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News and insights from the vibrant world of virtualization and cloud computing

Robin Wauters

NaviSites Selects Mezeo Cloud Storage Platform

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Mezeo has announced that NaviSite has selected the Mezeo Cloud Storage Platform to power its cloud storage solutions.

Already in use by trusted service providers on three continents, Mezeo’s Cloud Storage Platform is building on its reputation by being easy to deploy, highly scalable and highly secure. Its well-designed APIs deliver platform extensibility while its unmatched accessibility includes an integrated Windows desktop, rich Web 2.0 browsers and iPhone, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile native client access.

The Mezeo Cloud Storage Platform enables trusted service providers like NaviSite to leverage their own storage infrastructure to quickly and cost-effectively enter the rapidly growing cloud storage services market under their own brand.

Liquidware Labs Introduces Stratusphere 4.2

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Liquidware Labs recently announced the availability of Stratusphere 4.2, a software solution delivering focused visibility into network, user, application, and desktop activity dramatically reducing the technical and financial risks associated with migrating to VDI.

Adding Stratusphere to your environment provides physical and virtual desktop visibility, much like Layer 7 deep packet inspection, without the overhead, cost and complexity – while being easily deployed as an open format virtual appliance. The solution is compatible with all leading VDI platforms including those from VMware, Citrix and Microsoft.

Stratusphere and Connector ID deliver network, user and, application visibility inside desktops, networks, and storage systems. Patented technology automatically inventories and tracks network connections, users, applications and devices, gathering critical metrics for assessment and diagnostics. Fingerprints placed into the header of each TCP/IP packet allow measurement of the network and application response times associated with each user and desktop for deep visibility, including RDP, ICA, PCoIP and other VDI streaming protocols. Within minutes Stratusphere’s patented process, combined with service level policies, delivers real-time visibility in a virtual desktop and datacenter environment and begins to deliver user experience focused metrics for physical machines, virtual machines and related infrastructure and endpoints.

The key features of Stratusphere include:

  • VDI and Physical Machine, Network, Infrastructure, and Application Assessments – move swiftly from proof of concept to production – while ensuring end user experience
  • User Tracking and Problem Solving – once virtualized identify users experiencing or contributing to unexplained systems slow down
  • Virtual Application Compatibility – assess application activity and profile application resource footprint
  • Support Physical Desktops and Servers – provides application and user visibility and detailed configuration information from the desktop to the SAN
  • ART/NRT Interdependency Maps – gain visibility into application response times (ART) and network response times (NRT), application network traffic, Resources Provisioned vs. Resources Consumed – visibility to fine tune your TCO and ROI
  • Proactive Trending and Capacity Planning – allowing projects to be successfully extended to scale
  • VDI FIT and VDI UX (User Experience) Ratings – identify which users should be considered for VDI and ensure a consistent and acceptable desktop SLA

Stratusphere is available now from a select group of virtualization partners and is priced at $49 per user. A desktop enterprise licensing agreement is available.

NetMotion Wireless Releases Mobility XE 8.51

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NetMotion Wireless, provider of mobile productivity and management software, today released version 8.51 of Mobility XE, the company’s Virtual Private Network (VPN) software. The new version now supports the use of character sets commonly used in French, German, Italian, Spanish, and most other European languages.

This enhancement means that IT administrators and end users can use their native language characters for specifying user names, passwords, resources, and rule sets. The new version of Mobility XE also provides support for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and 2005 SP3.

NetMotion’s core client-server software, Mobility XE, enables mobile workers to maintain secure connections to applications as they move through wireless coverage gaps and across various networks. Used by more than 1,500 business and agencies, NetMotion Wireless’ software works across Windows(TM)-based laptops and mobile devices. Today’s international feature enhancement follows NetMotion’s recent expansion into Europe and formation of new European subsidiaries.

The updated Mobility XE now supports more than 30 languages.

NetMotion software also facilitates comprehensive reporting on the status of a mobile deployment with its new Mobile Analytics module. The Mobile Analytics module monitors the performance of all individual applications, devices and users within a mobile deployment with more than 20 pre-configured and fully customizable reports, enabling IT managers to measure the performance of a mobile deployment and proactively implement productivity changes, where necessary. The software allows network managers to set thresholds for problems with servers, individual users, or devices, and to receive notifications before critical problems develop, dramatically decreasing help desk calls.

Customers who upgrade to NetMotion Mobility XE 8.51 can now leverage the power of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or 2005 SP3 in conjunction with the new Analytics module to proactively manage their mobile deployment as a business asset.

Around the globe, more than 350,000 mobile workers use NetMotion’s Mobility XE to mitigate some of the most common challenges in mobile deployments today, including application stability as users move in and out of wireless coverage areas, and seamless roaming between Wi-Fi and wide-area cellular networks. In addition, the company provides advanced security and network management controls that extend corporate security policies to mobile devices, while also allowing customers to utilize their existing mobile investments to reliably deploy real-time applications such as Voice over IP (VoIP) and streaming video.

