Sun has begun an early access program for its xVM Server hypervisor, a key component of its nascent virtualization product line, and intends to make a publicly downloadable version available within about a month, according to a blog post Thursday by Steve Wilson, vice president of xVM at Sun.

Hypervisors allow users to run multiple operating systems on a single machine, providing benefits such as server consolidation. xVM Server supports Sun and non-Sun x86-x64 hardware, along with the Windows, Linux, and Solaris OSes. It represents the fourth and final of the initial products in Sun's virtualization suite, joining the already released VirtualBox, used for lightweight desktop virtualization; VDI, for managing large pools of virtual desktops; and xVM Ops Center, a datacenter management console for both virtual and physical environments.

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"The core hypervisor that is part of xVM Server has been available as part of Open Solaris for some time," but the product is "much more than a naked hypervisor," Wilson wrote. "Each copy of xVM Server includes an embedded Web server that allows it to be managed remotely via a graphical user interface in a browser (on any OS you choose with no local software installed), or via a Web Services API."

Wilson's post goes on to give a tour of the product's use interface. "One of our goals for xVM Server is to give you the power of a true enterprise-class virtualization solution, but also make it instantly familiar to people using tools like xVM VirtualBox," he wrote.

Companies in the financial services, manufacturing and government markets have signed up to start using xVM Server, according to Wilson. He did not name any of them.

Those interested in the early access program can find out more by e-mailing xvm-server-ea-request@sun.com.