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Archives for October 2008

VMware and Patent #6397242 Go Back About 10 Years

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Nice catch by Andrew Dugdell: it’s about 10 years ago that Scott Devine, Edouard Bugnion and Mendel Rosenblum filed patent #6397242, “Virtualization system including a virtual machine monitor for a Computer with segmented Architecture”.

Filing date: Oct 26, 1998
Issue date: May 28, 2002
Inventors: Scott W. Devine, Edouard Bugnion, Mendel Rosenblum
Assignees: VMWare, Inc.
Primary Examiner: Majid Banankhah
Attorney: Jeffrey Slusher
Application number: 9/179,137

Abstract
In a computer that has hardware processor, and a memory, the invention provides a virtual machine monitor (VMM) and a virtual machine (VM) that has at least one virtual processor and is operatively connected to the VMM for running a sequence of VM instructions, which are either directly executable or non-directly executable. The VMM includes both a binary translation sub-system and a direct execution sub-system, as well as a sub-system that determines if VM instructions must be executed using binary translation, or if they can be executed using direct execution. Shadow descriptor tables in the VMM, corresponding to VM descriptor tables, segment tracking and memory tracing are used as factors in the decision of which execution mode to activate. The invention is particularly well-adapted for virtualizing computers in which the hardware processor has an Intel x86 architecture.

rPath Introduces Cloud Computing Adoption Model

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rPath today announced its Cloud Computing Adoption Model, which defines a pragmatic, five-step approach for the graduated adoption of cloud computing. The Cloud Computing Adoption Model will be rolled out on October 23, as part of an rPath webinar featuring guests Amazon Web Services, Forrester Research and MomentumSI.

Cloud computing holds real promise for enterprises and SMBs, as well as the ISVs and individual developers serving them. Among other benefits, cloud computing can help organizations:

  • reduce capital and operating expenses by increasing infrastructure utilization and reducing server sprawl;
  • reduce the cost of software consumption by allowing business lines to consume application functionality on demand and to align cost with value received; and
  • dramatically improve business agility and responsiveness by compressing deployment cycles and time-to-value for application functionality.

To help organizations realize the promise and avoid the perils of cloud computing, the Cloud Computing Adoption Model provides a pragmatic, actionable, step-by-step framework for achieving measurable benefits now, while laying the foundation for the strategic benefits of a cloud infrastructure over time.

For each level, The Cloud Computing Adoption Model outlines strategic goals, investment requirements, expected returns, risk factors, and readiness criteria for advancement.

Intel Picks Up NetEffect for $8 Million

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Intel Corporation today announced its acquisition of the assets of NetEffect, a network connectivity solutions company specializing in Ethernet products and technologies for server compute clusters.

Intel purchased NetEffect’s assets for $8 million, which include the company’s Ethernet product portfolio, intellectual property and technology. NetEffect was a provider of solutions incorporating iWARP, an Ethernet alternative to InfiniBand. NetEffect’s product portfolio includes 1 Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) adapters for servers and blade configurations as well as 10 GbE Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs).

Designed for multi-core processor-based servers and optimized for virtualization, Intel’s current portfolio of 10GbE server adapters includes single and dual port versions for both copper and fiber implementations. The NetEffect acquisition provides complementary High Performance Network Interface Card (NIC) products to Intel’s Ethernet portfolio.

NetEffect was founded in 1998 as Banderacom, a company focused on InfiniBand adapters and 16-port IB switch, and was recapitalized in 2004 as NetEffect. Thirty employees, primarily engineers, have joined the Intel team from NetEffect and will continue to be based in Austin, Texas.

Intel

Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2009, Virtualization and Cloud Computing Rule

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Gartner analysts today highlighted the top 10 technologies and trends that will be strategic for most organizations. The analysts presented their findings during Gartner Symposium/ITxpo, being held through October 16.

