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Embotics (previous coverage), a virtualization management tools provider that recently released its flagship product V-Commander 2.0, today will announce a free, starter version of that program with the exact same interface dubbed V-Scout. If you’re trying to figure out the best way to track and automate virtual machines before they sprawl much further throughout your organization, this chance to peek at the Embotics approach for free should be appealing.

“V-Scout should help you answer some key questions about virtual machines in your shop; for instance, the tool can help you analyze how the VMs are produced and tracked and what IT management policies are being applied to the VMs,” says Embotics VP of marketing David Lynch. “Then you can automate policies for better management and security, and for help at auditing time.”

The free tool includes canned and ad hoc reporting capabilities, so you can slice and dice VM data by say, line of business owner or project number. Embotics tools currently work only with VMware infrastructure; Lynch says Microsoft Hyper-V support will arrive in late 2008 or early 2009 after Embotics gets the necessary management tools from Microsoft. Citrix support is planned for 2009.

[Source: Scott Lowe]