Virtualization News Desk

Virtualization Conference & Expo - Jump Start Your Virtualization Projects with Microsoft Virtualization Solution Accelerators

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:20:00 EDT

Are you ready to start planning for your upcoming virtualization projects? Do you wish to determine if your servers and desktops are ready for virtualization? Attend this session and see demos of Microsoft Virtualization Solution Accelerators, a suite of automation tools such as Microsoft Assessment and Planning, Offline VM Servicing Tool and more. See how they can help you speed up your virtualization projects today!

The Virtualization Paradox

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:35:00 EDT

Not too long ago a few software engineers figured out that a server running a single application is wasteful because a significant amount of power is consumed by the server, yet only a small fraction of the processing capability is being used. Today one of the many reasons IT departments leverage server virtualization is to reduce the electrical usage in the data center. Unfortunately, they stop there and are unaware that their data center efficiency has suffered for the same reason that drove them to virtualize in the first place.

Virtualization Viewpoint: It's Easy Being Green

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:25:00 EDT

That wise prophet Kermit once said, 'It's not easy being green.' Actually, it is, but you wouldn't get that impression based on some of the 'green solutions' we're seeing in the market. Isn't the easiest way to reduce power and cooling to remove those things that create demand for power and cooling? Physical devices are the culprit here. The more we add, the more power and cooling we need. Simple math. Turning down fan speeds, slowing CPUs, etc...these are nice tweaks that nibble at the edges but in reality, don't address the root problem.

Cloud Computing: From Amazon EC2 to Virtualization and Walled Gardens

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:10:00 EDT

From Amazon EC2 and App Engine from Google to Utility Computing, Virtualization, and Walled Gardens - there's no aspect of Cloud Computing that hasn't already been addressed at some level of detail in SYS-CON Media's Cloud Computing Journal (http://cloudcomputing.sys-con.com). Here's a round-up of the world of Delivering Scalable IT as a Service, seen through the lens of the many contributors whose thoughts and ideas have already appeared there since it first appeared in June 2008 as the world's first journal devoted exclusively to the delivery of massively scalable IT resources as a service using Internet technologies.

ExaGrid Functionality Streamlines Backup for VMware Virtualization Environments

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:45:00 EDT

ExaGrid Systems announced support for Vizioncore’s backup and recovery solution, vRanger Pro. Both ExaGrid and Vizioncore offer products and solutions that streamline the management of data backup and recovery processes for VMware users.

Blog-City.com Founder Alan Williamson to Present at SYS-CON's Cloud Computing Expo

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:00:00 EDT

As a solution provider it is vitally important you don't get locked into a specific vendor’s solution. This couldn't be truer in the world of on-demand or cloud computing. The way Amazon works is vastly different from Google, and different from Flexiscale. So how do you utilize the strengths of them all without compromising your own requirements? This session will take a look at a real world application, which spans across a number of different cloud hosts, providing redundancy, self-healing and self-scaling solutions without the fear of dancing to one vendors tune.

DataCore Incorporates Emulex HBAs Into Storage Virtualization Solutions

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:06:00 EDT

DataCore announced that it has integrated the latest generation of Emulex high speed 8Gb/s Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapters (HBAs) into its SANmelody and SANsymphony products. These new HBAs provide the I/O scalability necessary to handle growing numbers of simultaneous applications hosted on virtualized servers. Additionally, Emulex LightPulse LPe12000 and LPe12002 8Gb/s HBAs provide the increased I/O processing speed and throughput needed by large business-critical databases and transaction processing applications. Emulex 2Gb/s and 4Gb/s HBAs have been previously qualified for use with DataCore’s solutions.

Virtualization, SOA, and the Rise of Social Media

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:55:00 EDT

At Hummer Winblad we often joke that we focus on the "boring side of software." By this we mean that many of our companies tend to be described with words like core, infrastructure, B2B, backend, etc. We believe that these companies provide the infrastructure under which the next generations of software are built. They will be interesting and successful companies but it is unlikely your mom will ever know their names.

SYS-CON's Cloud Computing Expo 2009 East: Call for Papers Now Open

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:05:00 EDT

SYS-CON Events, producer of Cloud Computing Expo 2009 East, to be held March 22-24, 2009, in New York City, announces that its Call for Papers is now open. Topics include all aspects of providing or using massively scalable IT-related capabilities as a service using Internet technologies. Merrill Lynch analysts estimate that by 2011 the volume of Cloud Computing market opportunity will amount to $160BN, including $95N in business and productivity apps (e-mail, office, CRM, etc.) and $65BN in online advertising. Help plant your flag in the fast-expanding business opportunity that is The Cloud: submit your speaking proposal today!