Gartner defines a strategic technology as one with the potential for significant impact on the enterprise in the next three years. Factors that denote significant impact include a high potential for disruption to IT or the business, the need for a major dollar investment, or the risk of being late to adopt.
These technologies impact the organization’s long-term plans, programs and initiatives. They may be strategic because they have matured to broad market use or because they enable strategic advantage from early adoption.
The top 10 strategic technologies for 2009 include:
Virtualization
“Much of the current buzz is focused on server virtualization, but virtualization in storage and client devices is also moving rapidly. Virtualization to eliminate duplicate copies of data on the real storage devices while maintaining the illusion to the accessing systems that the files are as originally stored (data deduplication) can significantly decrease the cost of storage devices and media to hold information. Hosted virtual images deliver a near-identical result to blade-based PCs. But, instead of the motherboard function being located in the data center as hardware, it is located there as a virtual machine bubble. However, despite ambitious deployment plans from many organizations, deployments of hosted virtual desktop capabilities will be adopted by fewer than 40 percent of target users by 2010.”
Cloud Computing
“Cloud computing is a style of computing that characterizes a model in which providers deliver a variety of IT-enabled capabilities to consumers. They key characteristics of cloud computing are 1) delivery of capabilities “as a service,” 2) delivery of services in a highly scalable and elastic fashion, 3) using Internet technologies and techniques to develop and deliver the services, and 4) designing for delivery to external customers. Although cost is a potential benefit for small companies, the biggest benefits are the built-in elasticity and scalability, which not only reduce barriers to entry, but also enable these companies to grow quickly. As certain IT functions are industrializing and becoming less customized, there are more possibilities for larger organizations to benefit from cloud computing.”

SolarWinds Debuts Free VM Monitoring Tool

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SolarWinds, provider of downloadable network management software has released a new free tool, SolarWinds VM Monitor, and an update to its flagship Orion Network Performance Monitor (NPM) that will allow IT professionals to take advantage of the key characteristics of SolarWinds’ solutions — enterprise-class performance combined with affordability, quick deployment and ease of use — to manage and monitor their virtual deployments.

SolarWinds VM Monitor delivers an intuitive, desktop dashboard that continuously monitors a VMware ESX server and the associated virtual machines by providing real-time monitoring of ESX health indicators.

The SolarWinds VM Monitor is free and available for download on the SolarWinds site. Orion NPM is available now and pricing starts at $2,475 (USD) for 100 monitored elements including first year maintenance. Orion NPM customers, currently under maintenance, get the 9.1 updates for free.

Novell Buys BSM Tools Vendor Managed Objects

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Novell today announced a definitive agreement to acquire the business service management leader Managed Objects. The acquisition will extend Novell’s portfolio of data center solutions by adding tools to provide a unified view of all information and workloads.

“The acquisition of Managed Objects by Novell illustrates Novell’s commitment to an expanded management strategy and makes them a strong competitor in the service management market,” said Tim Grieser, program vice president, enterprise system management Software, IDC. “Managed Objects is a recognized player in BSM and has a proven track record with some of the largest companies in the world. With Managed Objects, Novell can more easily have business conversations in the data center with CIO’s, line of business managers, and key business stakeholders. This new service management focus represents a step in the right direction for Novell and adds significant credibility to Managed Objects customers that may have had concern about a smaller company.”

The Managed Objects products complement and extend Novell’s existing workload management and virtualization solutions by adding flexible service modeling, leading Configuration Management Data Base (CMDB) technology, advanced analytics and unique Web 2.0-based visualization technology. Customers can extract IT configuration and workload information in near real-time into a robust CMDB, model how the IT configuration provides business services, and then generate visualizations and dashboards that dynamically show how IT aligns to business services. By providing a single view of data center workloads across any physical or virtual environment, system administrators can understand and respond to issues in a business context reactively, pro-actively, or automatically.

Novell will acquire Managed Objects for an undisclosed sum using current cash. The acquisition is expected to close during Novell’s first fiscal quarter 2009 subject to the satisfaction of closing conditions. Managed Objects will be fully integrated into Novell’s Systems and Resource Management business unit.

Managed Objects