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Virtualization.com, Now Also On Your Mobile
Just a small announcement about the fact that your favourite resource on virtualization news can now also be checked on your cellphone, smartphone or PDA, at the request of several readers. Thanks to MoFuse, you can now bookmark Virtualization.com Mobile if you want to stay updated even when you’re on the road.
The exact URL for the mobile site is http://virtualization.mofuse.mobi
Don’t hesitate to give us some feedback about what you think, or what you want more!
30Jun2008 | Robin Wauters | 0 comments | Read MoreMicrosoft Releases Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator MAP 3.1
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Microsoft has announced that its Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Solution Accelerator is no longer in beta mode, as it has been released to the general public as the MAP 3.1 tool.
From Virtualization to Cloud Computing: Q-layer Launches Delegation Manager
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Q-layer, enabler of cloud computing through Virtual Private Data Centers ( VPDC), today announced the Q-layer Delegation Manager, a solution that turns virtual server environments into a cloud computing platform.
The first release of Delegation Manager provides complete support for VMware Infrastructure 3 environments, including the VMware ESX Hypervisor, with future support for additional Hypervisors including Xen, xVM VirtualBox and Hyper-V. The Q-layer Delegation Manager aims to enable fast browser-based provisioning of data center assets for helpdesk, technical end-users and non-technical end-users, with integrated credit-based charge-back capabilities, reporting and flash-based management controls.
Q-layer’s Delegation Manager is installed through the VMware Virtual Center as a Virtual Appliance and builds on Q-layer’s VPDC and Datacenter Abstraction Layer (DAL) technology. It enables model-driven orchestration capabilities for data centers, including workflows to cohesively orchestrate virtual servers, networks and storage.
According to the press release, the Q-layer Delegation Manager augments existing data center infrastructure, including hypervisors, networks and storage devices. The system provides complete orchestration of these underlying assets to enable data center agility for cloud computing. To facilitate this ecosystem, Q-layer is also working with leading technology partners to create complete virtualization solutions for the next generation data center.
“With Q-layer’s Delegation Manager, end-users can provision and deploy a complete data center within minutes,” said Paul Speciale, vice president of product management at Q-layer. “Our technology has been proven in leading data centers, and leverages the capabilities of existing data center infrastructures to provide the most simple and extensible cloud computing solution for data center operators.”
The Q-layer Delegation Manager will be generally available in the third quarter of 2008. Pricing starts at $1,995 per node, for any number of Virtual Machines.
30Jun2008 | Robin Wauters | 0 comments | Read MoreSourceLabs Adds Support For Xen In Self-Support Suite
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SourceLabs, provider of technology to support open source software, today announced that its Self-Support Suite now supports the Xen hypervisor.
SourceLabs’ Self-Support technology aims to give developers, corporate IT pros and solution
providers an on-demand way to reduce the complexity of application development, deployment, troubleshooting and software maintenance for open source technologies.
“As data centers are moving toward a more dynamic model, they are increasingly doing so using server virtualization technology and Xen is the leading technology solution in the market today for running virtualized IT environments,” said Byron Sebastian, SourceLabs CEO and Founder. “The SourceLabs Self- Support Suite gives developers the ability to significantly drive down the costs of deploying and maintaining virtualized data centers with technology that seamlessly and effortlessly harnesses the power of Xen and other open source technologies.”
SourceLabs’ Self-Support Suite identifies issues and ranks potential resolutions from across a wide variety of projects in the open source development ecosystem. Indexing, managing, and storing the data, SourceLabs uses advanced pattern matching and predictive analysis algorithms to automate troubleshooting, reduces the time on routine tasks and analyzes data to flag any potential problems before they can impact systems or designs.
SourceLabs’ supports all current and previous releases of Xen technology, including auxiliary projects
such as ‘libvirt.’ SourceLabs’ Self-Support Suite for Xen references solutions from Xen.org as well as
solutions from across multiple Linux distributions that ship with Xen integration including Debian,
RedHat, Fedora, Ubuntu, and OpenSuSE, as well as the Linux Kernel mailing list and bug database,
providing Xen users an exhaustive resource for troubleshooting and analysis of their virtualization
platforms. SourceLabs’ Self-Support Suite supports the most popular open source Java and Linux
technologies including Apache httpd, GCC, MySQL, Sendmail, and the Linux Kernel among others.
Basic support includes 24×7 global coverage and is available from $399 for one developer seat.
30Jun2008 | Robin Wauters | 0 comments | Read MoreRelease: CentOS 5.2, Free Red Hat Enterprise Linux Clone
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The CentOS development team has released CentOS 5.2, which is based on and promises full compatibility for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5.2. Available for i386 and x86-64 architectures, the release offers new drivers and bug fixes, as well as improvements to the Xen virtualization kernel, according to the team.
