ScaleMP, a leading provider of virtualization solutions for high-end computing, announced qualification and support of over ten server platforms based on the latest Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series (previously codenamed “Nehalem”) from major server vendors. vSMP Foundation now supports new Intel Xeon processor 5500 series based servers from Appro, Cray, Dell, HP, IBM, Intel, SUN, and Supermicro. The combined vSMP Foundation and Intel Xeon processor 5500 series based server solutions deliver a high performance, energy efficient, versatile, solution optimized for High Performance Computing (HPC) environments.
“I am very happy to say that shortly after launch of the Intel Xeon processor 5500 series by Intel, vSMP Foundation virtualization software was able to support many server offerings utilizing the new Intel Xeon processor 5500 series. A significant number of customers are running these systems in production,” said Shai Fultheim, founder and CEO of ScaleMP. “It is a clear validation of our approach to scalable high-end computing, where virtualization can replace the costly and time consuming approach of building customized high-end systems.”
“The new Intel® Server System SR1600UR offers a highly integrated and expandable server system supporting Intel Xeon processor 5500 series, creating a new standard of unsurpassed performance and energy efficiency for the industry,” said Lisa Graff, general manager of Enterprise Platforms and Services Division (EPSD) in the Server Platforms Group, Intel. “With the ability of vSMP Foundation virtualization software to aggregate multiple Intel Xeon processor 5500 series based servers, and create a single shared memory, virtual system, customers are able to scale the power and performance of the new Intel Xeon processor 5500 series processors, and Intel® Server Products. This will support large memory and large core count application requirements, while simplifying the management of the system.”
About vSMP Foundation
vSMP Foundation aggregates multiple industry-standard off-the-shelf x86 servers (rack mounted or blade systems) into one single virtual high-end system for the High-Performance Computing (HPC) market. vSMP Foundation provides customers with an alternative to traditional expensive symmetrical multiprocessor (SMP) systems and also offers simplified clustering infrastructure with a single operating system. It supports aggregation of up to 16 servers into a single virtual SMP system, providing customers with:
Up to 4 TB of shared memory for large memory requirements
Up to 128 cores virtual SMP, proven scalability and record-breaking memory bandwidth
Ease of use and lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for applications, with simplified cluster management and storage architecture
Improved utilization through a centralized and consolidated architecture
Monday, September 21, 2009
Doyenz Brings Enterprise-Grade IT to the SMB with the Doyenz "ShadowCloud" Managed Services Platform
Doyenz, Inc., the first company to deliver a virtualization and cloud-based managed service platform that provides Active Disaster Recovery, Failover in the Cloud and Migrations in the Cloud for the small and mid-sized business (SMB) market, today announced version 3.0 of its managed service platform, the Doyenz “ShadowCloud™”.
By replicating a copy of their client’s production infrastructure in the cloud, the Doyenz ShadowCloud enables IT Service Providers to leverage virtualization and automation and deliver enterprise-grade IT capabilities to their SMB clients at affordable costs. For the first time, Doyenz enables IT Service Providers to ensure “True” Business Continuity for their SMB client with the Doyenz Active Disaster Recovery and Failover in the Cloud service, which provides a production-ready image which can be run on-demand in the cloud in case of a failure. IT Service Providers can also use the latest copy of the production image at any time to test, patch, upgrade, or migrate systems in the Doyenz Production-Ready Virtual Lab. IT Service Providers can leverage these services to deliver high ROI enterprise-grade IT capabilities to their SMB clients while growing their recurring revenue streams and profits.
With this latest version, the Doyenz platform now supports both physical and virtual IT environments, including support for VMWare vSphere™. By allowing greater flexibility for hybrid environments, the Doyenz ShadowCloud continues to drive proliferation of virtualization and cloud services into the SMB.
“Doyenz brings an interesting approach to aggregating enterprise-level capabilities and delivering them as an infrastructure-as-a-service offering targeting small to medium businesses (SMB) that would otherwise find it difficult to operate their IT infrastructure at the same level as much large organizations,” said Dan Kusnetzky, Vice President, Research Operations, with The 451 Group. “Their business model combined with a hybrid cloud technology platform enables the SMB to manage their IT in the cloud while still being in control of their own critical onsite operations. This approach is likely to be seen as safe, manageable and affordable enough for organizations seeking to use cloud computing as a way to lower costs.”
“The Doyenz ShadowCloud™ platform is enabling us to deliver IT that is better, faster and cheaper, and, frankly, just smarter for our customers,” said Dave Sobel, CEO and founder of Evolve Technologies. “We’ve been able to cut our server deployment time and costs in half with zero customer downtime, with a platform that enables us to stage a production environment in the cloud, then click and deploy once the servers are tested and ready. It’s the best of both worlds,” said Sobel.
“Doyenz ShadowCloud finally gives me what I need to take care of my clients,” says Joe Towner, President and CEO of Downtown Tech. “The Doyenz service is affordable, simple and easy to install and doesn’t require any additional hardware or software. Failovers can happen quicker than I can drive to my hosting facility and ensures I can keep my clients up and running all the time. I expect a positive ROI in a single failover, and, in the meantime, add a profitable, high-margin service to my business.”
“By leveraging virtualization and cloud, we make enterprise-grade IT an affordable reality for the SMB,” states Ashutosh Tiwary, CEO of Doyenz. “With the release of the new ShadowCloud platform, the SMB clients can get dramatic ROI by taking their IT to the next level with no hardware to buy or people to train.”
By replicating a copy of their client’s production infrastructure in the cloud, the Doyenz ShadowCloud enables IT Service Providers to leverage virtualization and automation and deliver enterprise-grade IT capabilities to their SMB clients at affordable costs. For the first time, Doyenz enables IT Service Providers to ensure “True” Business Continuity for their SMB client with the Doyenz Active Disaster Recovery and Failover in the Cloud service, which provides a production-ready image which can be run on-demand in the cloud in case of a failure. IT Service Providers can also use the latest copy of the production image at any time to test, patch, upgrade, or migrate systems in the Doyenz Production-Ready Virtual Lab. IT Service Providers can leverage these services to deliver high ROI enterprise-grade IT capabilities to their SMB clients while growing their recurring revenue streams and profits.
With this latest version, the Doyenz platform now supports both physical and virtual IT environments, including support for VMWare vSphere™. By allowing greater flexibility for hybrid environments, the Doyenz ShadowCloud continues to drive proliferation of virtualization and cloud services into the SMB.
“Doyenz brings an interesting approach to aggregating enterprise-level capabilities and delivering them as an infrastructure-as-a-service offering targeting small to medium businesses (SMB) that would otherwise find it difficult to operate their IT infrastructure at the same level as much large organizations,” said Dan Kusnetzky, Vice President, Research Operations, with The 451 Group. “Their business model combined with a hybrid cloud technology platform enables the SMB to manage their IT in the cloud while still being in control of their own critical onsite operations. This approach is likely to be seen as safe, manageable and affordable enough for organizations seeking to use cloud computing as a way to lower costs.”
“The Doyenz ShadowCloud™ platform is enabling us to deliver IT that is better, faster and cheaper, and, frankly, just smarter for our customers,” said Dave Sobel, CEO and founder of Evolve Technologies. “We’ve been able to cut our server deployment time and costs in half with zero customer downtime, with a platform that enables us to stage a production environment in the cloud, then click and deploy once the servers are tested and ready. It’s the best of both worlds,” said Sobel.
“Doyenz ShadowCloud finally gives me what I need to take care of my clients,” says Joe Towner, President and CEO of Downtown Tech. “The Doyenz service is affordable, simple and easy to install and doesn’t require any additional hardware or software. Failovers can happen quicker than I can drive to my hosting facility and ensures I can keep my clients up and running all the time. I expect a positive ROI in a single failover, and, in the meantime, add a profitable, high-margin service to my business.”
“By leveraging virtualization and cloud, we make enterprise-grade IT an affordable reality for the SMB,” states Ashutosh Tiwary, CEO of Doyenz. “With the release of the new ShadowCloud platform, the SMB clients can get dramatic ROI by taking their IT to the next level with no hardware to buy or people to train.”
Universities and Institutes of Higher Learning Worldwide Open their Doors to Students and to Storage Virtualization Savings from DataCore Software
DataCore Software, a leading provider of storage virtualization, business continuity and disaster recovery software solutions, today announced new SAN software packages and promotions for academic institutes that deliver price savings of up to 50% and highlighted a host of educational organizations that have already deployed storage virtualization using its SANmelody™ and SANsymphony™ solutions. DataCore’s software solutions enable the data centers and IT departments within these universities to better manage and maximize storage capacity and leverage existing hardware to protect and serve storage assets to Windows, Netware, MacOS, UNIX, and Linux systems and to Microsoft, VMware and Citrix virtual servers and desktops. With DataCore, these organizations can better utilize their existing storage investments and gain the virtualization agility needed to keep up with technology changes and storage growth.
“Most educational enterprises want enterprise-class storage networking functionality but have to settle for a lot less, since they do not have the budgets to implement these solutions due to the high costs and complexity that is involved – especially for fault-tolerant, auto recovery storage systems needed to protect and support virtual server environments,” stated George Teixeira, president and CEO, DataCore Software. “And even if they could, most would not want to be tied to a specific hardware vendor since the hardware arrays and the disk technologies are innovating and becoming outdated quickly as new technologies at new price points hit the marketplace.”
To request more information on special pricing promotions and packages for academic institutions, go to: http://www.datacore.com/customerprograms/.
For more information on packages and free software trials, please go to: http://www.datacore.com/products/prod_SANmelody_buy.asp.
Delivering Benefits across the Education Sector
USA-based institutions of higher learning, public school systems, school districts and other educational entities are seeing tangible results with DataCore. These include: American River College (CA), Auburn University (AL), Barren County Schools (KY), Branford Board of Education (CT), Brockport Central Schools (NY), Bryant And Stratton College (NY), Butte College - CCC Technology Center (CA), Charles A. Beard Memorial School Corporation (IN), Consumnes River College (CA), Daytona Beach Community College (FL), Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (FL), Gateway Community College (CT), Georgia Institute of Technology (GA), Greensburg Community Schools (IN), Idaho School of Deaf and Blind (ID), Indianapolis Public Schools (IN), Jefferson Schools (MI), Kentucky Wesleyan College (KY), Lakota Local School District (OH), Lexington School Board (KY), Loomis Union School District (CA), Los Angeles County Office of Education (CA), Los Rios Community College District (CA), Louisburg College (NC), Midway College (KY), Morehead State University (KY), Mount St. Mary's University (MD), Oak Hill United School Corporation (IN), Oswego County School District (NY), Owasso Public Schools (OK), Peoria Unified School District (AZ), Rocklin Unified School District (CA), Schenectady City School District (NY), Scottsdale Community College (AZ), South Putnam Community Schools (IN), Spalding University (KY), Sullivan University (KY), Syracuse University (NY), Texas A&M University (TX), Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (TX), Texas Tech University (TX), Three Rivers Community College (CT), Trenton Independent School District (TX), University of Arkansas System (AR), University of Colorado at Boulder (CO), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (IL), University of Maryland - College Park (MD), University of Michigan (MI), University of Utah - Education Network (UT), and University of Utah, School of Medicine (UT), among others.
Going Beyond Hardware: Universities around the Globe are Embracing DataCore SAN Solutions
International DataCore accounts in the education market are vast. Examples like Oxford University Computing Services (OUCS), link: http://www.datacore.com/pressroom/pr_live.asp?date=06/15/2009, highlight the cost saving benefits they have achieved by using DataCore as their storage platform of choice.
A representative sample of academic institutions using DataCore follows, sorted by country.
Australia – Murdoch University, Scotch College, The College of Nursing
Austria – Technische Universitaet TU Wien ZID
Canada – Vancouver School Board, University of Western Ontario
China – Beijing Film Academy, Shanghai Lixin University of Commerce
France – Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL and affiliates: CNRS, Université Paris VI, Université Versailles St Quentin, IRD, Ecole Polytechnique, ENS Paris), Ecole de Travail ORT (CFA), Ecole nationale de la magistrature, International Space University, UFR - Université Reims Champagne-Ardennes, IUT de Nice
Germany – Freie Universitaet Berlin - Fachbereich Veterinaermedizin, Julius Maximilians Universitaet Wuerzburg, Justus Liebig Universitaet Giessen, Universitaet Bamberg, Universitaet Bonn, Universitaet Erlangen Medizinisches IK-Zentrum MIK, Universitaet Erlangen Nuernberg, Universitaet Passau
Great Britain – Amersham & Wycombe College, Barry College, Bishop Stopford CofE School, Blackpool & The Fylde College, Bournemouth & Poole College, Corpus Christi College, Cowplain Community School, Eastbourne College, Hertford College (University of Oxford), Huddersfield Technical College, Hull College Of Further Education, Institute of Education, Jesus College (University of Oxford), Kirklees College, Magdalen College (University of Oxford), Marlborough College, Marlwood School, Murray Edwards College - New Hall (University of Cambridge), Nuffield College, Oriel College, Oxford University - Department of Physics, Oxford University Computing Services (OUCS), Pembroke College (University of Oxford), Queen Mary, University of London Foundation, Royal Northern College of Music, School of Architectural Association, Sheffield Hallam University, St Anthony's College, Stantonbury Campus, Tertiary College Coleg Gwent, The Open University, The University of Westminster, UCAS, University of Buckingham, University Of Gloucestershire, Wadham College, Warwick University, Weston College of Further Education, Wootton Bassett School.
Korea – Chodang University, Daekyo, Open Cyber University
The Netherlands – Veluws College
Norway – Universitet i Stavanger
Portugal – Reitoria da Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa
Switzerland – Gemeindeschulen Neuenkirch, Leysin American School
Taiwan – Taipei Medical University, Technology and Science Institute of Northern Taiwan
Thailand – Bangkok Patana School
The Right Flexibility and the Right Price: Virtualization Gaining Momentum at the Secondary School Level as Well
Secondary schools around the globe are also embracing storage virtualization solutions from DataCore in an effort to do more and save more. Notable secondary schools that have gone with DataCore include: Brentwood School (UK), Brune Park School (UK), Bruton School for Girls (UK), Choate Rosemary Hall (US-CT), Christian Academy of Louisville (US-KY), Farnborough Sixth Form College (UK), Harrow School (UK), Norfolk Academy (US-VA), North Star Charter School (US-ID), Parkview Baptist School (US-LA), Sidwell Friends School (US-DC), Stanley Park High School (UK), The Dunham School (US-LA), The Haberdashers Askes School for Girls (UK), The Leys School (UK), Thorpe St Andrews School (UK), Tolworth Girls School (UK), and Winnacunnet High School (US-CT), among others.
DataCore Offers Special Storage Virtualization Promotions and Packages for Universities and Qualified Educational Institutions
DataCore’s full range of data storage management, SAN and virtual infrastructure storage solutions are available under the program.
For more information, go to http://www.datacore.com/customerprograms/ for details on available packages, go to http://www.datacore.com/products/prod_SANmelody_buy.asp.
“Most educational enterprises want enterprise-class storage networking functionality but have to settle for a lot less, since they do not have the budgets to implement these solutions due to the high costs and complexity that is involved – especially for fault-tolerant, auto recovery storage systems needed to protect and support virtual server environments,” stated George Teixeira, president and CEO, DataCore Software. “And even if they could, most would not want to be tied to a specific hardware vendor since the hardware arrays and the disk technologies are innovating and becoming outdated quickly as new technologies at new price points hit the marketplace.”
To request more information on special pricing promotions and packages for academic institutions, go to: http://www.datacore.com/customerprograms/.
For more information on packages and free software trials, please go to: http://www.datacore.com/products/prod_SANmelody_buy.asp.
Delivering Benefits across the Education Sector
USA-based institutions of higher learning, public school systems, school districts and other educational entities are seeing tangible results with DataCore. These include: American River College (CA), Auburn University (AL), Barren County Schools (KY), Branford Board of Education (CT), Brockport Central Schools (NY), Bryant And Stratton College (NY), Butte College - CCC Technology Center (CA), Charles A. Beard Memorial School Corporation (IN), Consumnes River College (CA), Daytona Beach Community College (FL), Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (FL), Gateway Community College (CT), Georgia Institute of Technology (GA), Greensburg Community Schools (IN), Idaho School of Deaf and Blind (ID), Indianapolis Public Schools (IN), Jefferson Schools (MI), Kentucky Wesleyan College (KY), Lakota Local School District (OH), Lexington School Board (KY), Loomis Union School District (CA), Los Angeles County Office of Education (CA), Los Rios Community College District (CA), Louisburg College (NC), Midway College (KY), Morehead State University (KY), Mount St. Mary's University (MD), Oak Hill United School Corporation (IN), Oswego County School District (NY), Owasso Public Schools (OK), Peoria Unified School District (AZ), Rocklin Unified School District (CA), Schenectady City School District (NY), Scottsdale Community College (AZ), South Putnam Community Schools (IN), Spalding University (KY), Sullivan University (KY), Syracuse University (NY), Texas A&M University (TX), Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (TX), Texas Tech University (TX), Three Rivers Community College (CT), Trenton Independent School District (TX), University of Arkansas System (AR), University of Colorado at Boulder (CO), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (IL), University of Maryland - College Park (MD), University of Michigan (MI), University of Utah - Education Network (UT), and University of Utah, School of Medicine (UT), among others.