Release: Xceed DataGrid for WPF Professional Edition 3.2

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Xceed today launched version 3.2 of Xceed DataGrid for WPF Professional Edition. This update provides new features and bug fixes. A fully functional trial version of the Professional Edition is available for download at the company’s website.

Xceed DataGrid for WPF Professional Edition v3.2 offers several new data virtualization capabilities. These additions extend the contexts in which data virtualization will have an impact, improving the performance that developers can expect from applications using this product. Specifically, the datagrid now supports data virtualization when grouping, when using data sources that implement the IQueryable interface, and when inserting and deleting items.

Support has also been implemented for data sources that use Entity Framework, Microsoft’s .NET object-relational mapping framework, which facilitates the developer’s job of working with different types of data sources.

Other new features include the addition of the ability to customize the contents of the AutoFilterControl, auto-detection of ComboBox columns (enums, foreign keys), and support for unbound columns have been added. Bug fixes have also resolved several issues.

EMC Introduces Business Continuity Services Suite for VMware Environments

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EMC today announced a full range of new consulting, implementation, education and managed services that leverage EMC’s expertise in virtualization and business continuity. EMC Global Services can effectively integrate VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager into customers’ EMC business continuity environments to automate recovery of virtual environments.

Business continuity is a critical requirement in virtualized data centers as more mission-critical applications are virtualized. As a top-tier member of the VMware Partner Network with hundreds of VMware Certified Professionals (VCPs), and years of business continuity experience, EMC Global Services has the deep expertise to help customers address their availability and recovery challenges for virtual environments. EMC’s end-to-end solutions methodology applies best practices from both enterprise business continuity and virtualization disciplines to provide cost-effective recovery strategies for VMware environments. This approach leverages integration of EMC’s full portfolio of replication technology with the automation capabilities of VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager to provide a robust solution that mitigates risk. The following new EMC services help customers design and implement a consistent recovery strategy for x86 virtualized environments across the enterprise:

  • EMC Consulting services for VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager automate and provide a recovery strategy for virtualized infrastructures to integrate VMware vCenter Site Recovery manager into enterprise business continuity programs.
  • EMC Design and Implementation for VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager delivers a customized design and complete integration of VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager with customers’ existing business continuity plans.
  • EMC Education Services for VMware environments offers training modules including, VMware Integration with EMC Storage and Replication Technologies training for both EMC Symmetrix(R) and EMC CLARiiON(R), and VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager, to be proficient in installing, configuring, and operating VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager, as well as the testing of EMC disaster recovery plans.
  • EMC Residency Services for VMware environments provide the infrastructure management resources and expertise to manage the day-to-day operations of the virtual infrastructure.

VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager, when deployed in conjunction with EMC’s industry-leading portfolio of replication software including EMC SRDF (Symmetrix Remote Data Facility), EMC Celerra Replicator, EMC MirrorView and EMC RecoverPoint, enables customers to rapidly and efficiently bring their virtualized servers and mission-critical information online at a secondary site.

Customers who work with EMC Velocity2 Authorized Services Network (ASN) partners will also be able to accelerate the business benefits of integrating their EMC business continuity environments with VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager. Velocity2 ASN partners are trained, certified and field tested to provide value-add services in VMware environments, and channel partners who also VMware partner can further provide value to customers through their deep technical knowledge of EMC and VMware products.

EMC Global Services provides the strategic guidance and technology expertise organizations need to address their business and information infrastructure challenges and derive the maximum value from their information assets and investments. With over 13,000 professional- and support-service experts worldwide, plus a global network of alliances and partners, EMC Global Services leverages proven methodologies, industry best practices, experience and a knowledge base derived from EMC’s 30-year information-centric heritage to help customers reduce risk, lower costs and speed time to value. .

OpenOSX Releases WinTel 3.0, Speeds Up Virtualization Performance

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OpenOSX Thursday announced WinTel version 3.0, the company’s Windows, Linux and other OS virtualization solution for Mac OS X.

WinTel is an application that allows host operating systems (and applications) such as Microsoft Windows and Ubuntu Linux to run in protected, virtual environments within windows on Mac OS X. WinTel’s new virtualization performance is comparable with the performance of VMWare’s Fusion and Parallels Inc.’s Parallels Desktop software.

According to OpenOSX, the update allows users to run most of the instructions of the virtual machine natively, drastically increasing performance in the process. The firm said performance was comparable to VMWare’s Fusion or Parallels.

The OpenOSX WinTel product is available immediately for US$30 plus shipping delivered on CD-ROM, with download-only delivery available for US$25.