The fresh clone comes with updated software support for Apache, Gnome, KDE, OpenOffice, MySQL and PostgreSQL. Also, you won’t be paying the $350-$2,500 per year subscription fee for RHEL 5.2!
Documentation can be found here, release notes here, download mirrors here.
[Source: The Register]
26Jun2008 | Robin Wauters | 0 comments | Read MoreVirtual Iron Wants To Educate You In A Virtual Classroom
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Virtual Iron Software today announced the immediate availability of a new, dedicated eLearning portal called the “ Virtual Classroom“, which intends to expand upon Virtual Iron’s existing online training offerings to help technical personnel quickly learn about their solutions.
The training is available to any Virtual Iron user on an annual subscription basis.
“We pride ourselves on our ease of use; however, server virtualization lives in a complex ecosystem touching servers, networks, storage, and more,” said Tony Asaro, Chief Strategy Officer at Virtual Iron. “That is why we’ve put such an emphasis on our online training and education. It is core to our strategy and Virtual Iron will continue to create courses and content to provide our customers with easier implementation, operation and optimization.”
With the new Virtual Classroom, Virtual Iron users get all the information they need to be self-sufficient on the Virtual Iron software platform—in just five hours. The company takes a stab at VMware by measuring these five hours to the five days of onsite classroom training “that is typical for comparable solutions such as VMware”.
Check out the modules in the rest of the news release, or download this PDF which contains more information.
Virtual Iron has also made available a series of free eLearning videos covering the basic steps for preparing, installing and configuring a Virtual Iron environment. These vignettes are freely available for general consumption right here.
[Source: BusinessWire]
26Jun2008 | Robin Wauters | 0 comments | Read MoreMicrosoft Shipping Hyper-V Tomorrow? (Update: Yes)
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Does Microsoft intend to start shipping Hyper-V tomorrow?
Update: no official news out of Redmond just yet, but both ZDNet and NetworkWorld have confirmed.
Update 2: finally confirmation by Microsoft
The Redmond software giant’s proprietary hypervisor is currently in Release Candidate mode, but the final, nonbeta version could be shipping tomorrow, according to SearchWinIT. That would be well before the company’s projected release date (which would be in about 2 months).
The software is part of the Windows Server 2008 license, although here is a standalone version of Hyper-V expected later this year that will sell for (only) $28. The Microsoft hypervisor is highly anticipated, and lots of analysts are expecting Hyper-V to (finally) give VMware a run for its money. Of course, let’s not forget Hyper-V was initially scheduled to be part of Windows Server 2008, but was ultimately delayed and rescheduled for availability about six months after its introduction.
PCWorld points out that the upcoming release for tomorrow has not been confirmed by Microsoft officials, so we’re a little hesitant to run with the story just yet. We’ll update the post when more information is available.
Update: no official news out of Redmond just yet, but both ZDNet and NetworkWorld have confirmed.
Update 2: finally confirmation by Microsoft
Update 3: It’s all over the wire! Get more perspective on the milestone release and how it will compete with VMware, Xen and others from The Register, Virtually Speaking, OStatic, Virtualization.info, InformationWeek, Computing, Network World, VMBlog, GigaOM, Virtualization Review, DaniWeb, ChannelWeb, Reuters, Forbes, Washington Post, Virtual Strategy Magazine, Microsoft Watch, Virtual PC Guy, Scott Lowe, Intel Software Network, Dugie’s Pensieve, NetApp Blogs, The Hypervisor, PC World Forums, Dustin’s Tech Notes, Vinternals, The System Administrator, ArsTechnica, Silicon, ITwire, VolkerW’s Weblog, ChrisWolf, InternetNews, etc.
25Jun2008 | Robin Wauters | 3 comments | Read MoreWyse Announces Support for Windows Embedded Standard OS 2009
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Wyse Technology today announced its support for the recently unveiled Windows Embedded Standard 2009 across all Wyse product lines.
Windows Embedded Standard 2009 is the next generation of Windows XP Embedded that delivers most of the Windows OS in componentized form. A technology preview is available from Microsoft, with general availability of Windows Embedded Standard scheduled for Q4 of this year.
Wyse’s entire line of clients will support the Windows Embedded Standard upon general availability, providing organizations with the ideal means to capitalize on the benefits of thin computing atop a Microsoft platform. The platforms which will support the Windows Embedded Standard 2009 include the compact S90, the V90L/LE, the flexible G90 and the newly-released mobile thin clients the X90(e) and X90L(e). These products will allow the flexibility for customers to choose the ideal form factor that meets their end user needs while taking advantage of this next generation Windows Embedded Standard operating system.
Wyse’s support of Windows Embedded Standard 2009 should help IT administrators rapidly deploy devices that provide rich applications and end-user experiences and services, while easily connecting to common industry standards and Microsoft technologies.