Going Beyond Hardware: Universities around the Globe are Embracing DataCore SAN Solutions
International DataCore accounts in the education market are vast. Examples like Oxford University Computing Services (OUCS), link: http://www.datacore.com/pressroom/pr_live.asp?date=06/15/2009, highlight the cost saving benefits they have achieved by using DataCore as their storage platform of choice.
A representative sample of academic institutions using DataCore follows, sorted by country.
Australia – Murdoch University, Scotch College, The College of Nursing
Austria – Technische Universitaet TU Wien ZID
Canada – Vancouver School Board, University of Western Ontario
China – Beijing Film Academy, Shanghai Lixin University of Commerce
France – Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL and affiliates: CNRS, Université Paris VI, Université Versailles St Quentin, IRD, Ecole Polytechnique, ENS Paris), Ecole de Travail ORT (CFA), Ecole nationale de la magistrature, International Space University, UFR - Université Reims Champagne-Ardennes, IUT de Nice
Germany – Freie Universitaet Berlin - Fachbereich Veterinaermedizin, Julius Maximilians Universitaet Wuerzburg, Justus Liebig Universitaet Giessen, Universitaet Bamberg, Universitaet Bonn, Universitaet Erlangen Medizinisches IK-Zentrum MIK, Universitaet Erlangen Nuernberg, Universitaet Passau
Great Britain – Amersham & Wycombe College, Barry College, Bishop Stopford CofE School, Blackpool & The Fylde College, Bournemouth & Poole College, Corpus Christi College, Cowplain Community School, Eastbourne College, Hertford College (University of Oxford), Huddersfield Technical College, Hull College Of Further Education, Institute of Education, Jesus College (University of Oxford), Kirklees College, Magdalen College (University of Oxford), Marlborough College, Marlwood School, Murray Edwards College - New Hall (University of Cambridge), Nuffield College, Oriel College, Oxford University - Department of Physics, Oxford University Computing Services (OUCS), Pembroke College (University of Oxford), Queen Mary, University of London Foundation, Royal Northern College of Music, School of Architectural Association, Sheffield Hallam University, St Anthony's College, Stantonbury Campus, Tertiary College Coleg Gwent, The Open University, The University of Westminster, UCAS, University of Buckingham, University Of Gloucestershire, Wadham College, Warwick University, Weston College of Further Education, Wootton Bassett School.
Korea – Chodang University, Daekyo, Open Cyber University
The Netherlands – Veluws College
Norway – Universitet i Stavanger
Portugal – Reitoria da Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa
Switzerland – Gemeindeschulen Neuenkirch, Leysin American School
Taiwan – Taipei Medical University, Technology and Science Institute of Northern Taiwan
Thailand – Bangkok Patana School
The Right Flexibility and the Right Price: Virtualization Gaining Momentum at the Secondary School Level as Well
Secondary schools around the globe are also embracing storage virtualization solutions from DataCore in an effort to do more and save more. Notable secondary schools that have gone with DataCore include: Brentwood School (UK), Brune Park School (UK), Bruton School for Girls (UK), Choate Rosemary Hall (US-CT), Christian Academy of Louisville (US-KY), Farnborough Sixth Form College (UK), Harrow School (UK), Norfolk Academy (US-VA), North Star Charter School (US-ID), Parkview Baptist School (US-LA), Sidwell Friends School (US-DC), Stanley Park High School (UK), The Dunham School (US-LA), The Haberdashers Askes School for Girls (UK), The Leys School (UK), Thorpe St Andrews School (UK), Tolworth Girls School (UK), and Winnacunnet High School (US-CT), among others.
DataCore Offers Special Storage Virtualization Promotions and Packages for Universities and Qualified Educational Institutions
DataCore’s full range of data storage management, SAN and virtual infrastructure storage solutions are available under the program.
For more information, go to http://www.datacore.com/customerprograms/ for details on available packages, go to http://www.datacore.com/products/prod_SANmelody_buy.asp.
IGEL and Leostream Partner to Provide a Comprehensive Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Solution for Windows Users
IGEL Technology, the world's largest Linux thin client vendor and the third largest thin client vendor (2008 by revenue, IDC), today announced the inclusion of the Leostream Connection Broker in its Windows Embedded Standard (WES) firmware. Leostream™ Corporation is a leading developer of virtual hosted desktop software. The Leostream Connection Broker, the industry’s most widely-deployed vendor-independent product of its kind, is delivered as a virtual appliance and provides the software management layer necessary to tie desktop images in the data center to a user’s thin client, laptop, workstation or Web interface.
The combined solution gives IGEL customers the ability to deploy and manage Windows virtual desktops within their IT environments. It also provides users with a virtual desktop experience that is equal to or better than that of a traditional desktop. Furthermore, customers can access their virtual desktop from any location, due to the technology’s ability to direct users to their own virtual desktop image.
“We’re excited to extend our partnership with Leostream to include the latest version of its Connection Broker into our WES firmware,” said Simon Richards, UK general manager at IGEL Technology. “With this addition, our customers can deploy virtual desktops and have real-time access to Windows resources from anywhere in their organization. No matter which applications, operating systems, protocols or peripherals our customers have, our thin clients will work seamlessly in their environment.”
“IGEL and Leostream share a commitment to providing organizations with top-quality technology solutions, and through this partnership, we’re able to help them achieve robust, enterprise-scale, production-proven VDI deployments,” said Michael Palin, CEO of Leostream. “The combination of our Connection Broker with IGEL’s broad hardware range creates a particularly effective solution for users working in Windows and Linux environments.”
The benefits of Leostream Connection Broker, which must be purchased separately from the IGEL thin clients, include:
· Desktops can be remotely managed and assigned to users from, and then returned to, a pool for the most efficient use of computing power.
· Single sign-on lets users avoid re-entering usernames and passwords.
· Support for a wide-range of remote desktop protocols enables the complexity of the backend system to be hidden from the user - they just login and are automatically connected to the appropriate resource using the necessary connectivity.
· Minimal user training is required since the hosted desktops look and behave exactly like physical desktops.
The new IGEL WES firmware became available in Entry, Standard and Advanced firmware feature packs as of September 1st. The Leostream Client is included in the Standard and Advanced firmware packages. Existing IGEL customers will also be able to download the latest version of the firmware from www.igel.com free of charge. The integration of the Leostream client in IGEL’s Linux firmware is planned for November 2009.
The combined solution gives IGEL customers the ability to deploy and manage Windows virtual desktops within their IT environments. It also provides users with a virtual desktop experience that is equal to or better than that of a traditional desktop. Furthermore, customers can access their virtual desktop from any location, due to the technology’s ability to direct users to their own virtual desktop image.
“We’re excited to extend our partnership with Leostream to include the latest version of its Connection Broker into our WES firmware,” said Simon Richards, UK general manager at IGEL Technology. “With this addition, our customers can deploy virtual desktops and have real-time access to Windows resources from anywhere in their organization. No matter which applications, operating systems, protocols or peripherals our customers have, our thin clients will work seamlessly in their environment.”
“IGEL and Leostream share a commitment to providing organizations with top-quality technology solutions, and through this partnership, we’re able to help them achieve robust, enterprise-scale, production-proven VDI deployments,” said Michael Palin, CEO of Leostream. “The combination of our Connection Broker with IGEL’s broad hardware range creates a particularly effective solution for users working in Windows and Linux environments.”
The benefits of Leostream Connection Broker, which must be purchased separately from the IGEL thin clients, include:
· Desktops can be remotely managed and assigned to users from, and then returned to, a pool for the most efficient use of computing power.
· Single sign-on lets users avoid re-entering usernames and passwords.
· Support for a wide-range of remote desktop protocols enables the complexity of the backend system to be hidden from the user - they just login and are automatically connected to the appropriate resource using the necessary connectivity.
· Minimal user training is required since the hosted desktops look and behave exactly like physical desktops.
The new IGEL WES firmware became available in Entry, Standard and Advanced firmware feature packs as of September 1st. The Leostream Client is included in the Standard and Advanced firmware packages. Existing IGEL customers will also be able to download the latest version of the firmware from www.igel.com free of charge. The integration of the Leostream client in IGEL’s Linux firmware is planned for November 2009.
Paragon Software Introduces Powerful Tool for System Migration New Virtualization Manager 2009 Enables Migration of Windows Systems to a Virtual Envir
In keeping with its commitment to enabling seamless transitions between operating systems, Paragon Software Group (PSG), : the technology leader in innovative data security and data management solutions, today announced the debut of its Virtualization Manager 2009 Corporate Edition.
As IT executives look to conserve budget resources, server virtualization is proving to be an attractive option, offering benefits including, optimum resource utilization, reduction in hardware expenses, lower energy consumption, and the ability to reallocate IT personnel. Fewer servers also require less maintenance, thus, further reducing IT infrastructure costs.
Paragon's new Virtulization Manager 2009 Corporate Edition was developed to help ease the migration process and enable businesses to maximize their current IT investments. A powerful tool that easily migrates a Windows-based system to a virtual environment, Paragon's Virtualization Manager : 2009 Corporate Edition helps businesses maximize the utility of servers increasing their efficiencies while decreasing energy costs by up to 80 percent.
Virtualization Manager also easily migrates a Windows-based system to a different environment, whether it be a physical to physical (P2P) or physical to virtual (P2V) migration. Additional Virtualization Manager : functionalities include: recovering an OS after an unsuccessful system virtualization by a third-party tool; creating a virtual clone of the physical system and saving it on a network for backup purposes; providing a failsafe that ensures business continuity; and enabling the installation of several different operating systems on one computer.
"Paragon Software is committed to offering the most powerful and easy to use system migration and data conversion tools on the market," noted Tom Fedro, president of Paragon Software Group. "Virtualization Manager 2009 Corporate is truly state of the art technology that saves our customers time and money while providing complete flexibility to migrate within both virtual and physical system environments."
Key features and benefits include:
-- Full Windows OS Support - Guaranteed support for any Windows OS post-Win2K
-- P2V Copy - Migrate a physical system to a virtual disk
-- P2V Restore - Migrate a physical system backed up with Paragon software to a virtual disk
-- P2V Adjust - Recover OS startup ability after unsuccessful virtualization by a 3rd party tool
-- P2P Adjust - Recover OS startup ability after system migration to a different hardware platform
-- Hot Copy Technology - Online processing of locked hard disks for easy
-- Smart Driver Injector - Makes adding new drivers smooth and simple
-- Virtual Disk Map - Preview changes before applied
-- Flexible Destination Choices - Choose any destination to place virtual disks
-- Partition Auto-Resize - Easily set desired partition size when creating virtual disks
-- 2 Types of VMWare Disks - Create either IDE or SCSI disks for VMWare
-- Disk File Split for VMWare - Automatically cut virtual images to files of 2 GBs each for improved data management
Virtualization Manager is now available from Paragon Software; please visit www.paragon-software.com/business/vm/ to learn more.
As IT executives look to conserve budget resources, server virtualization is proving to be an attractive option, offering benefits including, optimum resource utilization, reduction in hardware expenses, lower energy consumption, and the ability to reallocate IT personnel. Fewer servers also require less maintenance, thus, further reducing IT infrastructure costs.
Paragon's new Virtulization Manager 2009 Corporate Edition was developed to help ease the migration process and enable businesses to maximize their current IT investments. A powerful tool that easily migrates a Windows-based system to a virtual environment, Paragon's Virtualization Manager : 2009 Corporate Edition helps businesses maximize the utility of servers increasing their efficiencies while decreasing energy costs by up to 80 percent.
Virtualization Manager also easily migrates a Windows-based system to a different environment, whether it be a physical to physical (P2P) or physical to virtual (P2V) migration. Additional Virtualization Manager : functionalities include: recovering an OS after an unsuccessful system virtualization by a third-party tool; creating a virtual clone of the physical system and saving it on a network for backup purposes; providing a failsafe that ensures business continuity; and enabling the installation of several different operating systems on one computer.
"Paragon Software is committed to offering the most powerful and easy to use system migration and data conversion tools on the market," noted Tom Fedro, president of Paragon Software Group. "Virtualization Manager 2009 Corporate is truly state of the art technology that saves our customers time and money while providing complete flexibility to migrate within both virtual and physical system environments."
Key features and benefits include:
-- Full Windows OS Support - Guaranteed support for any Windows OS post-Win2K
-- P2V Copy - Migrate a physical system to a virtual disk
-- P2V Restore - Migrate a physical system backed up with Paragon software to a virtual disk
-- P2V Adjust - Recover OS startup ability after unsuccessful virtualization by a 3rd party tool
-- P2P Adjust - Recover OS startup ability after system migration to a different hardware platform
-- Hot Copy Technology - Online processing of locked hard disks for easy
-- Smart Driver Injector - Makes adding new drivers smooth and simple
-- Virtual Disk Map - Preview changes before applied
-- Flexible Destination Choices - Choose any destination to place virtual disks
-- Partition Auto-Resize - Easily set desired partition size when creating virtual disks
-- 2 Types of VMWare Disks - Create either IDE or SCSI disks for VMWare
-- Disk File Split for VMWare - Automatically cut virtual images to files of 2 GBs each for improved data management
Virtualization Manager is now available from Paragon Software; please visit www.paragon-software.com/business/vm/ to learn more.
Symantec Workspace Virtualization (SWV) for 64-Bit Hardware
Announcing the upcoming beta of Symantec Workspace Virtualization (SWV) for 64-bit hardware. SWV provides the ability to virtualize and isolate applications for the purposes of resolving application conflicts, migration, and optimizing endpoints for increased productivity.
Advanced registrations for the beta cycle is required. Register at http://beta.altiris.com.
As part of the Symantec Endpoint Virtualization Suite, SWV reduces testing requirements, and support calls and provides instant reset for broken applications.
FEATURES IN THIS RELEASE:
This release introduces support for 64-bit hardware as well as other features, including:
- SWV runs on Windows Vista 64-bit, Windows Server 2008 64-bit, and Windows 7 64-bit
- SWV captures and runs 64-bit applications
- SWV captures and runs 32-bit application on the 64-bit driver
- SWV supports applications from the Wise Virtual Composer – a single tool to package both streaming and virtual packages
- Improved performance for streamed applications, boot time, and activation
- SWV no longer supports Windows 2000
TIMELINE: Symantec anticipates beta availability in the Q1 2010 timeframe. Register now and be notified when the beta is available for testing.
Advanced registrations for the beta cycle is required. Register at http://beta.altiris.com.
As part of the Symantec Endpoint Virtualization Suite, SWV reduces testing requirements, and support calls and provides instant reset for broken applications.
FEATURES IN THIS RELEASE:
This release introduces support for 64-bit hardware as well as other features, including:
- SWV runs on Windows Vista 64-bit, Windows Server 2008 64-bit, and Windows 7 64-bit
- SWV captures and runs 64-bit applications
- SWV captures and runs 32-bit application on the 64-bit driver
- SWV supports applications from the Wise Virtual Composer – a single tool to package both streaming and virtual packages
- Improved performance for streamed applications, boot time, and activation
- SWV no longer supports Windows 2000
TIMELINE: Symantec anticipates beta availability in the Q1 2010 timeframe. Register now and be notified when the beta is available for testing.
BlueStripe Software Announces FactFinder 3.0
BlueStripe Software today announced FactFinder 3.0, the only Application Service Management (ASM) solution that enables Service Delivery, IT Operations, and Application Support teams to monitor and manage application system performance and troubleshoot system components across any application environment: physical, virtual or cloud. This capability radically improves IT operations’ ability to quickly isolate and identify causes of slow applications by delivering real-time, hop-by-hop, visibility into critical service request performance metrics across heterogeneous environments.
FactFinder uniquely provides application service request performance metrics across tiers and between nodes, at the process-level, for each application component across an entire application system. FactFinder manages applications as full systems, isolating requests for discrete systems enabling Service Delivery and Application Managers to better meet service-level requirements. When application components are spread across different platforms – physical, virtual and cloud – FactFinder identifies the application and provides the visibility needed to ensure proper application performance.
“Multi-tier application systems have layered architectures that make monitoring IT service levels and aligning them with business performance extremely complicated,” said Milind Govekar, research vice president, Gartner, Inc. “The challenge of managing these systems signifies that application support needs to become more systematic, as ITIL and ITSM, in theory, address. Solutions that track production application performance and analyze individual components will expedite IT service initiatives and unlock more business value.”
FactFinder, using BlueStripe’s patented AppSmart™ technology, delivers unprecedented visibility into application systems by automatically generating real-time Application System Maps, providing live views of application requests across tiers and components, and delivering load curve analysis to know how applications will scale. These monitoring capabilities provide the facts IT support teams need to analyze production application performance across any application environment.
Key new features in FactFinder 3.0 include:
Automatic Application System Identification: In 10 minutes, FactFinder, using AppSmart Technology, automatically maps application transaction systems and highlights discrete systems within the IT infrastructure, naming URL sets, hostnames and app pools for monitoring and fast triage. System dependency maps measure real-time load curves for proactive capacity planning.
