News

Sourcefire Launches Virtual 3D Partner Program

July 21, 2009 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Sourcefire has announced its Virtual 3D Partner Program, providing cloud computing companies and OEMs the ability to leverage the new Sourcefire Virtual 3D Sensor and Sourcefire Virtual Defense Center to efficiently and effectively increase customer protection.

The Sourcefire Virtual 3D Partner Program is designed to provide hardware, software and services companies with virtual security solutions to address their customer’s critical requirements.

The Sourcefire Virtual 3D Partners can utilize the recently announced Virtual 3D Sensor and Virtual Defense Center, which provide users with the flexibility to deploy the company’s leading security solutions within their virtual environments for increased protection of both physical and virtual assets. These new virtual appliances can inspect traffic between virtual machines, while also making it easier to deploy and manage sensors at remote sites where resource may be limited. They also enable partners to easily implement Sourcefire’s leading security solutions on existing customer hardware or within a cloud infrastructure for increased protection.

Quantum Debuts esXpress Software Module

July 21, 2009 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Quantum has unveiled Quantum esXpress software module, which optimizes Quantum’s DXi-Series disk backup and replication systems to back up and restore VMware ESX virtual servers.

Extending the power of Quantum’s patented data deduplication technology, esXpress and the DXi-Series together eliminate the need for physical servers to initiate a backup job and move data, and make WAN-based replication more affordable, providing an automated approach to replicating files to remote disaster recovery sites. This valuable combination lowers the cost of VMware data protection and optimizes the virtual infrastructure.

Quantum’s esXpress software module is available for the entire DXi-Series of deduplication and replication solutions, which dramatically reduces bandwidth and disk requirements for transmitting and storing data. The DXi-Series provides powerful advantages for virtual environments, eliminating duplicate data that virtual machines create, reducing storage needs for end users and streamlining backup. While the DXi-Series supports all of the leading backup software applications, the new esXpress software module is specifically designed to offer optimized backup for VMware servers.

With esXpress and the DXi-Series, Quantum combines innovative backup software with deduplication and replication technology to shorten backup windows, without adding servers to support data backup and restoration. Quantum’s esXpress also features a policy-based approach to installations and configurations which can significantly reduce deployment times when adding ESX servers. With its powerful deduplication technology and intelligent replication capabilities, Quantum’s DXi-Series is a compelling solution for organizations with both traditional and virtual backup needs, addressing cost, bandwidth and scalability concerns.

Quantum and its network of value-added resellers offer two versions of the esXpress software module: the Professional and Enterprise editions, to provide a range of capabilities for managing concurrent backup jobs per ESX server. Every DXi2500-D, DXi3500, DXi7500 Express and DXi7500 includes the right to a license for a free copy of esXpress Professional software, intended for use on one VMware ESX server regardless of the amount of storage or the number of virtual machines protected, which can support up to four Virtual Backup Appliances (VBAs). This esXpress Professional license is included at no additional cost, and phone-based installation is provided free of charge. Subsequent esXpress Professional licenses (MSRP $950) also support up to four VBAs each and for $950 can be upgraded to esXpress Enterprise (MSRP $1,850) which supports up to 16 VBAs per ESX server.

Devon IT Thin Client Models Now VMware View 3.1 Certified

July 21, 2009 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Devon IT has announced that its TC2, TC5, and SafeBook LVO thin client models are VMware View 3.1 Desktop Virtualization (VDI) certified.

This designation indicates the models have completed the VMware Hardware Certification Program testing criteria for use with VMware View 3.1 and are now listed on the VMware Hardware Compatibility Guide. The VMware Hardware Certification Program enables VMware Technology Alliance Partner (TAP) program members to provide mutual customers with jointly supported hardware solutions.

Passing the extensive certification testing helps ensure that Devon IT is compatible with VMware technology and ready for deployment in customer environments.

The VMware Ready program is a VMware co-branding program for qualified partner products and is a benefit of the VMware TAP program. With more than 1,000 members worldwide, the VMware TAP program works with best-of-breed technology partners to provide them a comprehensive set of VMware technical and marketing services, support, tools and expertise to deliver enhanced value to joint customers.

CohesiveFT Adds Ubuntu 9.04 SE and Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 to its Elastic Server Platform

July 16, 2009 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

CohesiveFT today announced the addition of both Ubuntu 9.04 Server Edition (Jaunty Jackalope) and Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 (Lenny) operating systems to its Elastic Server platform, the company’s web-based factory for real-time virtual and cloud server assembly. The Elastic Server platform lets users assemble custom virtual and cloud servers using a point-and-click, self-service interface. The addition of the most recent stable versions of Ubuntu and Debian as operating system options gives users the ability to assemble and deploy their custom Ubuntu or Debian Elastic Servers to numerous virtual and cloud environments including Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2).

Ubuntu is a widely popular operating system distributed freely by Canonical based on GNU/Linux. Ubuntu is available under the GNU/GPL but is commercially supported by Canonical. Debian is also an extremely popular operating system based on GNU/Linux. Debian is not supported by a commercial enterprise but by an independent decentralized organization of developers.

