News

Matrox Announces Multi-Monitor Support for Desktop Virtualization Environments using Citrix ICA and/or Microsoft RDP Protocols

November 3, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Matrox Graphics announces that Remote PowerDesk and Remote PowerSpace software are now supported with Matrox P690 Series graphics cards, in addition to the already supported Matrox Epica Series. These multi-display software suites provide extensive desktop management capabilities to improve the user experience with multi-monitor desktops hosted virtually using Microsoft RDP or Citrix ICA protocols.

Previously only available with Epica cards, Remote PowerDesk and Remote PowerSpace provide users of any remote platform with P690 add-in cards a vastly improved remote multi-display user experience. Advanced desktop management features such as Desktop Divider, window maximization to a single screen, window position recall, and virtual workspaces allow users to customize application behavior across multiple monitors.

Best-of-breed 2D image quality, unified drivers, and maximum power consumption ranging between 10W and 12W makes the P690 Series ideal for use in green computing environments, thin clients, fat clients (desktops), and docking stations.

Matrox P690 Series graphics cards are available immediately through their authorized resellers worldwide. Remote PowerDesk and Remote PowerSpace are available free of charge for Epica or P690 customers.

VMware Set To Slash Software Prices By 10%

November 2, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

According to Microscope, VMware will slash its list price by 10% from Monday. Matt Piercy, senior director of OEM alliances EMEA confirmed the price reduction.

This cancels out a 10% rise the virtualisation behemoth introduced on 1 September, which combined with the rallying of the US currency has made VMware less competitive, particularly against Microsoft, said partners.

…

Sources close to the vendor said VMware had not predicted the sweeping moves in the currencies at the time of the September price rise which was making its products appear to be around 20% more expensive.

Hat tip to Alessandro.

Cisco Ups Stake In VMware

November 2, 2008 by Robin Wauters 1 Comment

Cisco announced yesterday that it will acquire an increased equity stake in VMware.

Cisco will purchase 500,000 shares of VMware Class A common stock currently held by Intel for approximately $13.3M. Upon closing of the investment, Cisco will own approximately 1.7% percent of VMware’s total outstanding common stock.

Cisco’s purchase is intended to build on the strong inter-company collaboration between Cisco and VMware in the adoption of the companies’ virtualization products and solutions that address the intersection of virtualization and networking technologies.

In September, 2008, Cisco and VMware announced several joint initiatives in the data center virtualization market including the launch of the The Cisco Nexus® 1000V distributed virtual software switch, enhanced professional services and reseller certification training

Ubuntu 8.10 Server Edition Focuses On Virtualization

October 31, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

On Thursday, Ubuntu Linux distribution organization Canonical flipped the switch on free public downloads of Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop Edition and Ubuntu 8.10 Server Edition, both of which will be supported for 18 months.

Improvements to Ubuntu 8.10 Server Edition focus on virtualization, Java development, system management, and email security. It includes a Virtual Machine builder with which developers can construct customized virtual images, which is based on the most recent version of the Just Enough Operating System (JeOS).

Java developers now have the option of using Apache Tomcat 6.0 and OpenJDK, and ClamAV and SpamAssassin have been added to the main repository to handle anti-spam and anti-virus tasks.

Earlier this week in a conference call with reporters, Mark Shuttleworth, leader of Ubuntu distribution organization Canonical, said the company has yet to turn a profit, but he plans to continue funding it for an additional three to five years.

VMware, Splunk Score High On Deloitte’s Silicon Valley Technology Fast 50 Rankings

October 31, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

VMware was ranked first in the category ‘Billion Dollar Club’ of the 2008 Silicon Valley Technology Fast 50. The Billion Dollar Club is a category of companies that have achieved $1 billion or more in revenue in fiscal year 2007 and more than doubled in revenue growth over a five year period.

The top company in the Rising Star category was Splunk, an IT Search company innovating large-scale, high-speed indexing for IT infrastructures. Splunk recorded three year revenue growth of 13,870 percent. The Rising Star is a special award that recognizes fast growing companies that have been in business a minimum of three years.

icomasoft UnvilesVI PowerScripter Professional

October 31, 2008 by Robin Wauters 1 Comment

icomasoft (earlier coverage) today announced the release of its new icomasoft VI PowerScripter Professional to define the “next generation of integrated, best-of-breed” management of VMware environments. This first release of VI PowerScripter Professional delivers market-leading management capabilities for VMware ESX and VirtualCenter Servers. It allows to rapidly addressing management and compliance requirements across the virtual infrastructure.

VI PowerScripter Professional includes an integrated scheduler for the automation of management tasks in VMware, a functionality that the VMware community has been looking for. Another important enhancement is a built-in wizard that guides users through script management and scheduling tasks, eliminating human errors in routine jobs.

The newest version of this product also includes SSH CmdLet for file copy and command execution on SSH servers, such as VMware ESX, Linux, Solaris, as well as Network and Storage systems. VI PowerScripter Professional is based upon Microsoft’s de-facto standard “PowerShell” and integrates seamlessly into VMware. All authentications and permission are inherited and, therefore, no additional login procedures are required. With VI PowerScripter Professional customers can use native VirtualCenter scheduled tasks functions and execute VI PowerShell scripts through dynamically created context menus. The product is capable of handling VM or host-based scripts locally and from network shares as well as to automate and control VMware Consolidated Backups.

VI PowerScripter Professional is a major enhancement of VMware ESX and VirtualCenter functionality. It includes a templates repository for the most common VI management tasks, such as “setup and delete virtual switches and port groups”, “change of root passwords on ESX hosts”, “restart of host-based VirtualCenter agents”, “disconnect virtual drives”, search and display of VMware log files, various statistics, etc. For compliance purposes all VI PowerScripter activities are recorded in a log file.

According to feedback from the Virtualization Community during the beta phase, IT administrators can save up to two hours per day by using VI PowerScripter Professional for scheduling and automating their routine administration tasks. Moreover, the product simplifies monitoring and analysis, and provides the foundation for accurate billing and accounting. The fact that VI PowerScripter Professional does not require additional login procedures and permission settings adds to the security of the operational environments. Users will experience the familiar look and feel of VMware management console and do not need to get trained. An included templates repository ensures that customers will benefit from a wide range of best-practice scripts and a quick ROI. Custom-made scripts can be ordered from icomasoft’s consulting services.

icomasoft VI PowerScripter Professional is now available and can be purchased directly from icomasoft. The downloadable full version provides a 15-days trial period. The product sells at € 285.00 per administrator console, including 1st-year maintenance and support. Volume discounts are available.