Application Transaction System Monitoring: Provides a dashboard of multiple applications, including URL-level visibility and hop-by-hop service request response times at every level across application tiers.
Rewind Problem Replay: In addition to FactFinder’s existing real-time & historical problem analysis, FactFinder’s new Rewind capability gives a “black-box flight recorder” for application server platforms, enabling complete replay of application problems for systems not already under monitoring.
Enterprise Fleet Scaling: Scales to thousands of servers across physical, virtual and cloud platforms, and drills down into individual application systems of up to 250 servers for complete visibility of response times and component usage across an enterprise. Federates multiple FactFinder deployments for problem solving collaboration.
Real-World Data for Pragmatic ITSM Application Management
FactFinder delivers the key performance indicators, including service request response times, of applications that span multiple technology silos that ITSM Service Delivery Managers have been seeking to improve application service. With the ability to monitor business-critical production applications in real time through FactFinder, enterprises have the actionable data they need to quickly locate performance degradation and improve IT service to the business.
“FactFinder 3.0 focuses on individual applications amongst the sea of system components our customers are charged with managing,” said BlueStripe Co-Founder and CEO Chris Neal. “By monitoring the overall application system, FactFinder makes it easier for all levels of support teams to make sense of complex applications that cross different platforms. It only takes one overloaded server or poorly configured cloud service in the chain of an application system to affect end-user response time and lose revenue. The BlueStripe mission is to help our customers resolve application slowdowns wherever they occur, whenever they occur.”
Find the Facts on BlueStripe and ITSM
FactFinder 3.0 will make its debut at the itSMF USA Fusion 09 conference on September 20–23, 2009, in Dallas, Texas. Press and analysts interested in a demonstration or briefing at the event should contact Toni Iafrate at bluestripe@daviesmurphy.com.
BlueStripe Co-Founder and COO Vic Nyman will also present as part of a webinar on ITSM strategies hosted by Senior Analyst Glenn O’Donnell of Forrester Research on September 18, 2009. Register for the event here. Download a complimentary copy of “Troubleshooting Application Slowdowns” white paper:
Availability and Pricing
The new FactFinder 3.0 is available beginning September 22, 2009. Pricing starts at $10,000. Product trials will be available at http://bluestripe.com.
FactFinder uniquely provides application service request performance metrics across tiers and between nodes, at the process-level, for each application component across an entire application system. FactFinder manages applications as full systems, isolating requests for discrete systems enabling Service Delivery and Application Managers to better meet service-level requirements. When application components are spread across different platforms – physical, virtual and cloud – FactFinder identifies the application and provides the visibility needed to ensure proper application performance.
“Multi-tier application systems have layered architectures that make monitoring IT service levels and aligning them with business performance extremely complicated,” said Milind Govekar, research vice president, Gartner, Inc. “The challenge of managing these systems signifies that application support needs to become more systematic, as ITIL and ITSM, in theory, address. Solutions that track production application performance and analyze individual components will expedite IT service initiatives and unlock more business value.”
FactFinder, using BlueStripe’s patented AppSmart™ technology, delivers unprecedented visibility into application systems by automatically generating real-time Application System Maps, providing live views of application requests across tiers and components, and delivering load curve analysis to know how applications will scale. These monitoring capabilities provide the facts IT support teams need to analyze production application performance across any application environment.
Key new features in FactFinder 3.0 include:
Automatic Application System Identification: In 10 minutes, FactFinder, using AppSmart Technology, automatically maps application transaction systems and highlights discrete systems within the IT infrastructure, naming URL sets, hostnames and app pools for monitoring and fast triage. System dependency maps measure real-time load curves for proactive capacity planning.
Application Transaction System Monitoring: Provides a dashboard of multiple applications, including URL-level visibility and hop-by-hop service request response times at every level across application tiers.
Rewind Problem Replay: In addition to FactFinder’s existing real-time & historical problem analysis, FactFinder’s new Rewind capability gives a “black-box flight recorder” for application server platforms, enabling complete replay of application problems for systems not already under monitoring.
Enterprise Fleet Scaling: Scales to thousands of servers across physical, virtual and cloud platforms, and drills down into individual application systems of up to 250 servers for complete visibility of response times and component usage across an enterprise. Federates multiple FactFinder deployments for problem solving collaboration.
Real-World Data for Pragmatic ITSM Application Management
FactFinder delivers the key performance indicators, including service request response times, of applications that span multiple technology silos that ITSM Service Delivery Managers have been seeking to improve application service. With the ability to monitor business-critical production applications in real time through FactFinder, enterprises have the actionable data they need to quickly locate performance degradation and improve IT service to the business.
“FactFinder 3.0 focuses on individual applications amongst the sea of system components our customers are charged with managing,” said BlueStripe Co-Founder and CEO Chris Neal. “By monitoring the overall application system, FactFinder makes it easier for all levels of support teams to make sense of complex applications that cross different platforms. It only takes one overloaded server or poorly configured cloud service in the chain of an application system to affect end-user response time and lose revenue. The BlueStripe mission is to help our customers resolve application slowdowns wherever they occur, whenever they occur.”
Find the Facts on BlueStripe and ITSM
FactFinder 3.0 will make its debut at the itSMF USA Fusion 09 conference on September 20–23, 2009, in Dallas, Texas. Press and analysts interested in a demonstration or briefing at the event should contact Toni Iafrate at bluestripe@daviesmurphy.com.
BlueStripe Co-Founder and COO Vic Nyman will also present as part of a webinar on ITSM strategies hosted by Senior Analyst Glenn O’Donnell of Forrester Research on September 18, 2009. Register for the event here. Download a complimentary copy of “Troubleshooting Application Slowdowns” white paper:
Availability and Pricing
The new FactFinder 3.0 is available beginning September 22, 2009. Pricing starts at $10,000. Product trials will be available at http://bluestripe.com.
Citrix Releases Workflow Studio 2.0
The new Citrix Workflow Studio 2.0 release has a number of new features and is a seamless upgrade from version 1.x. New features include:
Native XenApp activity libraries (and many other additional activities)
Remote runtimes
Simplified management interface
Enhanced security features
Simplified installation and configuration
Improved SDK
Simplified workflow Designer
Globalization support
Download Workflow Studio 2.0 (MyCitrix login required)
Native XenApp activity libraries (and many other additional activities)
Remote runtimes
Simplified management interface
Enhanced security features
Simplified installation and configuration
Improved SDK
Simplified workflow Designer
Globalization support
Download Workflow Studio 2.0 (MyCitrix login required)
Top Ten Minnesota School District Quadruples Number of Classroom Computers with Virtual Desktops from Wyse Technology
Wyse Technology, the global leader in thin computing and client virtualization, today announced another success story at a school district in Minnesota. The Minnetonka Public School District chose Wyse to deliver upon the district's mandate to increase student access to technology. The combination of thin clients and virtualization has maximized the school's technology budget, allowing the district to put in four times as many thin clients than PCs. Currently, more than 600 Wyse V10L devices are being used in the district's six elementary schools. According to National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education, and Minnesota Department of Education, the Minnetonka Public School District is ranked as No. 8 out of 167 school districts across the state.
"We're proud of the way that we've delivered our students and taxpayers an astonishingly high return on their investment in education. We couldn’t have done it without Wyse," said Julie Carter, Executive Director of Technology, Minnetonka Public School District. "Thin clients offered greater ease of implementation, management and maintenance compared to any desktop computers. Best of all, we could afford to put many more thin clients in classrooms for the same amount of money."
More computers in the classrooms help teachers to incorporate more hands-on project-based instruction. In the classrooms, students use Wyse thin clients for graphic-rich programs that help with math and reading, such as Tumblebooks, an online book reader. They also view streaming instructional videos and specific topics from Discovery Education. Most of these are Web-based educational programs for which the district has purchased a license, but students also use standard productivity software such as Microsoft Office. Other educational software and applications in use are: Audacity, Google Earth, Type to Learn, Inspiration, and EM Games.
An added benefit of replacing PCs with Wyse thin clients is that ongoing maintenance costs are kept low, allowing for future gains in the district's technology investment. "In our first full year with thin clients, we had a failure rate of less than 1%," according to Robert Wakefield, Network Security Specialist, Minnetonka Public School District. "In contrast, approximately 12% of our PCs break in a typical year. The PCs have to be physically removed from the classroom and brought in for repair. In contrast, our thin clients are centrally managed so that troubleshooting and repair occurs from the data center, minimizing downtime and staff resources."
Because thin clients last longer than PCs, the district will continue to reap cost savings over the course of the lifespan of each thin client device. "We don’t get more than four to five years' work out of a PC," added Wakefield. "But a thin client device is expected to last for ten years. If so, for every thin client we have in a classroom over a ten-year period, we save up to 90% of the hardware and set-up costs we'd be paying if we had a PC instead of a thin client." The district estimates that they could avoid two cycles of buying and setting up PCs where thin clients are being used.
"Minnetonka is a shining example of a school district getting more computers into the hands of students," said Maryam Alexandrian, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Channels at Wyse Technology. "The Wyse thin client devices are not only easy to use for students, but also are easy for administrators to manage, an important consideration especially when they are being tasked with doing more with less resources."
For more information on Minnetonka’s use of Wyse Technology, download the complete case study at: http://www.wyse.com/solutions/education
"We're proud of the way that we've delivered our students and taxpayers an astonishingly high return on their investment in education. We couldn’t have done it without Wyse," said Julie Carter, Executive Director of Technology, Minnetonka Public School District. "Thin clients offered greater ease of implementation, management and maintenance compared to any desktop computers. Best of all, we could afford to put many more thin clients in classrooms for the same amount of money."
More computers in the classrooms help teachers to incorporate more hands-on project-based instruction. In the classrooms, students use Wyse thin clients for graphic-rich programs that help with math and reading, such as Tumblebooks, an online book reader. They also view streaming instructional videos and specific topics from Discovery Education. Most of these are Web-based educational programs for which the district has purchased a license, but students also use standard productivity software such as Microsoft Office. Other educational software and applications in use are: Audacity, Google Earth, Type to Learn, Inspiration, and EM Games.
An added benefit of replacing PCs with Wyse thin clients is that ongoing maintenance costs are kept low, allowing for future gains in the district's technology investment. "In our first full year with thin clients, we had a failure rate of less than 1%," according to Robert Wakefield, Network Security Specialist, Minnetonka Public School District. "In contrast, approximately 12% of our PCs break in a typical year. The PCs have to be physically removed from the classroom and brought in for repair. In contrast, our thin clients are centrally managed so that troubleshooting and repair occurs from the data center, minimizing downtime and staff resources."
Because thin clients last longer than PCs, the district will continue to reap cost savings over the course of the lifespan of each thin client device. "We don’t get more than four to five years' work out of a PC," added Wakefield. "But a thin client device is expected to last for ten years. If so, for every thin client we have in a classroom over a ten-year period, we save up to 90% of the hardware and set-up costs we'd be paying if we had a PC instead of a thin client." The district estimates that they could avoid two cycles of buying and setting up PCs where thin clients are being used.
"Minnetonka is a shining example of a school district getting more computers into the hands of students," said Maryam Alexandrian, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Channels at Wyse Technology. "The Wyse thin client devices are not only easy to use for students, but also are easy for administrators to manage, an important consideration especially when they are being tasked with doing more with less resources."
For more information on Minnetonka’s use of Wyse Technology, download the complete case study at: http://www.wyse.com/solutions/education
Akamai Introduces Managed Internet Service for Delivery of Virtualized Applications and Desktops
Akamai Technologies, Inc., the leader in powering video, dynamic transactions and enterprise applications online, today announced the industry's first managed Internet service for optimizing delivery of virtualized applications and desktops. Leveraging core technology from the Akamai IP Application Accelerator solution, the new targeted offering is designed to help enterprises realize the cost efficiency, scalability and global reach inherent with the Internet to deliver applications over virtual desktop infrastructure products offered by companies such as Citrix, Microsoft, and VMware.
Featuring customized integrations through professional services specific to virtual desktops, along with new, concurrent user-based pricing, Akamai's latest offering is focused on making it easier and more cost effective for enterprises to realize the intended return on investment of their virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).
With virtual desktop connected devices forecasted to grow to approximately 66 million by the end of 2014, or 15 percent of all traditional professional desktop PCs, enterprises are quickly adopting virtualization as a key component of their cost-containment efforts. Still, companies face major challenges to assuring the performance and scale of their VDI, including:
a user's proximity from a centralized virtualization environment has a direct impact on performance and availability;
high amounts of bandwidth are consumed by virtual protocols , e.g. virtualized desktop computing for 100 users in a branch can easily consume more than a T1/E1 of bandwidth on its own; and,
high cost and uptime issues associated with private-WAN connections in emerging territories where outsourcing and off-shoring are commonplace.
Deployment of virtualized applications and desktops over Akamai's globally-distributed network of over 50,000 servers is designed to ensure high performance regardless of a user's location. In addition, enterprises that adopt Akamai solutions can often eliminate the need to build out or upgrade costly private networks limited by preset reach and scale. Instead, Akamai allows for highly scalable and secure virtual desktop deployments to anyone, anywhere, across an Internet-based platform spanning 70 countries.
"We see the desktop virtualization market poised for significant growth and believe that our unique managed services model allows us to work with enterprises on large, global deployments of their virtual desktop infrastructure," said Willie M. Tejada, vice president, Application and Site Acceleration, Akamai. "We have seen good traction beyond browser-based applications since launching IP Application Accelerator, and this customized offering will allow us to focus even more on virtualization, meeting the needs of our enterprise clients through a user-based pricing model."
The Akamai IP Application Accelerator solution targeted for VDI is intended to allow enterprises to optimize application user performance-anywhere, anytime. With no requirement that customers make capex outlays or implement software changes or client-side software, Akamai's unique technology has been designed to transparently eliminate latency introduced by Internet routing, packet loss, and constrained throughput, which are all critical to providing acceptable virtualized user experiences. Performance improvements can be realized through several techniques including dynamic mapping, route optimization, packet redundancy algorithms, and transport protocol optimization.
"We are excited to collaborate with Akamai to meet the needs of today's global enterprise. Akamai's IP Application Accelerator for VDI is a perfect complement to Citrix desktop virtualization solution and HDX technology. Together with Akamai, Citrix virtual desktop and application customers can provide the best possible user experience using the public Internet instead of building their own proprietary networks," said Sumit Dhawan, vice president of product marketing at Citrix Systems. "Through the combination of Citrix and Akamai, optimization of the user experience will happen in the datacenter, in the Internet cloud, and the end point, allowing IT to deliver a rich user experience with virtual desktops to any user anywhere."
The Tolly Group, a leading, global provider of independent testing and third-party validation services for the IT industry, has issued a report validating the Akamai solution for virtualization. The report (www.akamai.com/tolly) indicates that, by enabling Asia Pacific users to have the same performance as those in the U.S., Akamai demonstrated throughput improvements for a Citrix XenDesktop and NetScaler environment by up to 700 percent, advancing adoption and improving ROI associated with virtual application and desktop deployments.
"Enterprises around the world can leverage virtual desktop solutions to improve user productivity and reduce IT costs," said Kevin Tolly, founder of The Tolly Group. "Such a solution is only viable, however, if the wide-area network over which the services are delivered can provide adequate performance and availability. Implementing the Akamai IP Application Accelerator service in conjunction with the Citrix XenDesktop virtual desktop solution provides widely-distributed end users with a very consistent performance."
Entisys Solutions, integrator of virtualization solutions from the data center to the desktop, is a leading value-added reseller of the new Akamai solution as part of broader Citrix reference architecture for virtualization. Entisys has worked closely with Akamai to test the impact of the Akamai solution on Citrix Virtual Application and Desktop Infrastructures and the results have been significant.
"We see the combination of Akamai and Citrix Delivery Center Infrastructures as a way to extend enterprise virtual desktop and application deployments to a global user base, insuring a consistent, strong performing user experience. We are thrilled to be one of Akamai's first resellers of this technology, and see this as a standard part of our global infrastructure offering around virtual desktop and application infrastructures," said Mike Strohl, CEO of Entisys Solutions, Inc. and Agile360, a Citrix Platinum Partner and Partner of the Year for North America in 2007, as well as the State and Local Partner of the Year in 2008.
The new targeted Akamai solution for optimizing virtual applications and desktops is generally available today for enterprises and cloud computing providers offering hosted desktops as a service. Pricing scales based on the number of concurrent users.
To experience the benefits of Akamai IP Application Accelerator solution targeted for VDI, please visit www.akamai.com/VDI_Demo.
Featuring customized integrations through professional services specific to virtual desktops, along with new, concurrent user-based pricing, Akamai's latest offering is focused on making it easier and more cost effective for enterprises to realize the intended return on investment of their virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).
