Citrix trumpets openness in their latest press release announcing XenServer 5.0, without delivering the substance. XenServer 5.0 is indeed based on Xen 3.2, an actual open source project. But somehow the openness doesn't make it to the shipping product except in the marketing message.
My current example of the bullshit marketing problem is the Open Storage API. This "unique" API allows us plebians to use the snapshotting and thin provisioning features of our SANs. In a fit of openness, they've added Dell EqualLogic to the list of SANs supporting these features, which includes only NetApp. My company of course doesn't have either. So maybe I can roll my own. I'll just use the open storage API. How hard can that be? They're trumpeting it afterall.
I started with Citrix's press release, which has a sub-heading: "Uniquely Open Architecture Simplifies Management and Improves TCO". They go on to explain that "Unlike other ... closed proprietary systems, the open storage APIs in XenServer allow customers to access and control advanced functions such as snapshotting, cloning, replication, de-duplication and provisioning in their existing storage systems." [my emphasis] This is unfortunately qualified with: "...from vendors such as EqualLogic and NetApp."
So where can I find the open storage API? I've searched google, the press release, the XenServer5.0 documentation, the community forums and more, and can't find the reference manual for this API anywhere. As far as I'm concerned, it appears to exist only in this press release.
Now, proprietary VMWare, does allow taking advantage of snapshotting and thin-provisioning on supported SANs, and our 3Par SAN is one of them.
So please explain to me how XenServer is more open? Where are these APIs? Isn't it all just marketing bullshit?
Let me know your thoughts.
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