As if virtualisation wasn't complicated enough - what with virtual servers, virtual storage and virtual networks - you can now have a virtual load balancer for your virtual machines as well.

However, Zeus Technology argues that running its Zeus eXtensible Traffic Manager (ZXTM) on top of VMware ESX Server can actually simplify the virtual environment rather than further complicating it.

It said that the new virtual appliance (VA) version of ZXTM can intelligently route traffic to the most available virtual server. That improves responsiveness and the control of resources, and makes it easier to manage clusters of virtual Webservers, the company added.

Future versions of ZXTM VA could even understand the relationships between the various applications running on the virtual cluster and automatically manage the VMs to give the best overall performance, Zeus said.

"As the only software-based Layer 7 traffic manager, ZXTM VA is perfectly positioned to provide services in virtualised environments. It aligns with the strategic adoption of virtualisation as customers do not need to purchase dedicated physical appliances to meet their load balancing and traffic management needs," claimed Zeus boss Paul Di Leo.

The software will only sell through VMware's Virtual Appliance Marketplace, he added, although Zeus is also offering a trial version for download and looking at versions to run on other virtualisation systems such as Xen, Virtuozzo and Microsoft Virtual Server. ®