With virtual desktop connected devices forecasted to grow to approximately 66 million by the end of 2014, or 15 percent of all traditional professional desktop PCs, enterprises are quickly adopting virtualization as a key component of their cost-containment efforts. Still, companies face major challenges to assuring the performance and scale of their VDI, including:
a user's proximity from a centralized virtualization environment has a direct impact on performance and availability;
high amounts of bandwidth are consumed by virtual protocols , e.g. virtualized desktop computing for 100 users in a branch can easily consume more than a T1/E1 of bandwidth on its own; and,
high cost and uptime issues associated with private-WAN connections in emerging territories where outsourcing and off-shoring are commonplace.
Deployment of virtualized applications and desktops over Akamai's globally-distributed network of over 50,000 servers is designed to ensure high performance regardless of a user's location. In addition, enterprises that adopt Akamai solutions can often eliminate the need to build out or upgrade costly private networks limited by preset reach and scale. Instead, Akamai allows for highly scalable and secure virtual desktop deployments to anyone, anywhere, across an Internet-based platform spanning 70 countries.
"We see the desktop virtualization market poised for significant growth and believe that our unique managed services model allows us to work with enterprises on large, global deployments of their virtual desktop infrastructure," said Willie M. Tejada, vice president, Application and Site Acceleration, Akamai. "We have seen good traction beyond browser-based applications since launching IP Application Accelerator, and this customized offering will allow us to focus even more on virtualization, meeting the needs of our enterprise clients through a user-based pricing model."
The Akamai IP Application Accelerator solution targeted for VDI is intended to allow enterprises to optimize application user performance-anywhere, anytime. With no requirement that customers make capex outlays or implement software changes or client-side software, Akamai's unique technology has been designed to transparently eliminate latency introduced by Internet routing, packet loss, and constrained throughput, which are all critical to providing acceptable virtualized user experiences. Performance improvements can be realized through several techniques including dynamic mapping, route optimization, packet redundancy algorithms, and transport protocol optimization.
"We are excited to collaborate with Akamai to meet the needs of today's global enterprise. Akamai's IP Application Accelerator for VDI is a perfect complement to Citrix desktop virtualization solution and HDX technology. Together with Akamai, Citrix virtual desktop and application customers can provide the best possible user experience using the public Internet instead of building their own proprietary networks," said Sumit Dhawan, vice president of product marketing at Citrix Systems. "Through the combination of Citrix and Akamai, optimization of the user experience will happen in the datacenter, in the Internet cloud, and the end point, allowing IT to deliver a rich user experience with virtual desktops to any user anywhere."
The Tolly Group, a leading, global provider of independent testing and third-party validation services for the IT industry, has issued a report validating the Akamai solution for virtualization. The report (www.akamai.com/tolly) indicates that, by enabling Asia Pacific users to have the same performance as those in the U.S., Akamai demonstrated throughput improvements for a Citrix XenDesktop and NetScaler environment by up to 700 percent, advancing adoption and improving ROI associated with virtual application and desktop deployments.
"Enterprises around the world can leverage virtual desktop solutions to improve user productivity and reduce IT costs," said Kevin Tolly, founder of The Tolly Group. "Such a solution is only viable, however, if the wide-area network over which the services are delivered can provide adequate performance and availability. Implementing the Akamai IP Application Accelerator service in conjunction with the Citrix XenDesktop virtual desktop solution provides widely-distributed end users with a very consistent performance."
Entisys Solutions, integrator of virtualization solutions from the data center to the desktop, is a leading value-added reseller of the new Akamai solution as part of broader Citrix reference architecture for virtualization. Entisys has worked closely with Akamai to test the impact of the Akamai solution on Citrix Virtual Application and Desktop Infrastructures and the results have been significant.
"We see the combination of Akamai and Citrix Delivery Center Infrastructures as a way to extend enterprise virtual desktop and application deployments to a global user base, insuring a consistent, strong performing user experience. We are thrilled to be one of Akamai's first resellers of this technology, and see this as a standard part of our global infrastructure offering around virtual desktop and application infrastructures," said Mike Strohl, CEO of Entisys Solutions, Inc. and Agile360, a Citrix Platinum Partner and Partner of the Year for North America in 2007, as well as the State and Local Partner of the Year in 2008.
The new targeted Akamai solution for optimizing virtual applications and desktops is generally available today for enterprises and cloud computing providers offering hosted desktops as a service. Pricing scales based on the number of concurrent users.
To experience the benefits of Akamai IP Application Accelerator solution targeted for VDI, please visit www.akamai.com/VDI_Demo.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Citrix to Establish Virtual Infrastructure Security Validation in Collaboration with SignaCert
Citrix Systems, Inc. today announced it is working with SignaCert, the leading provider of IT compliance solutions based on whitelisting methods, to include Citrix Systems software measurements in the SignaCert Global Trust Repository (GTR). This collaboration will provide objective, third-party validation of Citrix-built software for IT security, compliance and systems management of virtual infrastructures, enabling Citrix customers and partners to explore innovative uses for Citrix desktop and server virtualization products such as XenDesktop™, XenApp™ and XenServer™, including dynamically managing applications and packages in workloads. Additionally, SignaCert will license the Data Exchange Format (DEF) to customers at no charge to help them leverage the whitelist data method for custom uses in their Citrix environments.
“Virtualization presents a ‘killer platform’ for our software whitelisting services, which are quickly becoming an industry accepted approach to information security, compliance and systems management,” said Wyatt Starnes, Founder and CEO of SignaCert. “Our ability to provide third-party Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) validation for Citrix streaming and virtualization technologies will create a competitive leapfrog opportunity for Citrix.”
The SignaCert Global Trust Repository uses known-provenance and vendor-independent software measurements, or whitelists, to enable new enterprise IT security methods. These whitelists provide a standardized way to enforce security and compliance of third-party software for enterprise computing environments, as well as more advanced uses such as software attestation in high-assurance platforms. The technology permits virtual machines (VM) and their applications to be securely authenticated, so that when a VM is moved – between the enterprise data center and a cloud, for example – the user can be confident that the workload originated with their enterprise customer and it has not been altered outside of policy in any way, and that there have been no file and structure changes, additions or deletions to the application stack.
“Our collaboration with SignaCert is further demonstration of the Citrix commitment to addressing customer concerns about the security, compliance and operational stability of virtual infrastructures,” said Kurt Roemer, chief security strategist, Citrix Systems. “Citrix believes that a standards-based approach to software measurement will build trust and further spur adoption of desktop and server virtualization.”
“Virtualization presents a ‘killer platform’ for our software whitelisting services, which are quickly becoming an industry accepted approach to information security, compliance and systems management,” said Wyatt Starnes, Founder and CEO of SignaCert. “Our ability to provide third-party Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) validation for Citrix streaming and virtualization technologies will create a competitive leapfrog opportunity for Citrix.”
The SignaCert Global Trust Repository uses known-provenance and vendor-independent software measurements, or whitelists, to enable new enterprise IT security methods. These whitelists provide a standardized way to enforce security and compliance of third-party software for enterprise computing environments, as well as more advanced uses such as software attestation in high-assurance platforms. The technology permits virtual machines (VM) and their applications to be securely authenticated, so that when a VM is moved – between the enterprise data center and a cloud, for example – the user can be confident that the workload originated with their enterprise customer and it has not been altered outside of policy in any way, and that there have been no file and structure changes, additions or deletions to the application stack.
“Our collaboration with SignaCert is further demonstration of the Citrix commitment to addressing customer concerns about the security, compliance and operational stability of virtual infrastructures,” said Kurt Roemer, chief security strategist, Citrix Systems. “Citrix believes that a standards-based approach to software measurement will build trust and further spur adoption of desktop and server virtualization.”
Eucalyptus Systems Launches the Eucalyptus Enterprise Edition Which Includes Support for VMware Virtualization Technologies
Eucalyptus Systems, Inc., creator of the leading open source private cloud platform, today announced the company’s first commercial offering: the Eucalyptus Enterprise Edition (EEE). EEE enables customers to implement an on-premise Eucalyptus cloud with VMware®’s industry-leading virtualization technologies, including vSphere®, ESX™ and ESXi™.
EEE is the only on-premise cloud computing solution available today for vSphere customers, providing a robust, affordable cloud computing solution that leverages their investment in VMware technologies. EEE also supports other hypervisors typically found in a data center, such as Xen and KVM, providing customers the flexibility to configure cloud solutions that best meet their infrastructure needs.
“Eucalyptus Systems’ mission has been to support the open source Eucalyptus on-premise cloud platform while also delivering solutions for large-scale enterprise deployments, and we are proud to launch the Eucalyptus Enterprise Edition as our first commercial offering for the enterprise,” said Dr. Rich Wolski, Eucalyptus Systems co-founder, CTO and former director of the Eucalyptus research project at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). “EEE represents the first step toward broader Eucalyptus-enabled cloud interoperability that leverages multiple virtualization environments and technologies.”
EEE is built on Eucalyptus -- an open source software infrastructure for implementing on-premise cloud computing using an organization’s own information technology (IT) infrastructure, without modification, special-purpose hardware or reconfiguration. Eucalyptus turns data center resources such as machines, networks, and storage systems into a cloud that is controlled and customized by local IT. Eucalyptus is the only cloud architecture to support the same application programming interfaces (APIs) as public clouds, and today Eucalyptus is fully compatible with the Amazon Web Services cloud infrastructure.
For EEE, Eucalyptus leverages vSphere, ESXi, and ESX virtualization technologies to provide an on-premise cloud in the data center. EEE also includes an image converter that helps users develop VMware-enabled Eucalyptus applications that are compatible with Amazon EC2. Moreover, Eucalyptus supports popular open source hypervisors such as KVM and Xen, enabling EEE customers to choose the most appropriate software stack for each cloud application while maintaining a single cloud API that is Amazon compatible.
"As enterprises and governments increasingly seek to leverage the benefits of cloud computing in on premise infrastructure, existing datacenters are poised for transformation," said Stephen O'Grady, Principal Analyst with RedMonk. "With the release of its Enterprise Edition, Eucalyptus is providing customers with the ability to blend their VMware, KVM and Xen assets into a single cloud fabric while ensuring compatibility with existing public cloud options."
Licensing and Availability
Eucalyptus Enterprise Edition is available today and is licensed based on the number of processor cores on the physical host. For more information, including detailed pricing, please visit www.eucalyptus.com or call 805-845-8000.
EEE is the only on-premise cloud computing solution available today for vSphere customers, providing a robust, affordable cloud computing solution that leverages their investment in VMware technologies. EEE also supports other hypervisors typically found in a data center, such as Xen and KVM, providing customers the flexibility to configure cloud solutions that best meet their infrastructure needs.
“Eucalyptus Systems’ mission has been to support the open source Eucalyptus on-premise cloud platform while also delivering solutions for large-scale enterprise deployments, and we are proud to launch the Eucalyptus Enterprise Edition as our first commercial offering for the enterprise,” said Dr. Rich Wolski, Eucalyptus Systems co-founder, CTO and former director of the Eucalyptus research project at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). “EEE represents the first step toward broader Eucalyptus-enabled cloud interoperability that leverages multiple virtualization environments and technologies.”
EEE is built on Eucalyptus -- an open source software infrastructure for implementing on-premise cloud computing using an organization’s own information technology (IT) infrastructure, without modification, special-purpose hardware or reconfiguration. Eucalyptus turns data center resources such as machines, networks, and storage systems into a cloud that is controlled and customized by local IT. Eucalyptus is the only cloud architecture to support the same application programming interfaces (APIs) as public clouds, and today Eucalyptus is fully compatible with the Amazon Web Services cloud infrastructure.
For EEE, Eucalyptus leverages vSphere, ESXi, and ESX virtualization technologies to provide an on-premise cloud in the data center. EEE also includes an image converter that helps users develop VMware-enabled Eucalyptus applications that are compatible with Amazon EC2. Moreover, Eucalyptus supports popular open source hypervisors such as KVM and Xen, enabling EEE customers to choose the most appropriate software stack for each cloud application while maintaining a single cloud API that is Amazon compatible.
"As enterprises and governments increasingly seek to leverage the benefits of cloud computing in on premise infrastructure, existing datacenters are poised for transformation," said Stephen O'Grady, Principal Analyst with RedMonk. "With the release of its Enterprise Edition, Eucalyptus is providing customers with the ability to blend their VMware, KVM and Xen assets into a single cloud fabric while ensuring compatibility with existing public cloud options."
Licensing and Availability
Eucalyptus Enterprise Edition is available today and is licensed based on the number of processor cores on the physical host. For more information, including detailed pricing, please visit www.eucalyptus.com or call 805-845-8000.
Citrix to Participate in Keynote Panel Discussion at Forrester's Security Forum 2009
Citrix Systems, Inc., today announced Citrix CIO and Corporate Vice President Paul Martine will participate in a keynote panel discussion at Forrester’s Security Forum 2009, titled “Successful Approaches to Addressing Consumerization: A Panel Discussion.” The panelists will examine the policies, controls and practices to minimize the threat of consumerization. Panelists will also discuss how consumer-grade hardware and software have penetrated the enterprise as workers begin to demand Apple iPhones, and other technologies such as Google Docs, Apple computers, Skype and Twitter. Attendees will learn what the threats versus benefits are of supporting consumer technologies in the enterprise; how to evolve security and risk practices to combat the risks of consumerization; and what employee acceptable use policies are for today’s security executives. Forrester defines consumerization as “an adoption trend led by a technology-native workforce that self-provisions collaborative tools, information sources and human networks—requiring minimal or no ongoing support from a central IT organization.”
Where:
Forrester’s Security Forum 2009
Hyatt Regency La Jolla
San Diego
When:
9/10/2009 - 9/11/2009
Keynote Panel Discussion:
Thursday, Sept. 10, 9:35 to 10:20 a.m.
Paul Martine, CIO and corporate vice president at Citrix Systems
Eric Sachs, product manager of Google Security and CIO Departments at Google
John N. Stewart, vice president and chief security officer at Cisco Systems
Natalie Lambert, principal analyst at Forrester Research
Where:
Forrester’s Security Forum 2009
Hyatt Regency La Jolla
San Diego
When:
9/10/2009 - 9/11/2009
Keynote Panel Discussion:
Thursday, Sept. 10, 9:35 to 10:20 a.m.
Paul Martine, CIO and corporate vice president at Citrix Systems
Eric Sachs, product manager of Google Security and CIO Departments at Google
John N. Stewart, vice president and chief security officer at Cisco Systems
Natalie Lambert, principal analyst at Forrester Research
PacketTrap Survey Reveals Top Five Pain Points for Managed Service Providers
PacketTrap Networks, a leading provider of network monitoring and management software developed for Managed Service Providers (MSPs), today announced the results of a survey completed by 258 MSPs.
According to the survey, 83 percent of participants identified lack of visibility into network traffic as the number one pain point, with 75 percent stating a strong need for better granular traffic analysis software. More than 50 percent of respondents spent more than 13 percent of their time troubleshooting sluggish networks, which can be caused by clients’ employees surfing the Web for personal use, including bandwidth hogs such as YouTube.
“IT ESP is successful because we know what is going on with our client's networks at all times,” said Shawn Slater from IT ESP, Inc. “A key part of our success is predicated on granular traffic analysis and custom alert capabilities, which allow us to see what is happening as it occurring so we can be proactive with our clients needs. Traffic analysis and custom alerts also support our efforts to transition from the traditional break-fix model to a more prosperous MSP business.”
When survey respondents were asked the question, “Select the items that are top-of-mind issues for you as they relate to challenges you have with your customers,”
Moving assets to the cloud – 41 percent
Too many applications to manage – 37 percent
Managing / monitoring laptop fleets – 34 percent
Server management – 21 percent
MSPs responded to the PacketTrap survey during the month of July 2009 via email. They were asked questions about everything from current technologies implemented to long-term business goals. 60 percent stated their clients did not have storage, personal surfing or software download policies for their employees with most stating they were dissatisfied with their capabilities to monitor these areas. Unmonitored networks raise potential liability and performance issues for organizations and MSPs are responsible.
“It is apparent from the survey that there is a clear need for better network management software for MSPs, with traffic analysis capabilities being the most critical,” said Steve Goodman, CEO of PacketTrap. “PacketTrapMSP is the most advanced network management solution for the MSP market. Its’ remote monitoring and management capabilities allow MSPs to prevent problems before they occur so they can add real value to their clients.”
According to the survey, 83 percent of participants identified lack of visibility into network traffic as the number one pain point, with 75 percent stating a strong need for better granular traffic analysis software. More than 50 percent of respondents spent more than 13 percent of their time troubleshooting sluggish networks, which can be caused by clients’ employees surfing the Web for personal use, including bandwidth hogs such as YouTube.
“IT ESP is successful because we know what is going on with our client's networks at all times,” said Shawn Slater from IT ESP, Inc. “A key part of our success is predicated on granular traffic analysis and custom alert capabilities, which allow us to see what is happening as it occurring so we can be proactive with our clients needs. Traffic analysis and custom alerts also support our efforts to transition from the traditional break-fix model to a more prosperous MSP business.”