President & CTO of 3Tera to Speak at SYS-CON's Cloud Computing Expo

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:40:00 EDT

Achieving an effective disaster recovery solution has always been difficult and expensive. Often companies backup and/or mirror their data and software only to find that when forced to run them on hardware and network configurations altered by disaster, they don't always work. "Moving applications, data and infrastructure in the cloud can actually make disaster recovery easier and much more affordable," contends Peter Nickolov, President & CTO of 3Tera. He will be giving a session on 'Solutions for Instant Disaster Recovery in the Cloud' at SYS-CON's Cloud Computing Expo (November 19-21, 2008) - a pathbreaking adjunct to the 4th International Virtualization Conference & Expo being held at The Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, CA.

SYS-CON Webcast - Workspace Virtualization: A low-cost, High-performance Approach to Deploying Enterprise Computing

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:20:00 EDT

Desktop and application virtualization technologies are increasingly being used throughout the enterprise to improve manageability and ease deployment of corporate environments on PCs. While application virtualization solutions are typically limited to a single application, desktop virtualization solutions enable deployment of a full desktop environment. The inclusion of a full operating system in the virtualized desktop image creates solutions with high licensing costs, large footprint and deteriorated performance on end users’ PCs.

SYS-CON Webcast - Effective Planning for Virtual Infrastructure Growth

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:11:00 EDT

As the adoption of virtualization technology in the data center increases, organizations are encountering new challenges associated with planning and managing rapid growth in virtual infrastructure. Without effective planning and forecasting, organizations often fail to realize the full benefits of virtualization and achieve a sub par return on investment. After investing in virtualization, some organizations learn the hard way that they have merely replaced their physical server sprawl with a virtual sprawl. This session will discuss the important role of ongoing capacity and workload planning, forecasting and reporting in helping organizations successfully manage future growth.

SYS-CON Webcast - IT Security in a Hostile World

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:32:00 EDT

Computer systems manage and protect increasingly high value information and assets across the enterprise. Meanwhile, hackers grow in number and resourcefulness. Commercial virtualization solutions add to the already fertile attack surface of enterprise operating systems. Green Hills discusses the state of enterprise security threats and presents a secure operating environment that can guarantee the security of the world’s critical infrastructure, financial systems, medical records, and corporate intellectual property. This solution uses technology adopted in the military and intelligence community to protect sensitive national secrets.

SYS-CON Webcast: Virtualization - Path to Predictive Enterprise

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:18:00 EDT

Success in business increasingly relies on proactively harnessing the power of advanced technologies to manage processes, information, and relationships. Today’s IT intensive enterprise must always be on the lookout for the latest in innovation that allow businesses to run with fewer resources while providing the infrastructure to meet today and future customer needs. Virtualization technologies are driving a top to bottom overhaul of the computing industry. The growing awareness of the advantages provided by agile virtualized environments is brought about by economic factors of scarce resources, government regulation, and more competition. Many leading corporations are embarking on virtualization initiatives on their path to predictive enterprise.

A State of Xen: Virtualization from PDAs to Super Computers

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:55:00 EDT

Xen.org, the home of the open source Xen project, has announced the release of Xen 3.3 engine, the latest version of the open source hypervisor. The release is now available for download from the Xen.org community site and is the product of a distributed development effort by senior engineers from more than 50 leading hardware, software, and security vendors. Xen 3.3 includes enhancements that further advance its position as a fast, scalable, secure virtualization engine for the industry’s broadest range of server and PC chipsets - from super computers to PDAs.

SYS-CON Webcast - The Opening of Virtualization

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:13:00 EDT

Open Source. Open Standards. Open Collaboration. For the past 15 years, Linux has served as the benchmark of a successful global open source project. The impact has been far reaching: today it powers the Internet, a significant portion of the datacenter, is the emerging market choice for the desktop, and soon will likely be on your phone. Over the last 5 years, this open community has turned its attention to virtualization.

Symantec Virtualization Survey

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:52:00 EDT

Symantec announced the global results of its fourth annual IT Disaster Recovery survey, which demonstrates a decline in executive involvement in disaster recovery planning and an increase in the number of organizations reevaluating their disaster recovery (DR) plans due to virtualization. As more applications and data are managed in a virtual environment, organizations are evaluating the most efficient ways to manage applications and data in both physical and virtual environments.

Twenty-One Experts Define Cloud Computing

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:30:00 EDT

It is the infrastructural paradigm shift that is sweeping across the Enterprise IT world, but how is it best defined? I refer of course to 'Cloud Computing' - the phenomenon that has as many definitions as there are squares on a chess-board. To try and narrow it down we bring here a round-up of some recent attempts to bring welcome precision where there risks being unnecessary vagueness.

