Ganeti: GPL Virtualization Tool by Google

Aug 31, 2007

Ganeti is a software tool from Google's Zurich branch that manages virtual machines running on Xen. Developers working for the search engine enterprise have now released Ganeti under GPLv2.

Ganeti gives users the ability to install, start and stop virtual machines on Xen. It additionally supports failover between physical machines. The software was developed in order to set up or restore virtual servers on expendable, cheap standard hardware.

In combination with DRBD users can also set up distributed filesystems. The developers recommend cluster sizes of between 1 and 25 physical nodes.

A beta version of Ganeti is available from the Google code page where users will also find a sample definition for a Debian Etch guest system. Right now, Ganeti only supports para-virtualization under Xen, but not full virtualization. Live migration of systems is not supported.

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