When survey respondents were asked the question, “Select the items that are top-of-mind issues for you as they relate to challenges you have with your customers,”
Moving assets to the cloud – 41 percent
Too many applications to manage – 37 percent
Managing / monitoring laptop fleets – 34 percent
Server management – 21 percent
MSPs responded to the PacketTrap survey during the month of July 2009 via email. They were asked questions about everything from current technologies implemented to long-term business goals. 60 percent stated their clients did not have storage, personal surfing or software download policies for their employees with most stating they were dissatisfied with their capabilities to monitor these areas. Unmonitored networks raise potential liability and performance issues for organizations and MSPs are responsible.
“It is apparent from the survey that there is a clear need for better network management software for MSPs, with traffic analysis capabilities being the most critical,” said Steve Goodman, CEO of PacketTrap. “PacketTrapMSP is the most advanced network management solution for the MSP market. Its’ remote monitoring and management capabilities allow MSPs to prevent problems before they occur so they can add real value to their clients.”
Parallels Adds Microsoft Office Communications Server Support to its Cloud Automation Platform
Automation and virtualization leader, Parallels, today announced the addition of Microsoft Office Communications Server R2 to its Parallels Automation offering. Parallels Automation provides hosters a fully integrated unified communications solution that can increase revenue per-user, decrease costs and get to market quickly.
Parallels Automation support of Microsoft Office Communications Server allows service providers to deliver a broader suite of collaboration features to their small and medium sized business (SMB) customers that are normally reserved for large enterprises such as instant messaging, real-time presence, conferencing, and collaboration. For cloud services providers, combining Office Communications Server with a hosted Microsoft Exchange offering enables their customers to take advantage of real-time communications.
"By offering Microsoft’s unified communications software in a hosted environment, service providers are able to deliver enterprise-class collaboration features at an affordable cost for SMBs," said John Zanni, general manager of the Worldwide Software Plus Services Industry for the Communications Sector at Microsoft Corp. "Parallels enables the automated delivery of Office Communications Server in a hosted environment, which can increase a cloud services providers average revenue per user, decrease costs and decrease time to market."
"Office Communications Server has transformed the way we do business," explains James Griffin, head of hosting strategy at Star Business ISP. "It’s critical for our employees to be responsive and communicate on the fly. Whether it’s instant messaging, conference calls or e-mail communications, the Parallels Operations Automation platform, together with Microsoft Office Communications Server, ensures we can communicate securely with instant messaging, conferencing and data sharing as the situation changes."
Parallels Automation provides a complete end-to-end automation platform specifically built for the needs of cloud services providers and enables the full spectrum of hosted Microsoft applications including Microsoft Exchange Server, Windows SharePoint Services, Microsoft Office Communications Server, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM in a hosted environment.
With Microsoft Office Communications Server, Parallels Automation:
Automates the creation of Office Communications Server accounts and deletion of accounts;
Automates the up-selling, provisioning and billing process;
Lets service providers create Microsoft Office Communications Server service templates to create multiple service level with different service attributes
"Parallels supports Microsoft’s vision of unified communications," said Jack Zubarev, President, Service Provider Division, Parallels. "Microsoft Office Communications Server helps employees work and collaborate more efficiently and become more agile in today’s competitive business environment. In today’s economy, service providers can help their customers take advantage of Office Communications Server to improve productivity, cut costs and deliver the benefits of unified communications to their employees, partners and customers."
Parallels Automation support of Microsoft Office Communications Server allows service providers to deliver a broader suite of collaboration features to their small and medium sized business (SMB) customers that are normally reserved for large enterprises such as instant messaging, real-time presence, conferencing, and collaboration. For cloud services providers, combining Office Communications Server with a hosted Microsoft Exchange offering enables their customers to take advantage of real-time communications.
"By offering Microsoft’s unified communications software in a hosted environment, service providers are able to deliver enterprise-class collaboration features at an affordable cost for SMBs," said John Zanni, general manager of the Worldwide Software Plus Services Industry for the Communications Sector at Microsoft Corp. "Parallels enables the automated delivery of Office Communications Server in a hosted environment, which can increase a cloud services providers average revenue per user, decrease costs and decrease time to market."
"Office Communications Server has transformed the way we do business," explains James Griffin, head of hosting strategy at Star Business ISP. "It’s critical for our employees to be responsive and communicate on the fly. Whether it’s instant messaging, conference calls or e-mail communications, the Parallels Operations Automation platform, together with Microsoft Office Communications Server, ensures we can communicate securely with instant messaging, conferencing and data sharing as the situation changes."
Parallels Automation provides a complete end-to-end automation platform specifically built for the needs of cloud services providers and enables the full spectrum of hosted Microsoft applications including Microsoft Exchange Server, Windows SharePoint Services, Microsoft Office Communications Server, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM in a hosted environment.
With Microsoft Office Communications Server, Parallels Automation:
Automates the creation of Office Communications Server accounts and deletion of accounts;
Automates the up-selling, provisioning and billing process;
Lets service providers create Microsoft Office Communications Server service templates to create multiple service level with different service attributes
"Parallels supports Microsoft’s vision of unified communications," said Jack Zubarev, President, Service Provider Division, Parallels. "Microsoft Office Communications Server helps employees work and collaborate more efficiently and become more agile in today’s competitive business environment. In today’s economy, service providers can help their customers take advantage of Office Communications Server to improve productivity, cut costs and deliver the benefits of unified communications to their employees, partners and customers."
Quest Software to Conclude Webcast Series Emphasizing Virtualization's Impact on Applications with "From Here to Eternity – Adapting Monitoring for th
Guest Analyst Glenn O’Donnell Explains How Organizations Can Prevent Future Application Performance Failures Today
“From Here to Eternity – Adapting Monitoring for the Future,” the final webcast in the three-part series, “Virtualization Puts Your Applications at Risk – Be Ready!” sponsored by Quest. The webcast series features guest analysts from Forrester Research, including Vice President and Principal Analyst Jean-Pierre “J.P.”Garbani, Senior Analyst Evelyn Hubbert and Senior Analyst Glenn O’Donnell.
Register here: http://www.quest.com/landing/?ID=4609
The webcasts in the series include:
“Application Performance on a Virtual Infrastructure – Know Your Risks!” J.P. Garbani, for webcast archive visit http://www.quest.com/landing/?ID=4609
“Great Virtual IT Management – Learn From the Best!” Evelyn Hubbert, for webcast archive visit http://www.quest.com/landing/?ID=4609
“From Here to Eternity – Adapting Monitoring for the Future,” Glenn O’Donnell, Sept. 14, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. EDT
“From Here to Eternity – Adapting Monitoring for the Future,” the final webcast in the three-part series, “Virtualization Puts Your Applications at Risk – Be Ready!” sponsored by Quest. The webcast series features guest analysts from Forrester Research, including Vice President and Principal Analyst Jean-Pierre “J.P.”Garbani, Senior Analyst Evelyn Hubbert and Senior Analyst Glenn O’Donnell.
Register here: http://www.quest.com/landing/?ID=4609
The webcasts in the series include:
“Application Performance on a Virtual Infrastructure – Know Your Risks!” J.P. Garbani, for webcast archive visit http://www.quest.com/landing/?ID=4609
“Great Virtual IT Management – Learn From the Best!” Evelyn Hubbert, for webcast archive visit http://www.quest.com/landing/?ID=4609
“From Here to Eternity – Adapting Monitoring for the Future,” Glenn O’Donnell, Sept. 14, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. EDT
Marathon Technologies Names Jim Welch as President and CEO
Marathon Technologies, the award-winning provider of fault-tolerant, high availability software for physical and virtual servers, today announced that Jim Welch has joined the company as its new president and chief executive officer. With more than 25 years of experience and expertise in developing high growth, sustainable software companies, Welch will propel Marathon’s next phase of growth by leading the strategic direction and operations of the company.
“Jim has a proven track record in growing market-leading enterprise software companies, and we are excited to have an executive of his caliber join the team,” said Axel Bichara, Partner, Atlas Venture and member of Marathon’s Board of Directors. “I’m confident that Jim can help Marathon fully capitalize on its tremendous market opportunity.”
Welch has many years of executive leadership experience in high growth software companies and brings a wealth of enterprise software expertise to Marathon. He was one of the original founders of Intellution, a PC-based automation and internet software company. Before Intellution was purchased by Emerson in 1995, Welch had advanced in the organization to the role of Executive Vice President of Strategy, Planning and Development.
Following Intellution, Welch joined Ascential Software, the market leader in Enterprise Data Integration. As Vice President of Product Operations, he helped shape a new business strategy that tripled revenue growth in three years and resulted in the acquisition of Ascential by IBM in 2005. Welch remained at Ascential to ensure the company’s effective integration into IBM and was subsequently promoted to Vice President and General Manager of the InfoSphere Software business of IBM. The $600 million division is a high growth business for IBM that has been recognized by Gartner and Forrester Research as the execution and vision leader in master data management, enterprise data integration and data quality.
“The need for data and application availability has never been greater as companies of all sizes now have to operate on a 24x7 global basis. Consequently, the downtime impact and costs for core Windows Server applications such as Microsoft Exchange and SQL Server as well as vertical applications for manufacturing automation and building security has skyrocketed. Marathon is uniquely qualified to provide solutions to meet these customer pain points,” said Welch. “I am eager to build on Marathon’s vision of providing automated high availability and disaster recovery solutions for businesses of all sizes, and lead Marathon in a new phase of growth.”
“Jim has a proven track record in growing market-leading enterprise software companies, and we are excited to have an executive of his caliber join the team,” said Axel Bichara, Partner, Atlas Venture and member of Marathon’s Board of Directors. “I’m confident that Jim can help Marathon fully capitalize on its tremendous market opportunity.”
Welch has many years of executive leadership experience in high growth software companies and brings a wealth of enterprise software expertise to Marathon. He was one of the original founders of Intellution, a PC-based automation and internet software company. Before Intellution was purchased by Emerson in 1995, Welch had advanced in the organization to the role of Executive Vice President of Strategy, Planning and Development.
Following Intellution, Welch joined Ascential Software, the market leader in Enterprise Data Integration. As Vice President of Product Operations, he helped shape a new business strategy that tripled revenue growth in three years and resulted in the acquisition of Ascential by IBM in 2005. Welch remained at Ascential to ensure the company’s effective integration into IBM and was subsequently promoted to Vice President and General Manager of the InfoSphere Software business of IBM. The $600 million division is a high growth business for IBM that has been recognized by Gartner and Forrester Research as the execution and vision leader in master data management, enterprise data integration and data quality.
“The need for data and application availability has never been greater as companies of all sizes now have to operate on a 24x7 global basis. Consequently, the downtime impact and costs for core Windows Server applications such as Microsoft Exchange and SQL Server as well as vertical applications for manufacturing automation and building security has skyrocketed. Marathon is uniquely qualified to provide solutions to meet these customer pain points,” said Welch. “I am eager to build on Marathon’s vision of providing automated high availability and disaster recovery solutions for businesses of all sizes, and lead Marathon in a new phase of growth.”
EcomNets Redefines the Green PC
EcomNets today announced the industry's first Green PC, Verdio™, designed specifically for server-based desktop virtualization, but can operate as a standalone PC. Verdio was invented specifically to leverage the powerful trend toward server virtualization and desktop virtualization. The Verdio™ device connects keyboard, mouse, display, audio and USB peripherals over an existing IP network to an instance of Microsoft Windows 7 or Windows XP running on a virtualized server. Moving all software off the desktop to the server, the Verdio also has standalone options as a fully functioning PC. Verdio comes with a CPU, memory, drivers, and operating system. This provides flexibility and reliability for IT organizations. Using functionality enabled by server virtualization, Verdio delivers not only a complete Microsoft Windows experience, but it reduces the power consumption of traditional PC hardware environment by up to 70%.
Carbon Footprint and TCO reduced by 70 percent.
Verdio reduces desktop TCO by 70 percent--saving 70% on energy costs, and reducing the carbon footprint by 70% is a great start for organizations looking to Go Green in the current economy. Verdio desktop devices come with or without software, providing flexibility.
Standard configuration boasts 1GB RAM (2GB optional), 120GB HD, 4 USB ports, 1 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Card, 802.11n Wireless (optional), external CDROM (optional).
Software installations and upgrades are performed centrally.
Server virtualization efficiently shares hardware across the entire user population
Verdio consumes only 28 watts -- 30% of a typical PC that consumes an average of 75 watts -- making Verdio the ultimate Green PC
"While desktop PCs might be inexpensive to acquire, the virtualized version of Verdio starts at $99 for Government, Education, and Non-Profits. Commercial clients pay an additional $50 making it $149," said Raj Kosuri, CTO & CEO for EcomNets. "The standalone version goes for $299 for Government, Education, and Non-Profits. Commercial clients pay an additional $50 making it $349, so you can see that even at our highest price of $349, we are still $200 - $400 less than our competitors, with equal or better power."
Complete Green IT Solution Provider (GSP)
The EcomNets Green IT Solutions is comprised of server virtualization, desktop virtualization, PC power management, and data de-duplication. The Verdio desktop device is a hardware addition to professional services. For customers new to virtualization or looking for an entry-level solution, Verdio allows companies three flavors of virtualization: VMware, Microsoft, and Citrix, or any combination of the three.
"We have provided managed services around traditional desktops for 10 years, and see desktop virtualization as a new, high-value service we can offer customers," said Terell Jones, Director of Infrastructure Practice of EcomNets, "With Verdio, we can deliver a valuable new service that is quick and easy to deploy. EcomNets' new product launch of Verdio will enable EcomNets to be much more profitable at desktop management, and the virtualized Verdio will allow us to offer additional services around virtualization such as Cloud Computing."
Verdio will be generally available in September 2009. Verdio will be available as a subscription or perpetual license. For more information, contact 1-703-481-3035 or visit www.Verdio.net or www.ecomnets.com.
Carbon Footprint and TCO reduced by 70 percent.
Verdio reduces desktop TCO by 70 percent--saving 70% on energy costs, and reducing the carbon footprint by 70% is a great start for organizations looking to Go Green in the current economy. Verdio desktop devices come with or without software, providing flexibility.
Standard configuration boasts 1GB RAM (2GB optional), 120GB HD, 4 USB ports, 1 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Card, 802.11n Wireless (optional), external CDROM (optional).
Software installations and upgrades are performed centrally.
Server virtualization efficiently shares hardware across the entire user population
Verdio consumes only 28 watts -- 30% of a typical PC that consumes an average of 75 watts -- making Verdio the ultimate Green PC
"While desktop PCs might be inexpensive to acquire, the virtualized version of Verdio starts at $99 for Government, Education, and Non-Profits. Commercial clients pay an additional $50 making it $149," said Raj Kosuri, CTO & CEO for EcomNets. "The standalone version goes for $299 for Government, Education, and Non-Profits. Commercial clients pay an additional $50 making it $349, so you can see that even at our highest price of $349, we are still $200 - $400 less than our competitors, with equal or better power."
Complete Green IT Solution Provider (GSP)
The EcomNets Green IT Solutions is comprised of server virtualization, desktop virtualization, PC power management, and data de-duplication. The Verdio desktop device is a hardware addition to professional services. For customers new to virtualization or looking for an entry-level solution, Verdio allows companies three flavors of virtualization: VMware, Microsoft, and Citrix, or any combination of the three.
"We have provided managed services around traditional desktops for 10 years, and see desktop virtualization as a new, high-value service we can offer customers," said Terell Jones, Director of Infrastructure Practice of EcomNets, "With Verdio, we can deliver a valuable new service that is quick and easy to deploy. EcomNets' new product launch of Verdio will enable EcomNets to be much more profitable at desktop management, and the virtualized Verdio will allow us to offer additional services around virtualization such as Cloud Computing."
Verdio will be generally available in September 2009. Verdio will be available as a subscription or perpetual license. For more information, contact 1-703-481-3035 or visit www.Verdio.net or www.ecomnets.com.
Seeking Tech Trailblazers – Citrix Synergy Spring 2010 Call for Topics Now Open
Citrix Systems, Inc., today announced the Citrix SynergyTM Spring 2010 call for topics. Taking place May 11 to 14, 2010 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Synergy Spring is focused on the growing convergence between virtualization, networking and cloud computing. Interoperability and openness are central to this theme, and Citrix encourages technical experts and industry thought leaders to contribute proposals focusing on topics related to real world challenges.
Vendor neutral submissions that address trends, technologies and solutions in the following areas are now being accepted for consideration:
Desktop virtualization is the hottest IT topic today. It can free users and IT organizations from the burden of a traditional PC infrastructure while providing a foundation for next-generation computing. This track will discuss practical realities for delivering corporate desktop to users, as well as the significant benefits companies can achieve through a well-designed desktop virtualization solution.
Application virtualization removes considerable administrative burden from IT departments, leaving them free to focus on strategic business needs. This track will focus on proven best practices for managing an application virtualization infrastructure, increasing the number and type of applications that can be delivered, as well as cost savings associated with application virtualization.
Server virtualization breaks the one-server-one-operating system and one-server-one-application paradigm, and allows multiple operating systems and applications to run on a single server and allows users to dynamically move workloads between hosts. This track will examine server virtualization’s role in reducing physical server requirements while increasing server utilization for enterprises worldwide.
Cloud computing has the potential to create a computing revolution in the same way that industrialization revolutionized goods production. It will make production by small operations impractical as large, extremely efficient service providers are able to produce IT infrastructure services in high volume at a low cost. This track will delve into what the cloud means to businesses and how companies can prepare today for the datacenter of tomorrow.
