SVISTA
Encyclopedia
SVISTA is a former commercial virtual machine
software product marketed by Serenity Systems International. Windows
, OS/2, Linux
and FreeBSD
hosted versions were available.
This product is no longer available nor supported.
and was based on its existing TwoOStwo
software, although the OS/2 hosted version was specific to SVISTA.
Providing a virtualization product was initially part of Serenity's strategy for marketing its eComStation
operating system. When the OS/2 port of Connectix
VirtualPC was discontinued following the acquisition of its creator by Microsoft
, Serenity contracted Parallels to develop SVISTA as an alternative. A beta program was launched in the spring of 2004, with a general availability release in October of that year.
However, the product was discontinued shortly afterwards following the acquisition of Parallels by SWsoft
. According to Bob St. John of Serenity Systems, SWsoft was not interested in continuing the development of SVISTA, and withdrew from the OEM contract.
Although Serenity briefly expressed interest in finding another solution for an OS/2 hosted virtualization product, it was eventually deemed impractical due to increased market competition from both Microsoft and SWsoft/Parallels.
The former product website currently indicates that SVISTA is no longer available, and suggests Virtual Bridges
and VirtualBox
as possible third-party alternatives.
es are used as unique identifiers (UID), it is advisable to manually configure the MAC address for each virtual machine to ensure each is actually unique. One example of such an environment is one in which MAC security is enabled on switches and another example is an environment in which Altiris
products are used (if configured to use the MAC address as the UID). If you are in such a situation, simply disable all networks/adapters other than bridged and edit each virtual machine's configuration (.2os) file and change the 'MAC address' to be unique.
Virtual machine
A virtual machine is a "completely isolated guest operating system installation within a normal host operating system". Modern virtual machines are implemented with either software emulation or hardware virtualization or both together.-VM Definitions:A virtual machine is a software...
software product marketed by Serenity Systems International. Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, OS/2, Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
and FreeBSD
FreeBSD
FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...
hosted versions were available.
This product is no longer available nor supported.
Description
SVISTA was developed under contract with Parallels Software StudioParallels, Inc.
Parallels, Inc. is a privately held virtualization technology company with offices in the USA, Germany, UK, France, Japan, China, Russia and Ukraine. Parallels' US offices are in Renton, WA.The company has more than 700 employees as of 2010....
and was based on its existing TwoOStwo
TwoOStwo
twoOStwo was a commercial software product developed by Parallels Software Studio . The workstation software consisted of a virtual machine suite for Intel x86-compatible computers which allowed the creation and execution of multiple x86 virtual computers simultaneously...
software, although the OS/2 hosted version was specific to SVISTA.
Providing a virtualization product was initially part of Serenity's strategy for marketing its eComStation
EComStation
eComStation or eCS is a PC operating system based on OS/2, published by Serenity Systems. It includes several additions and accompanying software not present in the IBM version of the system.-Differences between eComStation and OS/2:...
operating system. When the OS/2 port of Connectix
Connectix
Connectix Corporation was a software and hardware company, noted for having released innovative products that were either made obsolete as Apple Computer incorporated the ideas into system software, or were sold to other companies once they become popular...
VirtualPC was discontinued following the acquisition of its creator by Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, Serenity contracted Parallels to develop SVISTA as an alternative. A beta program was launched in the spring of 2004, with a general availability release in October of that year.
However, the product was discontinued shortly afterwards following the acquisition of Parallels by SWsoft
SWsoft
SWsoft was a privately held server automation and virtualization software company and the parent company of Parallels, Inc. SWsoft developed software for running data centers, particularly for web-hosting services companies, application service providers, and managed service providers...
. According to Bob St. John of Serenity Systems, SWsoft was not interested in continuing the development of SVISTA, and withdrew from the OEM contract.
Although Serenity briefly expressed interest in finding another solution for an OS/2 hosted virtualization product, it was eventually deemed impractical due to increased market competition from both Microsoft and SWsoft/Parallels.
The former product website currently indicates that SVISTA is no longer available, and suggests Virtual Bridges
Win4Lin
Win4Lin was a proprietary software application for Linux which allowed users to run a copy of Microsoft Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000 or XP applications on their Linux desktop.-Overview:...
and VirtualBox
VirtualBox
Oracle VM VirtualBox is an x86 virtualization software package, originally created by software company Innotek GmbH, purchased by Sun Microsystems, and now developed by Oracle Corporation as part of its family of virtualization products...
as possible third-party alternatives.
Issues
When using SVISTA instances in an environment where MAC addressMAC address
A Media Access Control address is a unique identifier assigned to network interfaces for communications on the physical network segment. MAC addresses are used for numerous network technologies and most IEEE 802 network technologies, including Ethernet...
es are used as unique identifiers (UID), it is advisable to manually configure the MAC address for each virtual machine to ensure each is actually unique. One example of such an environment is one in which MAC security is enabled on switches and another example is an environment in which Altiris
Altiris
Altiris Inc. is a subsidiary of Symantec specializing in service-oriented management software which allows organizations to manage IT assets. They also provide software for web services, security, and systems management products. Established in 1998, Altiris is headquartered in Lindon, Utah, United...
products are used (if configured to use the MAC address as the UID). If you are in such a situation, simply disable all networks/adapters other than bridged and edit each virtual machine's configuration (.2os) file and change the 'MAC address' to be unique.
Current status
The first and only GA release was SVISTA 2004, released on October 14 2004. The final release was SVISTA FR1 beta 3, which was made available to registered customers in May 2005.See also
- TwoOStwoTwoOStwotwoOStwo was a commercial software product developed by Parallels Software Studio . The workstation software consisted of a virtual machine suite for Intel x86-compatible computers which allowed the creation and execution of multiple x86 virtual computers simultaneously...
- Parallels WorkstationParallels WorkstationParallels Workstation is the first commercial software product released by Parallels, Inc., a developer of desktop and server virtualization software...
- VMwareVMwareVMware, Inc. is a company providing virtualization software founded in 1998 and based in Palo Alto, California, USA. The company was acquired by EMC Corporation in 2004, and operates as a separate software subsidiary ....
- User-mode LinuxUser-mode LinuxUser-mode Linux enables multiple virtual Linux systems to run as an application within a normal Linux system...
- XenXenXen is a virtual-machine monitor providing services that allow multiple computer operating systems to execute on the same computer hardware concurrently....
- Comparison of platform virtual machines