Cory -
7.x sims will work fine with Ubuntu.
The 8.X sims are all VMware VMs...
7.x sims can do ha failover, 8.x sims can not.
I hope this response has been helpful to you.
At your service,
Eugene E. Kashpureff, Sr.
Independent NetApp Consultant http://www.linkedin.com/in/eugenekashpureff
Senior NetApp Instructor, IT Learning Solutions http://sg.itls.asia/netapp
(P.S. I appreciate 'kudos' on any helpful posts.)