more comfortable with running Linux in the data center as they move off of Solaris, HP-UX, or AIX, and they recognize they need the power of virtualization to help them manage increasing sever sprawl," says Grandinetti.

Judi Jotwani, director of BladeCenter solutions for IBM, says the agreement between Virtual Iron and Novell "offers an important new alternative for clients looking to virtualize their open-source platforms."

Justin Steinman, global data center marketing manager for Novell, says the similarities between legacy Unix platforms and Linux is leading increasing numbers of customers to move its SUSE Linux software. "With this preconfigured kernel, when you install the software it will work exactly as it did before and will be transparent to the hardware and end users," he says.