Features & Benefits

With Solaris Containers you can maintain the one-application-per-server deployment model while simultaneously sharing hardware resources. An integral part of the Solaris 10 Operating System, Solaris Containers isolate software applications and services using flexible, software-defined boundaries and allows many private execution environments to be created within a single instance of the Solaris 10 OS.

You can also run your Solaris 8, Solaris 9, and Linux applications in Containers on Solaris 10 and the latest hardware. In other words, the ability to move to the latest hardware is decoupled from the corresponding need to move to the latest version of Solaris, reducing risks and giving you more time to upgrade your applications directly to Solaris 10.

Solaris Containers

OS virtualization with Solaris Containers allows you to maintain the one-application-per-server deployment model while simultaneously sharing hardware resources. An integral part of the Solaris 10 Operating System, Solaris Containers isolate software applications and services using flexible, software-defined boundaries and allows many private execution environments to be created within a single instance of the Solaris 10 OS. Each environment has its own identity, separate from the underlying hardware, so it behaves as if it's running on its own system making consolidation simple, safe, and secure.

Solaris 8 Containers and Solaris 9 Containers

It's easy with Solaris 8 Containers and Solaris 9 Containers to move your existing Solaris 8 OS and Solaris 9 OS application environments onto new, cost effective, and more powerful systems running the Solaris 10 OS. This additional Containers software captures the entire environment of the original source system, either Solaris 8 or Solaris 9, and then transfers this environment to a Container running on the target Solaris 10 system. The automated process of capturing and moving the image makes it easier, safer, and faster to complete and decouples the hardware upgrade from a corresponding OS and application upgrade. Solaris 8 and Solaris 9 applications can now run in Containers on Solaris 10.

This additional Containers software is a unique and elegant software and services solution, developed and supported by the same engineering team that created the original Solaris 8, 9, and 10 Operating Systems. The end result is either a Solaris 8 Container or a Solaris 9 Container: a run time environment that can run the migrated environment on a Solaris 10 system. Customers can then transition the original application to a native Solaris 10 application at their own pace while removing the dependency on the original OS. As a result, the migration can be completed in phases reducing risk and gaining more time as needed. The legacy environments can continue to run until they are either retired or redeployed into Solaris Containers. Multiple Solaris 8 and/or Solaris 9 environments can thus be hosted on a single SPARC system, saving money, space, and power while streamlining IT operations.

The offering consists of the following components:

• The P2V (physical to virtual) Archiver tool which automatically archives, converts, and moves the original image, either Solaris 8 or Solaris 9, to the target Solaris 10 system.
• The Solaris 8 or Solaris 9 Container which is the run time environment for the migrated application.
• Premium support for a term of one year.

Each subscription includes:

• The right to use (RTU) the software and
• Premium support for a term of one year.

Software Support that is included with the subscription is only for support issues related to the additional Containers software and not for the Solaris 10 OS. Separate subscriptions are required for Solaris 8 Containers and Solaris 9 Containers. Additionally, a Solaris 10 support agreement is required for Solaris 10 related issues. These subscriptions do not impact the Solaris 8 and Solaris 9 RTUs, and valid Solaris 8 and Solaris 9 licenses are also required.

Solaris Containers for Linux Applications

Solaris Containers for Linux Applications allow Linux applications to run unmodified on the Solaris 10 Operating System (OS). By leveraging all the benefits of Solaris Containers, this feature combines the best of virtualization, resource management, and OS flexibility.