Application networking issues are becoming more prevalent with the influx of devices, applications, regulations and remote workers. This track will examine how the current distributed computing environment places extreme – and seemingly insurmountable – demands on IT. It will also examine how IT can take advantage of existing networking technology to provide a high definition IT experience to all users, no matter the device, location or connection.
The Synergy call for topics encourages submissions from vendors that provide open forums dealing with real world challenges and everyday issues, especially those that highlight the interoperability between products from various vendors. All submissions showing innovative ways to use virtualization, networking and cloud computing concepts to create a dynamic, agile IT infrastructure are encouraged.
Business-level session submissions should focus on the strategies and solutions to help drive efficiency, agility and growth, especially for companies looking to do more with less. Topics focusing on how to cut costs, simplify operations, get more out of existing assets, avoid costly hardware purchases and reduce ongoing maintenance, all supported through the use of real world case studies, statistics and ROI are preferred. C-level and other experts with a broad understanding of business demands and how to address them will receive the highest consideration.
Technical-level submissions should offer in-depth presentations focused on roadmaps and practical implementation studies to help IT professionals thrive in today's dynamic environment. Topics should focus on installation, configuration or administration of existing and emerging technologies in virtualization, networking and cloud computing. Sessions supported by demos or other examples of the implemented solutions are preferred. Individuals with deep technical backgrounds will receive the highest consideration.
Speaking proposals will be reviewed by a selection committee made up of independent analysts, journalists and enterprise IT professionals. Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis, but early submission is encouraged. The first round review will begin Oct. 15 followed by a second round of reviews Dec. 4. Notification of speaker acceptance for Synergy 2010 will begin Nov. 20, with final notifications beginning January 15, 2010. For more information on the call for topics or to make a submission visit http://citrix.g2planet.com/synergyspring2010.
Citrix Synergy offers a wide array of sessions on virtualization, networking, cloud computing and Citrix products. Attendees will learn how IT can simplify the delivery of desktops and applications to users anywhere, on any device and become more cost efficient. Attendees will leave Synergy with powerful skills and knowledge that will boost their value within the industry. Registration for Synergy Spring 2010 will be available in December. Visit http://www.citrixsynergy.com for details.
Vendor neutral submissions that address trends, technologies and solutions in the following areas are now being accepted for consideration:
Desktop virtualization is the hottest IT topic today. It can free users and IT organizations from the burden of a traditional PC infrastructure while providing a foundation for next-generation computing. This track will discuss practical realities for delivering corporate desktop to users, as well as the significant benefits companies can achieve through a well-designed desktop virtualization solution.
Application virtualization removes considerable administrative burden from IT departments, leaving them free to focus on strategic business needs. This track will focus on proven best practices for managing an application virtualization infrastructure, increasing the number and type of applications that can be delivered, as well as cost savings associated with application virtualization.
Server virtualization breaks the one-server-one-operating system and one-server-one-application paradigm, and allows multiple operating systems and applications to run on a single server and allows users to dynamically move workloads between hosts. This track will examine server virtualization’s role in reducing physical server requirements while increasing server utilization for enterprises worldwide.
Cloud computing has the potential to create a computing revolution in the same way that industrialization revolutionized goods production. It will make production by small operations impractical as large, extremely efficient service providers are able to produce IT infrastructure services in high volume at a low cost. This track will delve into what the cloud means to businesses and how companies can prepare today for the datacenter of tomorrow.
Application networking issues are becoming more prevalent with the influx of devices, applications, regulations and remote workers. This track will examine how the current distributed computing environment places extreme – and seemingly insurmountable – demands on IT. It will also examine how IT can take advantage of existing networking technology to provide a high definition IT experience to all users, no matter the device, location or connection.
The Synergy call for topics encourages submissions from vendors that provide open forums dealing with real world challenges and everyday issues, especially those that highlight the interoperability between products from various vendors. All submissions showing innovative ways to use virtualization, networking and cloud computing concepts to create a dynamic, agile IT infrastructure are encouraged.
Business-level session submissions should focus on the strategies and solutions to help drive efficiency, agility and growth, especially for companies looking to do more with less. Topics focusing on how to cut costs, simplify operations, get more out of existing assets, avoid costly hardware purchases and reduce ongoing maintenance, all supported through the use of real world case studies, statistics and ROI are preferred. C-level and other experts with a broad understanding of business demands and how to address them will receive the highest consideration.
Technical-level submissions should offer in-depth presentations focused on roadmaps and practical implementation studies to help IT professionals thrive in today's dynamic environment. Topics should focus on installation, configuration or administration of existing and emerging technologies in virtualization, networking and cloud computing. Sessions supported by demos or other examples of the implemented solutions are preferred. Individuals with deep technical backgrounds will receive the highest consideration.
Speaking proposals will be reviewed by a selection committee made up of independent analysts, journalists and enterprise IT professionals. Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis, but early submission is encouraged. The first round review will begin Oct. 15 followed by a second round of reviews Dec. 4. Notification of speaker acceptance for Synergy 2010 will begin Nov. 20, with final notifications beginning January 15, 2010. For more information on the call for topics or to make a submission visit http://citrix.g2planet.com/synergyspring2010.
Citrix Synergy offers a wide array of sessions on virtualization, networking, cloud computing and Citrix products. Attendees will learn how IT can simplify the delivery of desktops and applications to users anywhere, on any device and become more cost efficient. Attendees will leave Synergy with powerful skills and knowledge that will boost their value within the industry. Registration for Synergy Spring 2010 will be available in December. Visit http://www.citrixsynergy.com for details.
App-DNA Introduces AppTitude 4.0 Application Compatibility Testing Solution with New Support for Windows 7
App-DNA, the worldwide leader in compatibility testing for application environments, today introduced AppTitude™ 4.0, the latest release of the company’s application compatibility testing solution that helps organizations learn where is the best place to run an application and why. AppTitude 4.0 adds over 15 new and updated features, including a new reporting capability for Windows 7 application compatibility, extended support for Microsoft .NET Framework-based applications and new support for using VMware to capture installation snapshots. AppTitude assists organizations by eliminating much of the manual testing involved in application assessments and OS migrations, such as Windows 7, and gaining faster and better testing and conversion of applications to virtualization formats.
AppTitude 4.0 includes enhancements to several existing features plus newly-added functionality, including:
A new Windows 7 Report for AppTitude’s Desktop Compatibility Manager module;
Extension of AppTitude’s Production Manager to now support VMWare images. This means users can capture install snapshots using VMWare, in addition to the previously supported Virtual Server 2005.
Integration of AppTitude with the Windows PCA internal database that ships with Windows 7 and Windows Vista for improved reporting accuracy. AppTitude 4.0 recognizes the three PCA states within the OS: “automatic shim,” in which the OS automatically configures the application to run; “soft block,” in which the OS warns that the application may have minor problems but allows it to run; and “hard block,” in which the OS prevents the application from running under it at all.
Newly-improved manifestations and remediations across all reports provide better documentation and detail on algorithms, offering improved usability;
New extended attribute import for .NET Framework-based applications provides the ability to determine .NET Framework dependencies in much greater detail. Now .NET Framework-based applications receive the same low-level analysis in AppTitude reports as Win32 apps. This improves overall accuracy and supports the assessment of a wider range of applications.
“App-DNA is one of our allies that supported our Windows 7 efforts from early design onward,” said Mark Rogers, Director ISV Ecosystem, Microsoft Corp. “We are pleased that App-DNA is introducing AppTitude 4.0 to support our mutual customers’ Windows 7 compatibility efforts.”
“With the new capabilities in AppTitude 4.0, we have further enhanced the insight we provide into an organization’s application portfolio,” said Mike Welling, CEO of App-DNA. “When testers can get the answers they need, it vastly reduces the time, cost and risks associated with deployment of OS migrations, software upgrades, virtualization and other changes. AppTitude 4.0 provides an even more powerful analytic dashboard for improving application management and supporting long-term planning.”
App-DNA’s AppTitude is the industry’s first application compatibility testing solution that can help organizations to determine the optimal method of application delivery – providing a rapid assessment of 100 percent of an organization's applications. Using AppTitude helps organizations avoid the expense and delay of manual testing and provides business benefits that include vastly reducing the time, cost and risks associated with deployment of OS migrations, software upgrades, virtualization and other changes. Only AppTitude provides comprehensive and quick insight into an entire application portfolio of hundreds or even thousands of applications, including custom and internally developed applications.
AppTitude 4.0 includes enhancements to several existing features plus newly-added functionality, including:
A new Windows 7 Report for AppTitude’s Desktop Compatibility Manager module;
Extension of AppTitude’s Production Manager to now support VMWare images. This means users can capture install snapshots using VMWare, in addition to the previously supported Virtual Server 2005.
Integration of AppTitude with the Windows PCA internal database that ships with Windows 7 and Windows Vista for improved reporting accuracy. AppTitude 4.0 recognizes the three PCA states within the OS: “automatic shim,” in which the OS automatically configures the application to run; “soft block,” in which the OS warns that the application may have minor problems but allows it to run; and “hard block,” in which the OS prevents the application from running under it at all.
Newly-improved manifestations and remediations across all reports provide better documentation and detail on algorithms, offering improved usability;
New extended attribute import for .NET Framework-based applications provides the ability to determine .NET Framework dependencies in much greater detail. Now .NET Framework-based applications receive the same low-level analysis in AppTitude reports as Win32 apps. This improves overall accuracy and supports the assessment of a wider range of applications.
“App-DNA is one of our allies that supported our Windows 7 efforts from early design onward,” said Mark Rogers, Director ISV Ecosystem, Microsoft Corp. “We are pleased that App-DNA is introducing AppTitude 4.0 to support our mutual customers’ Windows 7 compatibility efforts.”
“With the new capabilities in AppTitude 4.0, we have further enhanced the insight we provide into an organization’s application portfolio,” said Mike Welling, CEO of App-DNA. “When testers can get the answers they need, it vastly reduces the time, cost and risks associated with deployment of OS migrations, software upgrades, virtualization and other changes. AppTitude 4.0 provides an even more powerful analytic dashboard for improving application management and supporting long-term planning.”
App-DNA’s AppTitude is the industry’s first application compatibility testing solution that can help organizations to determine the optimal method of application delivery – providing a rapid assessment of 100 percent of an organization's applications. Using AppTitude helps organizations avoid the expense and delay of manual testing and provides business benefits that include vastly reducing the time, cost and risks associated with deployment of OS migrations, software upgrades, virtualization and other changes. Only AppTitude provides comprehensive and quick insight into an entire application portfolio of hundreds or even thousands of applications, including custom and internally developed applications.
Friday, September 4, 2009
BEAR Data Systems to Showcase the Latest in Data Center Virtualization at VMworld
BEAR Data Systems, Inc., (www.Bdata.com) a leading California IT solutions and services provider, announced today that it will be scheduling demonstrations of complete, end-to-end data center virtualization solutions during VMworld 2009, Booth #2514, August 31 - September 3 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Booth visitors who schedule a demonstration will see first-hand how server/network management and private cloud security can be cost-effectively combined in a single, integrated solution. Virtualization experts and BEAR Data integrators will be on hand to answer questions about the solutions and how data center virtualization can provide a growth path to the future.
Recently named to Inc. Magazine’s prestigious 2009 list of the fastest growing privately owned companies in the U.S., BEAR Data is well-known for designing data centers that slash IT costs while delivering more processing power. One way to do this is to use virtualization to reduce the amount of hardware required; which, in turn, reduces both power and cooling needs.
Virtualization is a compelling solution for the growing number of organizations that need to maximize the efficiency of their data centers and lower their costs. Gartner predicts the market for cloud products and services will jump from $46.4 billion last year to $150.1 billion in 2013.
Before BEAR Data delivered a solution that would offer the sweeping benefits that data center virtualization provides, it addressed the reasons some businesses have been hesitant about adopting the technology — the complexity of managing a mixture of local and virtual servers and security issues.
By combining its expertise in IT infrastructure with the latest virtualization software, BEAR Data delivers a solution that future-proofs an organization’s data center. It also takes the complexity out of data center virtualization with secure, private clouds. Now, virtual servers can use the same network configuration, security policy, diagnostic tools, and operational models as their physical server counterparts attached to dedicated physical network ports.
“A key benefit of this approach is network administrators will be able to use the same familiar management tool for both physical and virtual environments,” explained Don James, CEO of BEAR Data Systems, Inc. “It not only takes some of the complexity out of setting up and managing virtual networks, it helps organizations reduce their data center’s total cost of ownership (TCO) and increase IT responsiveness.”
A Cisco Systems Gold-certified Partner, BEAR Data has achieved the highest level of certification a channel partner can earn with specializations in the Advanced Data Center, Advanced Routing and Switching, Advanced Security, Advanced Unified Communications, and Advanced Wireless LAN categories. BEAR Data was also recently awarded the Cisco Customer Satisfaction Excellence Award, an award it has earned for five consecutive years. As a certified VMware Premier Partner, the highest level, BEAR Data has also demonstrated its expertise in the design and delivery of VMware-based solutions.
Recently named to Inc. Magazine’s prestigious 2009 list of the fastest growing privately owned companies in the U.S., BEAR Data is well-known for designing data centers that slash IT costs while delivering more processing power. One way to do this is to use virtualization to reduce the amount of hardware required; which, in turn, reduces both power and cooling needs.
Virtualization is a compelling solution for the growing number of organizations that need to maximize the efficiency of their data centers and lower their costs. Gartner predicts the market for cloud products and services will jump from $46.4 billion last year to $150.1 billion in 2013.
Before BEAR Data delivered a solution that would offer the sweeping benefits that data center virtualization provides, it addressed the reasons some businesses have been hesitant about adopting the technology — the complexity of managing a mixture of local and virtual servers and security issues.
By combining its expertise in IT infrastructure with the latest virtualization software, BEAR Data delivers a solution that future-proofs an organization’s data center. It also takes the complexity out of data center virtualization with secure, private clouds. Now, virtual servers can use the same network configuration, security policy, diagnostic tools, and operational models as their physical server counterparts attached to dedicated physical network ports.
“A key benefit of this approach is network administrators will be able to use the same familiar management tool for both physical and virtual environments,” explained Don James, CEO of BEAR Data Systems, Inc. “It not only takes some of the complexity out of setting up and managing virtual networks, it helps organizations reduce their data center’s total cost of ownership (TCO) and increase IT responsiveness.”
A Cisco Systems Gold-certified Partner, BEAR Data has achieved the highest level of certification a channel partner can earn with specializations in the Advanced Data Center, Advanced Routing and Switching, Advanced Security, Advanced Unified Communications, and Advanced Wireless LAN categories. BEAR Data was also recently awarded the Cisco Customer Satisfaction Excellence Award, an award it has earned for five consecutive years. As a certified VMware Premier Partner, the highest level, BEAR Data has also demonstrated its expertise in the design and delivery of VMware-based solutions.
CORAID EtherDrive SAN Adds Support for VMware vSphere
CORAID, providers of affordably fast SAN, today announced that its popular EtherDrive® storage family of appliances now supports VMware vSphere 4 to provide simple, integrated and affordable storage for virtualized and non-virtualized environments. With over 1500 customers worldwide, CORAID EtherDrive delivers an unmatched price to performance storage virtualization environment that is based on the open storage protocol ATA-over-Ethernet (AoE) and costs just one-fourth of the price of competing products. CORAID’s EtherDrive SAN provides businesses with a way to efficiently migrate their storage infrastructure to Ethernet for a considerably more affordable virtualized storage environment and now leverages the benefits of VMware’s vSphere operating environment, which includes VMware ESX and VMware ESXi.
"CORAID continues to change the rules of the game in SAN storage. By driving out the cost and complexity of running SANs on VMware, EtherDrive now gives VMware users a truly affordable and easy to use SAN that is ideal for small and medium sized data centers – both for its management of the storage footprint and price. EtherDrive lets the SMB access the benefits of virtualization without the high price tag or vendor lockin," commented Jim Kemp, CEO CORAID.
CORAID EtherDrive SANs are affordable, less complex and easily scalable storage that uses the AoE storage protocol to provide a simple and reliable alternative to more complex and expensive iSCSI and Fibre Channel SAN technologies. Built on open AoE, EtherDrive provides enterprise-class storage that easily leverages the most popular virtualization technologies. By moving to simple Ethernet technology, customers can dramatically reduce their overall storage complexity and improve performance using AoE to achieve 36% better read throughput and 90% for writes. View the benchmarks here: http://www.coraid.com/TECHNOLOGY/AoE-Performance-Study.
CORAID’s EtherDrive SANs are available worldwide through the company's network of resellers, channel partners, systems integrators and Coraid’s salesforce. For more information, please contact CORAID at +1-706-548-7200, email sales@coraid.com or visit www.coraid.com.
"CORAID continues to change the rules of the game in SAN storage. By driving out the cost and complexity of running SANs on VMware, EtherDrive now gives VMware users a truly affordable and easy to use SAN that is ideal for small and medium sized data centers – both for its management of the storage footprint and price. EtherDrive lets the SMB access the benefits of virtualization without the high price tag or vendor lockin," commented Jim Kemp, CEO CORAID.
