Red Hat has detailed plans to build virtualisation tools into its enterprise platform by the end of this year, making it easier for firms to consolidate servers into virtual machines running on fewer physical systems.

The Linux vendor said it is working with partners such as AMD, Intel, Network Appliance and XenSource to integrate virtualisation capabilities into its operating system and create an environment to simplify deployment.

A preview of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux virtualisation technology will feature in Fedora Core 5, available later this month.

Fedora is Red Hat's community-supported version of Linux, often used to debut cutting-edge features before they appear in the enterprise distributions.

This release will be followed in summer by an Enterprise Virtualisation beta that will add a Virtualisation Migration and Assessment Services feature. The technology will be fully integrated into Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, due by 2007. The firm said the system will include tools to help customers deploy and manage virtualised environments easily and effectively.

"Red Hat's strategy is to methodically target and reduce every cost driver associated with deploying IT infrastructure. Integrated virtualisation will be a milestone in this effort," said Brian Stevens, Red Hat's chief technology officer.

Standard server configurations typically operate at between 15 percent and 25 percent processor utilisation. Stevens said virtualisation should push this up to about 80 percent.

Virtualisation support will be provided by integrating the Xen hypervisor from XenSource into Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Intel and AMD are also working with Red Hat to ensure compatibility with the virtualisation hardware in their newer server chips.

XenSource chief executive Peter Levine said, "Our partnership with Red Hat will deliver to enterprise customers all of the benefits inherent in Xen's para-virtualisation technology, tightly integrated with Red Hat Enterprise Linux."