The Elastic Server platform is a complement to virtualization and cloud offerings. Users assemble custom servers by choosing from a library of popular components. Once assembled, these custom application stacks can be configured to a variety of virtualization and cloud-ready formats, downloaded and deployed in real-time. There are over three thousand users of the service who have assembled more than seven thousand Elastic Server images for public and private use. The addition of Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope and Debian Lenny operating systems highlights CohesiveFT’s platform momentum following recently introduced support for Eucalyptus, Fedora Core 10, ElasticHosts, and KVM.

Trend Micro Expands Virtualization Security Portfolio

July 16, 2009 by Robin Wauters 1 Comment

Trend Micro is expanding its overall virtualization security portfolio with the introduction of a content security solution to protect VMware ESX/ESXi environments.

Trend Micro Core Protection for Virtual Machines is designed to secure VMware virtual machines, both active and dormant, comprehensively and efficiently. The product leverages the VMsafe APIs from VMware to offer layered protection through the use of dedicated scanning VMs coordinated with real-time agents within the VM.

A tough economy is driving companies globally to adopt more cost-effective measures and pursue efficiency, one of the main reasons why analysts expect the virtualization industry to hit over $7 billion over the next four years.

But while server virtualization increases efficiency in the data center, it also challenges the security of the IT environment: Existing content security solutions imported from the physical world typically leave security gaps when deployed in virtual environments. For example, dormant or offline virtual machines can get infected even while dormant, yet are unable to protect themselves with a virus scan agent and signature updates.

Similarly, resource-intensive security operations such as scheduled full system scans can significantly degrade the performance of the host and render the security ineffective, especially when initiated concurrently on multiple virtual machines.

Trend Micro Core Protection for Virtual Machines is part of Trend Micro Enterprise Security – a tightly integrated offering of content security products, services and solutions which is powered by the Trend Micro(TM) Smart Protection Network. Trend Micro Enterprise Security delivers immediate protection from emerging threats while greatly reducing the cost and complexity of security management.

Trend Micro Core Protection for Virtual Machines 1.0 will be available in August 2009 both as a standalone as well as part of the OSCE X Advanced Suite. The solution is also available as part of a new Virtualization Security suite that includes Trend Micro Deep Security, brought to the company from its acquisition of Third Brigade in April 2009. Core Protection for Virtual Machines can be deployed standalone or as a plug-in to OfficeScan Client/Server and managed through the OfficeScan console.

Leostream Updates Connection Broker

July 16, 2009 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Leostream today announced new functionality has been added to its vendor-neutral connection broker that simplifies the management of virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). Already the most effective technology of its kind for VDI deployments in heterogeneous environments, the Leostream Connection Broker 6.1 now also features enhanced policy and reporting capabilities, power control for physical machines, Web browser access to Citrix XenApp applications, and bulk delete, refresh and release actions for even easier IT administration.

The latest version closely follows the April release of the Leostream Connection Broker 6.0. Leostream’s goal has long been to anticipate market demand for virtualization solutions and continually build upon its already mature connection management technology to meet this demand. This is especially important for enterprises that need to handle the multi-vendor environments that invariably exist in larger-scale virtualization projects. As a result, the Leostream Connection Broker provides organizations with the capability to integrate existing technology easily and achieve the maximum ROI for end-user computing.

The Leostream Connection Broker, delivered as a virtual appliance, is the software management layer that ties desktop images in the data center to users’ thin client, laptop, desktop or Web interface. It allows enterprises to provide end-users with a virtual desktop experience equal or superior to traditional desktops. End-users can access their virtual desktop from any machine, regardless of location, due to the technology’s ability to direct users to their own virtual desktop image. IT managers can also maximize the virtualization of existing resources by easily integrating an array of clients, back-end systems and viewers. Additionally, the product integrates with existing data center infrastructure without changes, including authentication services and SSL VPN systems, and provides a rich set of policies for the exact implementation of business rules for users and machines.

Particular highlights of Leostream Connection Broker 6.1 include:

Policy Enhancements: Expanded flexibility of policies offers “granular customization” to suit an enterprise’s precise needs.
- Policies can now be applied to hard-assigned desktops, providing consistent policy application for all types of machine assignment.
- Policies now allow administrators to offer as many resources as desired to the end-user, but can limit the number of machines actually assigned to a set limit, improving control of license usage.
- Power control and release policies make it easier to reuse power and assignment options.
Enhanced Reporting: New reporting features have been added to give IT greater insight and control. A metrics report provides information on disk usage and load averages for all Connection Brokers in a cluster, with another report summarizing the setup of all policies.
Web Browser Access to Citrix XenApp: An extension of the Connection Broker’s current XenApp functionality, end-users can now launch Citrix XenApp desktops and applications via the Connection Broker Web browser.
Access and Power Control for Physical Machines: The Connection Broker can make Microsoft SMS server calls to power up physical machines. This Wake-on-LAN feature allows users the convenience of starting and accessing physical machines from remote locations, while providing enterprises with greater control over power use.
Bulk Actions for Improved IT Management: Bulk delete, refresh and release actions bring improved ease-of-use to IT administrators.