Archives for October 2008

Marketing Fail: Falconstor Screws Up Giveaway Contest at VMworld

October 6, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

We’re so sorry we missed this at the VMworld conference: VMblog is reporting that Falconstor, provider of data protection solutions, screwed up a giveaway at their booth to the extent of turning the contestants against them.

The company was giving away a Segway to a person who would wear one of their branded orange t-shirts, if he/she was lucky enough to be the winner of a drawing. Instead, the person that was announced as the winner wasn’t wearing said t-shirt at the time of the call, but was awarded the Segway anyway. The orange shirt-wearing crowd wasn’t pleased with that, so next to shouting bad words to the booth occupants, they also threw their t-shirts back at them.

Lucky for us, it was caught on video.

Open Kernel Labs Hypervisor Embbeded In First Android Phone

October 3, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Open Kernel Labs (OK Labs), a provider of systems software and virtualization technology for mobile devices and other embedded systems, announced today that the company’s OKL4 embedded hypervisor is employed on the Qualcomm chipset inside the market’s first-ever commercial Android-powered handset.

Manufactured by HTC, the G1 introduced by T-Mobile in September 2008 is the first handset powered by the Android software platform developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance. At the heart of the G1 is the Qualcomm MSM7201A, a dual-core ARM family device with hardware-accelerated multimedia, 3D graphics and integrated multi-mode 3G baseband processing.

Android is likely to attract significant attention from third-party developers as a competing platform for reaching a large number of mobile phone users. The combination of open source software, third-party applications, and internet connectivity represented by Android is indicative of next-generation mobile phone deployment environments in which the reliability and security benefits provided by microkernel-based OKL4 are essential.

OK Labs’ OKL4 open source embedded hypervisor helps developers deliver increasingly complex software for mobile devices—in less time and with less effort—without compromising the reliability and security of those devices. Focusing on the specific requirements of mobile phones, using proven high-performance microkernel technology, and building on an open source code base uniquely position OKL4 as the optimal software architecture for next generation mobile devices.

OKL4 is available from OK Labs under open source and commercial licenses.

Shunra Software Releases Shunra VE for VMware Infrastructure 3

October 1, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Shunra Software, provider of network emulation and application performance testing solutions, and VMware Technology Alliance Partner (TAP) program member, today announced it has released Shunra VE for VMware Infrastructure 3.

Both Shunra and VMware have already established close collaboration as members of the SAP Co-Innovation Lab, which provides a hands-on working environment for SAP, its customers and partners. This environment leverages partner technology, from companies including Shunra and VMware, to accurately simulate real-world application performance in a secure environment.

Xiotech Teams Up With Xcedex

October 1, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Xiotech Corporation today announced that it has entered into an alliance with Xcedex, a provider of virtualization consulting services. Under the agreement, Xiotech is now able to offer Xcedex’s proprietary X_Factor Virtualization Readiness Planning (VRP) and Virtualization Readiness Design (VRD) analytics tools to its customers, allowing them to assess their IT environments for the approval, preparation and planning of virtual projects. This added level of detail will pay off for clients in increased control, higher return on investment (ROI) and lower total cost of ownership (TCO) throughout their data centers.

Xcedex’s X_Factor technology performs an assessment of a pre-virtual network by running inside it for a period of time and collecting inventory on servers, storage and network devices. It then assigns a score to each device based on performance characteristics, which can be used to compare proposed virtualization scenarios to make an appropriate selection. Modeling is done to ensure compatibility with design and configuration options, and detailed reports on capacity and statistics are issued. To complete the process, findings are clearly presented along with a roadmap and financial analysis, allowing for conclusions to be drawn and recommendations to be formed. Put together, the entire process will help IT leaders create optimized virtualization strategies.

XIOtech, Inc.

Xiotech will be introducing Xcedex to its channel partners, who will be responsible for the implementation and support of VRP and VRD. Upon purchase, the tools are available for immediate installation and can be operational within a few days.

Open-E Releases Data Storage Server for VMware ESX 3.5, Gets DSS Certified with Virtual Iron

October 1, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Open-E, a provider of unified IP storage management software, today announced that Open-E Data Storage Server (DSS) has been certified for use with Virtual Iron’s server virtualization software. Environments deploying both Virtual Iron and Open-E Data Storage Server will benefit from streamlined virtual infrastructure, improved server and storage utilization and robust business continuity.

Virtual Iron provides easy-to-use, enterprise-class server virtualization capabilities on a next-generation architecture. The platform combines the leading open source hypervisor with advanced virtualization services and policy-based automation capabilities such as LiveMigrate for easy movement of workloads, LiveRecovery for automated virtual machine failover, LiveCapacity for dynamic workload balancing, and LiveSnapshot for hot backup and patch management. These capabilities enable offloaded, space efficient and no-downtime backups on live virtual machines running in production environments.

Smooth integration of Open-E DSS with Virtual Iron provides simple and efficient storage consolidation that supports capital and operational cost reduction throughout the IT environment. DSS brings enterprise-class functionality, enhanced manageability and proven reliability to small and medium businesses that depend on server/storage infrastructure for continued business operations. As a result, companies have a cost-effective avenue toward advanced IT to strengthen their competitive advantage.

The company has also announced general availability of Data Storage Server (DSS) for VMware ESX 3.5. VMware provides TAP program members with tools to develop products that are complementary to VMware virtualization software and help deliver high-value solutions to joint customers. Data Storage Server for VMware ESX 3.5 will provide mutual customers with enhanced capabilities for consolidating storage environments.

Open-E

VirtualLogix Enters Strategic Partnership With 6WIND

October 1, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

As a result of a new strategic partnership with 6WIND, active in embedded multicore networking software, VirtualLogix today announced the industry’s first solution allowing network equipment providers (NEPs) to bring advanced network elements such as 4G wireless base stations or smart media gateways to market faster, ultimately speeding the delivery of Internet Protocol (IP) multimedia services to end-users.

The solution, featuring 6WINDGate multicore networking software suites, together with VirtualLogix VLX virtualization and Linux running natively on Texas Instruments (TI) C6000 multicore Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), allows multi-plane consolidation, resulting in a reduced bill of materials and lower power consumption. It is the first solution of its kind that allows NEPs to easily integrate optimized IP networking protocol stacks into designs based on TI multicore DSPs.

The ability to integrate complete L2/L3 networking functions into a DSP platform becomes critically important as the industry further adopts multicore DSPs. In partnering with 6WIND, VirtualLogix is further strengthening its commitment to developing solutions that address the demand for compressed voice, video and data over IP. The 6WINDGate software suite has been designed to provide a ready-to-use, scalable, modular and portable networking software solution for most advanced hardware architectures including multicore processors.

VirtualLogix’s VLX for Network Infrastructure supporting Texas Instruments Digital Signal Processor allows running Linux and TI DSP/BIOS™ simultaneously on high performance TI DSP processors. With VirtualLogix VLX on TI DSP, network equipment manufacturers can combine the richness of open source software with the real-time capabilities of TI DSP/BIOS getting the flexibility necessary to develop new network elements, such as 3G/4G base stations or smart media servers and gateways. VLX provides the capability to integrate required signal processing applications with advanced platform management, control, and debug solutions – all without adding another specific board or processor.

VirtualLogix