25Jun2008 | Robin Wauters | 0 comments | Read More“With the benefits of reduced IT administration, combined with energy reduction, lower carbon emissions, and longer life-span, thin clients continue to provide attractive alternatives in flexible computing in the enterprise,” said Jeff McNaught, Chief Marketing Office at Wyse. “We are excited that Windows Embedded Standard 2009 provides the leading platform for a new generation of thin clients for our customers.”
VirtualLogix Now Supports Windows Vista
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VirtualLogix yesterday announced support for Microsoft Windows Vista to operate side-by-side with real-time operating systems (RTOS) for performance critical systems.
“VirtualLogix VLX now offers support of Windows Vista, offering high-performance, simple designs and an immediate return on investment to a wide set of real-time systems, in applications such as automotive, industrial and medical equipment,” said Peter Richards, CEO, VirtualLogix. “Key customers have asked that we provide Vista on our VLX roadmap and we have delivered. This enables VLX to support a wider spectrum of systems using Microsoft’s operating systems as a core solution component.”
Windows Vista is now supported on Intel processors for VLX Embedded and VLX for Network Infrastructure —all of which maintain the time-sensitive control and signal processing functions that communications devices demand.
25Jun2008 | Robin Wauters | 0 comments | Read MoreCohesiveFT And FlexiScale Partner Up For On-demand Cloud Computing
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CohesiveFT, providers of the Elastic Server Platform, an on-demand service for dynamic assembly and deployment of virtual machines, and FlexiScale, a provider of on-demand Cloud computing, today announced a technology partnership to enable deployment of CohesiveFT’s Elastic Servers to FlexiScale’s Cloud.
The integration of technologies from CohesiveFT and FlexiScale aim to enable true on-demand application stack assembly and deployment on a pay-as-you-go Cloud. This partnership will also allow ISVs, application developers and QA teams to dramatically increase their productivity throughout the development lifecycle. These teams will not be dependent on resource constrained operations departments to provision development and testing environments and will be able to change their application stack definitions with the click of a mouse.
Initially, Elastic Server-branded virtual machines will be available from FlexiScale’s Control Panel as templates built in a Xen virtual format for deployment into Virtual Dedicated Servers (VDS) in FlexiScale’s Cloud. The Elastic Server templates will feature application stacks as prebuilt virtual machine images of popular components . Users will have access to these custom images on demand, eliminating the typical administrative overhead of assembling virtual machine images “by hand”.
FlexiScale’s and CohesiveFT’s collaboration intends to enable full dynamic connectivity between the Elastic Server platform and FlexiScale’s Cloud in the near future.
25Jun2008 | Robin Wauters | 0 comments | Read MoreRelease: VMware Workstation 6.5 Beta 2
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VMWare has released Beta 2 of Workstation 6.5, expected to be released during Q3 2008.
Here are the highlights of the new release:
- Virtual Machine streaming - download VM’s from a web server and power it on before it’s even finished downloading
- Installer for Linux
- Record/Replay Debugging functionality (proclaimed b VMWare as “experimental”; be a bit skeptical at this stage)
- Unity enhancements
- Clipboard enhancements
- Virtual Machine Communication Interface (VMCI) improvements
- enhancements to “vmrun”
- more features
Read the release notes here, enroll for the beta here.
[Source: VMHero]
25Jun2008 | Robin Wauters | 0 comments | Read MoreXcedex Agrees To Resell VKernel Suite of Virtual Appliances
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VKernel today announced a partnership with Xcedex, a North American VMware premier partner. Under the agreement, Xcedex becomes a VKernel Gold Partner that will resell VKernel’s Suite of Virtual Appliances for analyzing and monitoring capacity, implementing chargeback, and gaining cost visibility in VMware ESX environments to its growing customer base.
The VKernel Virtual Appliance Suite for Systems Management is a set of “plug-and-play” virtual appliances designed to quickly address real world systems management challenges as organizations migrate to VMware virtual environments.
Xcedex’ X-Factor solution set enables its customers to quickly and cost-effectively take virtualization from concept to production. Based on IT lifecycle principles, X-Factor has been custom developed to accelerate virtualization deployments for Xcedex’ client and ensure the projects are successful. X-Factor consists of four phases (prove, plan, build, and maintain) that include custom services and vendor products.
“We have strategically aligned ourselves with industry innovators specializing in virtual infrastructure solutions. Working very closely with their sales and technical teams, we bring complete, robust solutions to our clients,” said Steve Audette, director of professional services at Xcedex. “VKernel’s products fit perfectly into our X-Factor solution set and enable our customers to experience the benefits of virtualization throughout the deployment lifecycle.”
[Source: Trading Markets]
25Jun2008 | Robin Wauters | 0 comments | Read More