CORAID EtherDrive SANs are affordable, less complex and easily scalable storage that uses the AoE storage protocol to provide a simple and reliable alternative to more complex and expensive iSCSI and Fibre Channel SAN technologies. Built on open AoE, EtherDrive provides enterprise-class storage that easily leverages the most popular virtualization technologies. By moving to simple Ethernet technology, customers can dramatically reduce their overall storage complexity and improve performance using AoE to achieve 36% better read throughput and 90% for writes. View the benchmarks here: http://www.coraid.com/TECHNOLOGY/AoE-Performance-Study.
CORAID’s EtherDrive SANs are available worldwide through the company's network of resellers, channel partners, systems integrators and Coraid’s salesforce. For more information, please contact CORAID at +1-706-548-7200, email sales@coraid.com or visit www.coraid.com.
Vizioncore Offers vOptimizer WasteFinder as Freeware
Vizioncore Inc., the market leader in virtualization data protection and management solutions, today announced that vOptimizer Pro’s space and alignment scanning and reporting capabilities will now be available as a new freeware product called vOptimizer WasteFinder. VMware customers will be able to use vOptimizer WasteFinder to search for over-allocated virtual storage and to immediately see the potential savings available from reclaiming this space. Individuals that download the free software are also invited to enter the “Cash for LUNkers” contest in which entrants with the largest amounts of wasted storage reported can win up to $5,000.
Vizioncore customers worldwide have been using vOptimizer Pro to drastically reduce wasted virtual storage, typically an area in which businesses have little or no transparency or control. Once found, over-allocated storage can be reclaimed and reused by other virtual machines or other physical infrastructure. Businesses that have never considered themselves at risk of excessive storage waste can now easily and quickly download vOptimizer WasteFinder for free and reveal the true picture.
The tool also detects problem areas such as virtual machines that are not 64k aligned, which leads to poor I/O performance. Vizioncore’s initiative to offer free tools that accelerate virtualization adoption started earlier this year with the launch of the Virtualization EcoShell Initiative (VESI). Virtualization EcoShell focuses on script-based VM administration, providing a powerful personal productivity solution to VM administrators.
“Effective virtual storage allocation is an area that businesses continue to struggle with,” said Steven Paravola, Vizioncore Product Marketing Manager for vOptimizer WasteFinder. “By offering vOptimizer WasteFinder for free, Vizioncore is allowing businesses to quickly determine whether they have properly allocated their virtual storage, and if not, instantly see the potential savings of reclaiming wasted space. For example, one customer recently reported finding over 67 Terabytes (TB) of over-allocated storage, which had cost them more than $1 million USD to purchase. Once users have identified issues with storage allocation, they can purchase vOptimizer Pro to quickly realize huge savings.”
With a download and set-up time of approximately 15 minutes, vOptimizer WasteFinder can be run by any VMware customer. Downloaders are also invited to enter the “Cash for LUNkers” contest, which will reward entrants that report the most wasted storage with up to $5,000 in prizes. To enter, users must:
a) Download and install vOptimizer WasteFinder
b) Run “Wasted Storage Scan”
c) E-mail the results to Vizioncore
vOptimizer WasteFinder can be downloaded for free here, and additional product information is available here. At VMworld 2009, visitors are invited to see both solutions in action alongside other Vizioncore free and commercial products at booth #1402.
Vizioncore is also announcing additional free editions of their products including vConverter SC and vControl multi-hypervisor management. To learn more details and begin using these products today, please visit www.vizioncore.com/free.
Vizioncore customers worldwide have been using vOptimizer Pro to drastically reduce wasted virtual storage, typically an area in which businesses have little or no transparency or control. Once found, over-allocated storage can be reclaimed and reused by other virtual machines or other physical infrastructure. Businesses that have never considered themselves at risk of excessive storage waste can now easily and quickly download vOptimizer WasteFinder for free and reveal the true picture.
The tool also detects problem areas such as virtual machines that are not 64k aligned, which leads to poor I/O performance. Vizioncore’s initiative to offer free tools that accelerate virtualization adoption started earlier this year with the launch of the Virtualization EcoShell Initiative (VESI). Virtualization EcoShell focuses on script-based VM administration, providing a powerful personal productivity solution to VM administrators.
“Effective virtual storage allocation is an area that businesses continue to struggle with,” said Steven Paravola, Vizioncore Product Marketing Manager for vOptimizer WasteFinder. “By offering vOptimizer WasteFinder for free, Vizioncore is allowing businesses to quickly determine whether they have properly allocated their virtual storage, and if not, instantly see the potential savings of reclaiming wasted space. For example, one customer recently reported finding over 67 Terabytes (TB) of over-allocated storage, which had cost them more than $1 million USD to purchase. Once users have identified issues with storage allocation, they can purchase vOptimizer Pro to quickly realize huge savings.”
With a download and set-up time of approximately 15 minutes, vOptimizer WasteFinder can be run by any VMware customer. Downloaders are also invited to enter the “Cash for LUNkers” contest, which will reward entrants that report the most wasted storage with up to $5,000 in prizes. To enter, users must:
a) Download and install vOptimizer WasteFinder
b) Run “Wasted Storage Scan”
c) E-mail the results to Vizioncore
vOptimizer WasteFinder can be downloaded for free here, and additional product information is available here. At VMworld 2009, visitors are invited to see both solutions in action alongside other Vizioncore free and commercial products at booth #1402.
Vizioncore is also announcing additional free editions of their products including vConverter SC and vControl multi-hypervisor management. To learn more details and begin using these products today, please visit www.vizioncore.com/free.
VMLogix Releases LabManager – Cloud Edition
VMLogix, Inc., a provider of virtual machine management solutions designed for software companies and IT organizations, today announced the general availability of VMLogix LabManager™ – Cloud Edition. The new product enables software teams to run virtual labs within the gold-standard for public cloud computing, the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), and is the only offering on the market to offer an enterprise-class virtual lab solution with a utility-like pay-as-you-go model. The flexibility of this cost model is ideal for use cases where demand patterns are most variable like software development, testing, training, demonstrations and support. Additionally, VMLogix will offer a free license for LabManager – Cloud Edition beginning September 1. This offer and evaluation license will expire December 1, 2009.
“We needed a solution for testing and development that was able to expand with, and accommodate, times where we have increased lab requirements,” said Rahul Subramaniam, managing director of gDev, FZ-LLC. “The new VMLogix LabManager – Cloud Edition offers the management tools and policy-governing abilities we need in order to effectively and efficiently collaborate in virtual labs in the cloud. It also offers the ability to control costs through shared infrastructure and audit trails to assign costs to users and teams.”
VMLogix LabManager – Cloud Edition delivers a dynamic, scalable and elastic virtual lab enabling software teams to improve software quality and time to market. The solution works in the Amazon EC2 cloud environment and supports both Windows and Linux guest images as well as ISV-specific Amazon Machine Images (AMI). LabManager – Cloud Edition brings enhanced levels of integration and automation during the Amazon instance deployment including the ability to seamlessly handle the end user access to the guest console from within the browser.
VMLogix LabManager – Cloud Edition enables:
The creation and management of multi-machine configurations: enabling the combination of multiple AMIs into a single environment and providing capabilities to entirely automate the deployment and re-deployment of multi-machine environments (including software stack customizations) in a policy-governed self-service fashion;
Full virtual lab tool capabilities: tapping into powerful enterprise lab management capabilities including license, lease and user/team management as well as enabling users/teams to share and collaborate with lab artefacts, audit trails and access to a centralized repository of software media;
On-demand access to virtual lab resources: allowing for immediate access to computing infrastructure resources over the web from any location; and,
Pay-for-what-you-use pricing model: leveraging the elasticity of the cloud allows customers to reduce up front capital expenditures by instantly scaling up or scaling down the lab infrastructure when required, and only paying for what is used.
“Even for companies with a large steady-state of servers in-house we’re finding that they still experience the ebb and flow of infrastructure usage in pre-production use cases, like test and development, support, training and sales demonstrations,” said Sameer Dholakia, CEO of VMLogix. “Cloud Edition gives them the flexibility to expand their virtual lab during those peak activity periods while maintaining control over infrastructure cost.”
“We needed a solution for testing and development that was able to expand with, and accommodate, times where we have increased lab requirements,” said Rahul Subramaniam, managing director of gDev, FZ-LLC. “The new VMLogix LabManager – Cloud Edition offers the management tools and policy-governing abilities we need in order to effectively and efficiently collaborate in virtual labs in the cloud. It also offers the ability to control costs through shared infrastructure and audit trails to assign costs to users and teams.”
VMLogix LabManager – Cloud Edition delivers a dynamic, scalable and elastic virtual lab enabling software teams to improve software quality and time to market. The solution works in the Amazon EC2 cloud environment and supports both Windows and Linux guest images as well as ISV-specific Amazon Machine Images (AMI). LabManager – Cloud Edition brings enhanced levels of integration and automation during the Amazon instance deployment including the ability to seamlessly handle the end user access to the guest console from within the browser.
VMLogix LabManager – Cloud Edition enables:
The creation and management of multi-machine configurations: enabling the combination of multiple AMIs into a single environment and providing capabilities to entirely automate the deployment and re-deployment of multi-machine environments (including software stack customizations) in a policy-governed self-service fashion;
Full virtual lab tool capabilities: tapping into powerful enterprise lab management capabilities including license, lease and user/team management as well as enabling users/teams to share and collaborate with lab artefacts, audit trails and access to a centralized repository of software media;
On-demand access to virtual lab resources: allowing for immediate access to computing infrastructure resources over the web from any location; and,
Pay-for-what-you-use pricing model: leveraging the elasticity of the cloud allows customers to reduce up front capital expenditures by instantly scaling up or scaling down the lab infrastructure when required, and only paying for what is used.
“Even for companies with a large steady-state of servers in-house we’re finding that they still experience the ebb and flow of infrastructure usage in pre-production use cases, like test and development, support, training and sales demonstrations,” said Sameer Dholakia, CEO of VMLogix. “Cloud Edition gives them the flexibility to expand their virtual lab during those peak activity periods while maintaining control over infrastructure cost.”
Virtual Computer and Xenocode Simplify PC Management and Application Delivery Through Product Integration
Virtual Computer Inc. (VMworld Booth #1940), the company redefining PC life cycle management through virtualization, and Xenocode, a pioneer in the application virtualization market, today announced a partnership to automate delivery of Xenocode applications through NxTop Center, Virtual Computer’s one-to-many PC Management platform. Available immediately, the new feature allows for point and click assignment of Xenocode applications to any combination of NxTop users or groups. In addition, desktop IT managers gain a powerful tool to allow for variability of applications at the end-point while maintaining a single “golden” image of the operating system for their organization.
“Application virtualization is a key enabler of our vision to make it as easy to manage a thousand PCs as it is to manage one,” said Dan McCall, president and CEO, Virtual Computer. “Xenocode has nailed the market requirements by building the easiest solution to work with and supporting the widest breadth of applications.”
Virtual Computer customers can take advantage of the new Xenocode integration immediately through an upgrade to the latest release of NxTop which features support for Microsoft Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Hyper-V. Current Xenocode customers can pull their existing virtualized applications into NxTop Center in minutes through a new import wizard. In addition, Virtual Computer will be distributing a set of free, prepackaged Xenocode applications along with discounted pricing on Xenocode Virtual Application Studio.
“NxTop and Xenocode are an ideal combination for any organization looking to tap into the power of virtualization to reduce their PC life cycle management and configuration costs,” said Kenji Obata, founder and CEO, Xenocode. “We look forward to working with Virtual Computer to expand our market and simplify delivery of applications for NxTop customers.”
“Application virtualization is a key enabler of our vision to make it as easy to manage a thousand PCs as it is to manage one,” said Dan McCall, president and CEO, Virtual Computer. “Xenocode has nailed the market requirements by building the easiest solution to work with and supporting the widest breadth of applications.”
Virtual Computer customers can take advantage of the new Xenocode integration immediately through an upgrade to the latest release of NxTop which features support for Microsoft Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Hyper-V. Current Xenocode customers can pull their existing virtualized applications into NxTop Center in minutes through a new import wizard. In addition, Virtual Computer will be distributing a set of free, prepackaged Xenocode applications along with discounted pricing on Xenocode Virtual Application Studio.
“NxTop and Xenocode are an ideal combination for any organization looking to tap into the power of virtualization to reduce their PC life cycle management and configuration costs,” said Kenji Obata, founder and CEO, Xenocode. “We look forward to working with Virtual Computer to expand our market and simplify delivery of applications for NxTop customers.”
Catbird Launches vCompliance: A Comprehensive Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Service for Virtual and Cloud Environments
Catbird, the pioneer in leading-edge security and compliance solutions for virtual and cloud data centers, today announced the immediate availability of vCompliance™, the industry’s first comprehensive automated monitoring and enforcement solution that ensures security and regulatory compliance for virtualized and cloud-based data centers. Based on Catbird’s vSecurity® platform, vCompliance’s real-time continuous monitoring service instantly detects compliance violations and quarantines offending assets to ensure ongoing compliance with leading regulatory standards, such as DIACAP, SOX, HIPAA and PCI.
With the increasing presence of VMware virtualization in regulated industries such as financial services, government, retail and healthcare, comes the attendant need to ensure that these deployments meet or exceed existing compliance requirements. vCompliance is designed specifically for these environments. It unites an automated, 24x7, network monitoring service with information from the hypervisor, including a full vulnerability management solution and network access control. These critical services are mandated by regulatory specifications. Catbird vCompliance provides numerous controls required by the leading regulatory standards organizations and the most common security frameworks.
“Maintaining compliance is the #1 concern facing security officers at enterprises moving to virtualized data centers,” said Edmundo Costa, Catbird COO. “Most regulatory bodies are beginning to update their specs to incorporate virtualization, and the absence of a single authoritative resource to guide IT security and operations professionals in achieving compliance has led to spotty enforcement and glaring gaps. vCompliance fills this void to ensure worry-free ongoing compliance, complete with automatic updates to the latest standards.”
“Virtualization is becoming increasingly present in datacenters where compliance is non-negotiable,” said Shekar Ayyar, vice president of infrastructure alliances, VMware. “To meet this growing demand, VMware works with partners such as Catbird to enable complementary solutions that take advantage of VMware virtualization to ensure compliance in a simplified, cost-effective yet more comprehensive way — providing customers with even better compliance than they could achieve with purely physical infrastructure.”
Finally, Compliance that Enhances Virtualization’s Appeal
Catbird vCompliance can actually make virtualized assets more compliant than physical, providing yet another incentive for businesses to move to cloud-based and virtualized environments, in addition to the inherent cost savings and provisioning ease. Designed for deployment as a cloud-based service, vCompliance provides a comprehensive and integrated virtualized compliance product, including:
Continuous and automated audit and enforcement to meet the requirements of PCI, HIPAA, SOX, DIACAP, etc.
Policy driven automated controls for auditing, inventory management, configuration management, change management, access control, vulnerability management, and incident response
Vulnerability scanning from inside the virtual subnets, with 100% visibility of all virtual machines
Automated enforcement and quarantine of out of compliance assets
Detailed statistics on compliance status for each individual asset, zone, virtual host or physical host
Automated, customizable reports (per compliance specification, per asset or per zone) geared for the appropriate organizational audience (management, operations, etc.) that provide a quick overview or deep-dive to help resolve compliance issues, ease remediation and restore full compliance
Web-based management
Integrated Compliance Management & Reporting Through VMware vSphere™ 4 and VMware vCenter™ Product Family
Via Catbird’s integrated security control console, Catbird vCompliance provides a compliance view of virtual systems in the vSphere management application. This integration brings real-time visibility and management of virtual and cloud security to a single web-based management interface, accessible from anywhere. The drag-and-drop dashboard supports automated discovery and hyperlink drill-down for intuitive management and ease of use. The multi-tenant portal provides more flexible administration options to meet the needs of multi-departmental organizations and service providers.
Seamlessly incorporated into the VMware vSphere™ 4 and VMware vCenter™ management workflow, VMware administrators can instantly monitor system compliance against standard or customized policies defined by corporate security or governance. Continuous status updates are delivered to the VMware vCenter console by “Catbirds” – stateless, non-invasive appliances deployed on the virtual subnets which act as the eyes and ears of the virtual environment.
In the event of an attempted policy violation, designated personnel are instantly alerted via an array of mechanisms and the offending activity blocked -- preventing a compromise of the integrity and compliance of the system. Detailed reporting, accessible directly from the console, provides automated event logs to ease troubleshooting and remediation.
Superbly Compatible for Exceptional Performance, Reliability
vCompliance is specifically designed to enhance overall data center performance with a minimal footprint and a flexible, fully XML and Web-services based architecture that allows for seamless integration with 3rd party reporting tools, trouble-ticketing and other enterprise-class services in a heterogeneous environment. In addition, Catbird is integrated with McAfee’s ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO) management console, providing customers with a single administrative interface for both virtual and physical security, and both network and end-point security.