VDIworks Desktop Virtualization to Provide Management and Connection Brokering for HP RGS

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:27:00 EDT

VDIworks announced that the latest release of VDIworks' Virtual Desktop Platform (VDP), version 1.2, will provide connection brokering and management for the HP Remote Graphics Software (RGS) protocol to deliver a high performance virtualized desktop solution to the industry. This integrated offering will allow customers to leverage VDIworks' sophisticated virtual desktop management capabilities and HP's RGS protocol to enable a high grade visual experience in a virtualized environment.

Persystent Technologies Introduces Desktop Virtualization Solution

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:06:00 EDT

Persystent Technologies introduced Persystent Virtualization. Persystent Virtualization is a powerful new solution that eases deployment, maintenance and control over virtual desktop environments, while providing end users with greater personalization of their virtual desktops.

Aternity Announces Virtualization Partnership with Ness Technologies

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:58:00 EDT

Aternity announced an exclusive partnership agreement in Israel with Ness Technologies, a global provider of information technology services and solutions and Israel's leading IT services company. The agreement signals the rising global demand for real end user experience and Aternity's Frontline Performance Intelligence solutions. Ness Technologies will sell, implement, train and support the Aternity Frontline Performance Intelligence (FPI) Platform in Israel, enabling enterprises to dramatically reduce business disruption, increase user productivity, and optimize hardware and software expenses.

Ingram Micro Named VMware Authorized Training Center

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:45:00 EDT

Ingram Micro announced it has been named a VMware Authorized Training Center (VATC). The distributor also announced it is increasing its VMware-certified technical, sales and marketing support and introducing a new partner program called Smart Enablement for VMware Partners, which helps solution providers offset the costs of training and education, further strengthening its role as a value-added partner for mid-market IT Solutions.

Cloud Computing Terminology

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:40:00 EDT

While the debate on the actual definition of cloud computing rages on, it seems that a whole new cloud computing vocabulary is rapidly emerging. I thought I'd list some of the new terms I'm seeing with brief definitions, examples of usage and references to discussions related to these terms. Hope this is useful.

Terremark Selects Cisco's Virtualization Technology

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:34:00 EDT

Cisco announced that Terremark has launched its Infinistructure utility-computing platform in Europe with Cisco virtualization technology deployed on a Cisco Internet Protocol Next-Generation Network architecture. Terremark has just completed the deployment of the new platform in its facilities in Madrid and Amsterdam, which follows the recent launch of the Infinistructure platform based on Cisco solutions in the United States.

TBD Networks Extends Proven Network Virtualization Solution to Physical and Virtual Firewalls

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:27:00 EDT

TBDVirtualFabric-VMware Edition (VME) provides the missing pieces for companies to realize the full benefits of Datacenter Virtualization by unifying physical and virtual firewalls and network infrastructure. Based on the proven Network Virtualization solution scaleable to over 30,000 Virtual Network endpoints, TBDVirtualFabric-VME was specifically designed to provide a virtual fabric of networking, security, and firewall capabilities to scale VMware environments beyond current limitations.

SYS-CON's Virtualization Expo Was Larger Than Any Gartner Event in Two Years

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EDT

Virtualization has quickly become a staple new concept for enterprise IT. At SYS-CON's 3rd International Virtualization Conference & Expo, held at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, June 23-24, we had exceptional speakers with high-quality use cases not only of how virtualization maximizes the use of resources and thus saves companies money, but also of how it is fundamentally altering the way that businesses run IT. The two content-packed days emphasized value with a rich array of sessions about the business and technical value of virtualization.

Chief Software Architect for Elastra to Present at SYS-CON's Cloud Computing Expo

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:45:00 EDT

The Infrastructure-as-a-Service model of early Cloud Computing providers has focused on making the hardware layer consumable as on-demand compute and storage capacity. Stuart Charlton, Chief Software Architect for Elastra, will be giving a session on 'Cloud Computing and the Next-Generation of Enterprise Architecture' at SYS-CON's Cloud Computing Expo (November 19-21, 2008) - a pathbreaking adjunct to the 4th International Virtualization Conference & Expo being held at The Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, CA.

Cloud Computing & Virtualization: Perfect Together

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:55:00 EDT

Recently I've been asked about the benefits of cloud computing in comparison to that of virtualization. Generally my answer has been they are an ideal match. For the most part virtualization has been about doing more with less (consolidation). VMware in particular positioned their products and pricing in a way that encourages you to use the least amount of servers possible. The interesting thing about cloud computing is it's about doing more with more. Or if you're Intel, doing more with Moore.

Application Virtualization: Citrix XenApp 5 Released

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:30:00 EDT

“XenApp is a cornerstone of our Citrix Delivery Center product family and allows our customers to move beyond merely deploying applications to delivering them to users in a flexible, cost-effective, scalable manner," said Gordon Payne, SVP and GM of the Delivery Systems Division at Citrix Systems, as Citrix announced Citrix XenApp 5, the next generation of what Payne described as "the world’s most widely-deployed application virtualization solution."