"Our government and enterprise clients face regulatory pressure everyday from external and internal auditors," noted Adnan Hindi, COO of Catbird partner Palladian Technology. "With Catbird vCompliance, these customers can seamlessly deploy virtualization technology without compromising any of their established policies or 3rd party regulations, enabling a quick and easy shift to their virtualized data centers. We haven't seen any other product in the market with the depth and breadth of coverage that Catbird has."
“Catbird’s underlying technology is the most dependable and respected in the industry, relied on by hundreds of customers across some of the country’s largest Managed Security Services Providers to provide security and compliance for their customers,” Costa said. “Given the high cost of audits and financial damage that can result from a breach, ensuring ongoing compliance with an easy-to-deploy mechanism such as vCompliance can deliver a considerable ROI, along with peace of mind.”
With the increasing presence of VMware virtualization in regulated industries such as financial services, government, retail and healthcare, comes the attendant need to ensure that these deployments meet or exceed existing compliance requirements. vCompliance is designed specifically for these environments. It unites an automated, 24x7, network monitoring service with information from the hypervisor, including a full vulnerability management solution and network access control. These critical services are mandated by regulatory specifications. Catbird vCompliance provides numerous controls required by the leading regulatory standards organizations and the most common security frameworks.
“Maintaining compliance is the #1 concern facing security officers at enterprises moving to virtualized data centers,” said Edmundo Costa, Catbird COO. “Most regulatory bodies are beginning to update their specs to incorporate virtualization, and the absence of a single authoritative resource to guide IT security and operations professionals in achieving compliance has led to spotty enforcement and glaring gaps. vCompliance fills this void to ensure worry-free ongoing compliance, complete with automatic updates to the latest standards.”
“Virtualization is becoming increasingly present in datacenters where compliance is non-negotiable,” said Shekar Ayyar, vice president of infrastructure alliances, VMware. “To meet this growing demand, VMware works with partners such as Catbird to enable complementary solutions that take advantage of VMware virtualization to ensure compliance in a simplified, cost-effective yet more comprehensive way — providing customers with even better compliance than they could achieve with purely physical infrastructure.”
Finally, Compliance that Enhances Virtualization’s Appeal
Catbird vCompliance can actually make virtualized assets more compliant than physical, providing yet another incentive for businesses to move to cloud-based and virtualized environments, in addition to the inherent cost savings and provisioning ease. Designed for deployment as a cloud-based service, vCompliance provides a comprehensive and integrated virtualized compliance product, including:
Continuous and automated audit and enforcement to meet the requirements of PCI, HIPAA, SOX, DIACAP, etc.
Policy driven automated controls for auditing, inventory management, configuration management, change management, access control, vulnerability management, and incident response
Vulnerability scanning from inside the virtual subnets, with 100% visibility of all virtual machines
Automated enforcement and quarantine of out of compliance assets
Detailed statistics on compliance status for each individual asset, zone, virtual host or physical host
Automated, customizable reports (per compliance specification, per asset or per zone) geared for the appropriate organizational audience (management, operations, etc.) that provide a quick overview or deep-dive to help resolve compliance issues, ease remediation and restore full compliance
Web-based management
Integrated Compliance Management & Reporting Through VMware vSphere™ 4 and VMware vCenter™ Product Family
Via Catbird’s integrated security control console, Catbird vCompliance provides a compliance view of virtual systems in the vSphere management application. This integration brings real-time visibility and management of virtual and cloud security to a single web-based management interface, accessible from anywhere. The drag-and-drop dashboard supports automated discovery and hyperlink drill-down for intuitive management and ease of use. The multi-tenant portal provides more flexible administration options to meet the needs of multi-departmental organizations and service providers.
Seamlessly incorporated into the VMware vSphere™ 4 and VMware vCenter™ management workflow, VMware administrators can instantly monitor system compliance against standard or customized policies defined by corporate security or governance. Continuous status updates are delivered to the VMware vCenter console by “Catbirds” – stateless, non-invasive appliances deployed on the virtual subnets which act as the eyes and ears of the virtual environment.
In the event of an attempted policy violation, designated personnel are instantly alerted via an array of mechanisms and the offending activity blocked -- preventing a compromise of the integrity and compliance of the system. Detailed reporting, accessible directly from the console, provides automated event logs to ease troubleshooting and remediation.
Superbly Compatible for Exceptional Performance, Reliability
vCompliance is specifically designed to enhance overall data center performance with a minimal footprint and a flexible, fully XML and Web-services based architecture that allows for seamless integration with 3rd party reporting tools, trouble-ticketing and other enterprise-class services in a heterogeneous environment. In addition, Catbird is integrated with McAfee’s ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO) management console, providing customers with a single administrative interface for both virtual and physical security, and both network and end-point security.
"Our government and enterprise clients face regulatory pressure everyday from external and internal auditors," noted Adnan Hindi, COO of Catbird partner Palladian Technology. "With Catbird vCompliance, these customers can seamlessly deploy virtualization technology without compromising any of their established policies or 3rd party regulations, enabling a quick and easy shift to their virtualized data centers. We haven't seen any other product in the market with the depth and breadth of coverage that Catbird has."
“Catbird’s underlying technology is the most dependable and respected in the industry, relied on by hundreds of customers across some of the country’s largest Managed Security Services Providers to provide security and compliance for their customers,” Costa said. “Given the high cost of audits and financial damage that can result from a breach, ensuring ongoing compliance with an easy-to-deploy mechanism such as vCompliance can deliver a considerable ROI, along with peace of mind.”
Hardware Server Sales Slump as IT Pros Capitalize on Current Capacity and Add Virtualization and Consolidation to Get Through 2009 – New Research From
TheInfoPro, an independent research company for the IT industry, today released new real-time data from its pending Server Study (final results due in October, Q3 2009) indicating that more than 50% of new servers being installed in 2009 will host virtualization, and future progressive growth indicates 80% by 2012.
Announced at VMworld 2009, TheInfoPro’s Server Study has conducted interviews with 195 IT pros wherein initial spending data indicates that 22% expect increases this year in server spending, but an additional 34% of the group indicates they’ll experience decreases. The IT pros range from Fortune 1000 (F1000) organizations to midsize enterprises (MSEs) in North America and Europe, and the interviews were completed between June and August 2009.
TheInfoPro Server Study also captures data about the rise of desktop virtualization, offers highlights on spending in each area of server management by vendor, and gives an in-depth look at VMware’s benefits and challenges in the current IT marketplace. For more information, visit TheInfoPro at booth #1322 or call the contact number below for a real-time briefing.
Hardware vs. Software Spending
TheInfoPro’s network of IT pros stated that virtualization and consolidation is a critical lifeline to optimizing the current capacity of their existing physical servers. Virtualization deployments will continue to expand in the coming months, with 70% of the respondents citing it as critical to meeting their business objectives. Though hardware spending continues to show little growth, more than 50% of respondents do expect to resume hardware acquisition once the economy stabilizes. For now, Hewlett-Packard is positioned as a strong vendor in future choice of spending and faces the lowest vulnerability to customer switching when compared to competing vendors.
In software, despite the revenue-dampening effect of enterprise licensing, Microsoft remained steady in its category, with 22% of respondents indicating they would spend more throughout the remainder of 2009. VMware and Red Hat remain strong in their respective categories, with 41% and 30% spending more in 2009, respectively.
“While virtualization does show continued growth in 2009, the depth of this penetration will really depend upon the ability to manage and deploy applications in these complex environments,” said Bob Gill, TheInfoPro’s Managing Director of Server Research. “The 2010 outlook and beyond are good indicators that even as IT budgets continue to rise, hardware spending will be looked at differently given the options of virtualization and consolidation.”
Announced at VMworld 2009, TheInfoPro’s Server Study has conducted interviews with 195 IT pros wherein initial spending data indicates that 22% expect increases this year in server spending, but an additional 34% of the group indicates they’ll experience decreases. The IT pros range from Fortune 1000 (F1000) organizations to midsize enterprises (MSEs) in North America and Europe, and the interviews were completed between June and August 2009.
TheInfoPro Server Study also captures data about the rise of desktop virtualization, offers highlights on spending in each area of server management by vendor, and gives an in-depth look at VMware’s benefits and challenges in the current IT marketplace. For more information, visit TheInfoPro at booth #1322 or call the contact number below for a real-time briefing.
Hardware vs. Software Spending
TheInfoPro’s network of IT pros stated that virtualization and consolidation is a critical lifeline to optimizing the current capacity of their existing physical servers. Virtualization deployments will continue to expand in the coming months, with 70% of the respondents citing it as critical to meeting their business objectives. Though hardware spending continues to show little growth, more than 50% of respondents do expect to resume hardware acquisition once the economy stabilizes. For now, Hewlett-Packard is positioned as a strong vendor in future choice of spending and faces the lowest vulnerability to customer switching when compared to competing vendors.
In software, despite the revenue-dampening effect of enterprise licensing, Microsoft remained steady in its category, with 22% of respondents indicating they would spend more throughout the remainder of 2009. VMware and Red Hat remain strong in their respective categories, with 41% and 30% spending more in 2009, respectively.
“While virtualization does show continued growth in 2009, the depth of this penetration will really depend upon the ability to manage and deploy applications in these complex environments,” said Bob Gill, TheInfoPro’s Managing Director of Server Research. “The 2010 outlook and beyond are good indicators that even as IT budgets continue to rise, hardware spending will be looked at differently given the options of virtualization and consolidation.”
Virtustream Secures $25 Million Equity Financing
Virtustream, Inc. a privately held infrastructure services firm, today announced the completion of new equity financing with total commitments of $25 million led by Virginia based Columbia Capital and Miami based Blue Lagoon Capital.
Virtustream is an infrastructure services firm committed to helping clients actualize the enterprise cloud by providing strategy, integration and managed services leveraging deep virtualization experience, and its own proprietary platform. The infusion of funding is part of Virtustream’s growth strategy and will be used to continue accelerating its platform development, build international presence and expand domain expertise.
“Columbia Capital is excited to work with this team of experienced virtualization and enterprise transformation professionals,” said Patrick Hendy, Partner at Columbia Capital. “We are very impressed with Virtustream’s proven management team and feel that they are well positioned to take the lead in the enterprise cloud computing space.”
“Virtustream has deep virtualization experience, breadth & depth of highly scalable services, strategic alliances with key hardware and software partners as well as unique business and pricing models making them a compelling alternative to larger firms,” said Rodney Rogers, CEO of Blue Lagoon Capital.
Virtustream also recently completed the acquisition of VirtualizeIT, the premier European consultancy practice dedicated to the advancement and adoption of virtualization technologies, and Brigh Technologies (Brigh), the leading North American provider for the design and deployment of custom solutions in the virtualization space. The union brings together pioneers in enterprise computing including being one of the first VMware professional services partners in North America and the 2008 VMware EMEA Partner of the Year. The stockholders of both acquired companies will have an equity interest in Virtustream, and all employees will continue their employment with Virtustream.
“Virtustream’s strategy is to fold VirtualizeIT and Brigh’s recognized virtualization services leadership into our existing capabilities to continue to build out our proprietary platform,” said Kevin Reid, CEO of Virtustream. “The platform will harness years of experience gained from thousands of successful physical to virtual transformations performed by both entities, leveraging the tools and historical data collected from those environments.”
“VirtualizeIT and Brigh’s clients recognize the complexity of being efficient in a virtualized environment and we now have the collaborative ability to address additional requirements. Typically, when companies undergo some transformation exercise to move from a physical to a virtual world they traditionally see annual savings ranging from 30 to 50%. By adding the Infrastructure Services that Virtustream provides to manage that platform, our clients can potentially yield an additional 10 to 20% benefit. Our Infrastructure as a Service offering delivers unique, industry leading resource level Service Level Agreements,” added Reid.
As a silver sponsor, Virtustream will be showcasing their solutions in booth #2314 at the VMworld 2009 exhibition in San Francisco at The Moscone Center from August 31 through September 3. Key leadership will be available to brief media and analysts on the firm’s differentiators in the enterprise cloud space.
Virtustream is an infrastructure services firm committed to helping clients actualize the enterprise cloud by providing strategy, integration and managed services leveraging deep virtualization experience, and its own proprietary platform. The infusion of funding is part of Virtustream’s growth strategy and will be used to continue accelerating its platform development, build international presence and expand domain expertise.
“Columbia Capital is excited to work with this team of experienced virtualization and enterprise transformation professionals,” said Patrick Hendy, Partner at Columbia Capital. “We are very impressed with Virtustream’s proven management team and feel that they are well positioned to take the lead in the enterprise cloud computing space.”
“Virtustream has deep virtualization experience, breadth & depth of highly scalable services, strategic alliances with key hardware and software partners as well as unique business and pricing models making them a compelling alternative to larger firms,” said Rodney Rogers, CEO of Blue Lagoon Capital.
Virtustream also recently completed the acquisition of VirtualizeIT, the premier European consultancy practice dedicated to the advancement and adoption of virtualization technologies, and Brigh Technologies (Brigh), the leading North American provider for the design and deployment of custom solutions in the virtualization space. The union brings together pioneers in enterprise computing including being one of the first VMware professional services partners in North America and the 2008 VMware EMEA Partner of the Year. The stockholders of both acquired companies will have an equity interest in Virtustream, and all employees will continue their employment with Virtustream.
“Virtustream’s strategy is to fold VirtualizeIT and Brigh’s recognized virtualization services leadership into our existing capabilities to continue to build out our proprietary platform,” said Kevin Reid, CEO of Virtustream. “The platform will harness years of experience gained from thousands of successful physical to virtual transformations performed by both entities, leveraging the tools and historical data collected from those environments.”
“VirtualizeIT and Brigh’s clients recognize the complexity of being efficient in a virtualized environment and we now have the collaborative ability to address additional requirements. Typically, when companies undergo some transformation exercise to move from a physical to a virtual world they traditionally see annual savings ranging from 30 to 50%. By adding the Infrastructure Services that Virtustream provides to manage that platform, our clients can potentially yield an additional 10 to 20% benefit. Our Infrastructure as a Service offering delivers unique, industry leading resource level Service Level Agreements,” added Reid.
As a silver sponsor, Virtustream will be showcasing their solutions in booth #2314 at the VMworld 2009 exhibition in San Francisco at The Moscone Center from August 31 through September 3. Key leadership will be available to brief media and analysts on the firm’s differentiators in the enterprise cloud space.
Vizioncore Offers vConverter SC As Freeware
Vizioncore Inc., the market leader in virtualization data protection and management solutions, today announced that vConverter SC (Server Consolidation) will now be available for free. Customers may use the tool to accelerate towards a virtualized environment, making the most of maintenance windows and reducing downtime on current physical machines.
vConverter SC offers an intuitive GUI to enable rapid simultaneous conversions of single or multiple servers without disruption to the source system. By combining cutting-edge disk and networking technology with extensive automation of pre- and post-conversion tasks, it boasts the ability to successfully migrate more servers per conversion window, saving valuable maintenance time. Furthermore the product is compatible with hypervisors from leading vendors such as VMware, Microsoft and Citrix, making it the perfect fit for almost every environment.
The move continues the precedent set at VMworld Europe earlier this year with the launch of the Virtualization EcoShell Initiative (VESI), another free offering from Vizioncore to the virtualization community. In providing these tools and services, the company is cementing its intention of offering a selection of the Vizioncore product portfolio for free, thereby widening adoption of virtualization across the market.
“We’re excited by the prospect of taking Vizioncore to a wider audience and by lowering the barriers to adoption,” said Devang Kothari, Product Manager for vConverter, Vizioncore. “We hope that end users looking to take the first steps into managing their virtualized estates will benefit from seeing how Vizioncore products help overcome their pain points and then be encouraged to deploy our comprehensive suite of virtualization management products.”
vConverter SC can be downloaded for free here. At VMworld 2009, visitors are invited see vConverter SC in action alongside other Vizioncore offerings at booth #1402.
vConverter SC offers an intuitive GUI to enable rapid simultaneous conversions of single or multiple servers without disruption to the source system. By combining cutting-edge disk and networking technology with extensive automation of pre- and post-conversion tasks, it boasts the ability to successfully migrate more servers per conversion window, saving valuable maintenance time. Furthermore the product is compatible with hypervisors from leading vendors such as VMware, Microsoft and Citrix, making it the perfect fit for almost every environment.
The move continues the precedent set at VMworld Europe earlier this year with the launch of the Virtualization EcoShell Initiative (VESI), another free offering from Vizioncore to the virtualization community. In providing these tools and services, the company is cementing its intention of offering a selection of the Vizioncore product portfolio for free, thereby widening adoption of virtualization across the market.
“We’re excited by the prospect of taking Vizioncore to a wider audience and by lowering the barriers to adoption,” said Devang Kothari, Product Manager for vConverter, Vizioncore. “We hope that end users looking to take the first steps into managing their virtualized estates will benefit from seeing how Vizioncore products help overcome their pain points and then be encouraged to deploy our comprehensive suite of virtualization management products.”
vConverter SC can be downloaded for free here. At VMworld 2009, visitors are invited see vConverter SC in action alongside other Vizioncore offerings at booth #1402.
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