Opinion: Cloud Computing in 2008 - Not For the Faint-Hearted

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 02:35:00 EDT

I think that cloud computing is going to be 'the way ahead' for most businesses and individuals in the coming year or two. It makes a lot of sense. However, right now, in 2008, I think it's a very brave person who would entrust their business data to one of the thousands of micro-businesses offering 'cloud computing' services.

SYS-CON's Cloud Computing Expo Will Be Larger Than Any Recent Gartner Event

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:00:00 EDT

The future model for providing IT infrastructure and services in large organizations is what many today are calling "Cloud Computing" - a concept popularized by Amazon through its web services efforts. Merrill Lynch analysts for example reckon that by 2011 the volume of Cloud Computing market opportunity will amount to $160BN, including $95N in business and productivity apps (e-mail, office, CRM, etc.) and $65BN in online advertising. Cloud Computing has many interpreters just now - and many interpretations. One thing is certain: it is the most dynamic new metaphor to hit enterprise computing since the creation of the "Web" by Tim Berners-Lee.

Virtualization and Cloud Computing with IBM's Jazz Technology

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 18:00:00 EDT

Surgient announced it will offer integrated solutions with products built using IBM Jazz collaborative technologies. As a result, IBM quality assurance users can use Surgient's Virtual Automation Platform to allocate IT resources and set up and tear down virtual labs on-demand for software testing and quality assurance, introducing new efficiencies to the application development lifecycle.

Xiotech's Storage Virtualization Solutions

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:48:00 EDT

Xiotech announced more than 30 organizations purchased either the Emprise 7000 system or Emprise 5000 system in the company's second quarter, which ended June 27, 2008. New Emprise customers include Argus Information & Advisory Services; Bowman and Brooke; Capital Institutional Services (CAPIS); City of Corona (California); Department of Transportation: State of Kansas; Forbes Energy Services; Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD); Nuconsteel; University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio; and YMCA of Metropolitan Minneapolis and Greater St. Paul.

eG Innovations Extends Multi-Platform Virtualization Management

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:07:00 EDT

eG Innovations announced that its eG VM Monitor now supports CitrixXen Server and Sun Solaris Logical Domains (LDOMs). The enhancements are part of v4.2 of the company’s eG Enterprise Suite, which already supports VMware ESX and ESX 3i servers as well as Solaris Containers.

Stonesoft Virtual Appliances Suited for Virtualization Environments

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:45:00 EDT

As organizations chart out their virtual architectures, security still remains an afterthought, putting these networks at unprecedented risk. Stonesoft is an innovative provider of integrated network security and resilient connectivity solutions that are architected to work within a virtual environment. Unlike many of its competitor’s products, the software-based architecture of StoneGate Firewall/VPN can be deployed between virtual machines to monitor the traffic moving back and forth, providing security within the virtual environment.

Stonesoft to Support VMware VMsafe Virtualization Technology

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:38:00 EDT

Stonesoft announced that it plans to support VMware VMsafe technology. By using VMsafe technology, Stonesoft’s virtual StoneGate appliances can provide an even deeper level of visibility and manageability to ensure the security of virtual environments.

Virtualization Expo - Computer Giant Lumbers in, Plops 10% Growth on the Table

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:15:00 EDT

HP earned $2 billion, 80 cents a share, up 14%, on revenues of $28 billion, up 10%, in its third fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2008, outperforming expectations against a hard compare. Salvaged by notebooks, blades and overseas growth, the results calmed jitters that the bellwether would miss.

Progress Software and rPath to Deliver Cloud Computing via Virtualization

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:15:00 EDT

rPath announced that Progress Software has certified rPath's rBuilder for its OpenEdge platform. This allows independent software vendors (ISVs) to use rPath technology to create Software as a Service (SaaS) applications as virtual appliances that include/leverage the Progress OpenEdge business application development platform.

Virtualization Conference & Expo - Intel Watch

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:45:00 EDT

Intel held another one of those Developer Forums this week and said that besides its newly christened i7 next-generation 45nm Nehalem desktop chips, a quad-core energy-efficient dual-processor server part code named Nehalem-EP, a k a Gainestown, will go into production in Q4 as well as Bloomfield, an Extreme Edition of the widget that may be good for 3.2GHz.

AJAX RIA Expo - Yahoo & Intel Partner on Web-Enabling TV

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:45:00 EDT

Yahoo and Intel have partnered to go into the widget business together and create a web-enabled interactive TV channel populated with picture-in-a-picture RIA widgetry like Flickr, Blockbuster, Twitter, e-mail, Yahoo Finance, eBay auctions, news and sports.