Virtualization.com

DynamicOps today announced that it has enhanced its Virtual Resource Manager (VRM) software with NetApp® FlexClone technology, creating a fully-automated virtual desktop solution that significantly reduces desktop provisioning times and associated storage costs.

This new version of VRM is combined with a specialized NetApp module that leverages and orchestrates the FlexClone technology of NetApp arrays that are based on the NetApp Data ONTAP® operating system, including the IBM N series and N series Gateways.

The solution reduces the storage capacity needed for virtual desktops by as much as 50%.(1) This is accomplished by eliminating performance problems associated with multiple systems booting simultaneously and by providing an integrated operations management console for administrators and desktop support that also incorporates visibility for these groups with capacity management and charge-back metrics. At the same time, desktop support staff has the ability to rapidly provision and manage thousands of virtual desktops in a controlled and automated fashion.

With the FlexClone technology, VRM is a turnkey solution to rapidly provision virtual desktops in an automated, space-efficient manner, while reducing the operational cost of maintaining and supporting a large virtual infrastructure. Without VRM, IT organizations are required to make trade-offs between performance, cost, and agility, thereby making it difficult to justify large-scale virtual desktop deployments.

VRM with NetApp FlexClone technology is available immediately.

Jinan Yinquan Technology , one of the wholly-owned subsidiaries of China VoIP & Digital Telecom, today announced that it has launched its integrated datacenter and desktop virtualization solutions in Shandong University of Finance (the SDUF), a well-known finance university in Shandong Province.

Desktop virtualization separates a personal desktop computer from the physical machine through a client-server computing model. The resulting “virtualized” desktop is stored on a remote central server, instead of on the local storage of a remote client. Thus, when users work from their remote desktops, all the programs, applications, processes, and data are maintained and run centrally.

This solution can help users reduce cost and facilitate management, achieving higher energy-savings, lower emissions and more environmentally-friendly goals.Yinquan will provide SDUF with world-leading technology in the comprehensive datacenter solutions. It will help SDUF reduce investment and operating expenses, lowering the total cost of ownership. It will also help reduce the required number of servers in the datacenter, resulting in higher energy-savings, lower emissions and more environmentally-friendly effects.

Virtustream today announced that two senior executives have earned the coveted VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX) certification. Sean Jennings, vice president, managed services and Matt Theurer, vice president, professional services were two of the first five technology professionals welcomed into the elite group of architects leading virtualization implementations around the world.

In addition to holding VMware Certified Professional (VCP) certifications on VMware vSphere 4 and its prior versions, each expert has taken the extra steps of passing both the Enterprise Administration Exam and the Design Exam, as well as successfully defending a VMware infrastructure design and implementation plan.VCDX is an advanced certification developed for design architects of enterprise deployments running on the VMware platform. Those who earn this certification have demonstrated their expertise in virtualization and their ability to design and architect a virtualization strategy while considering the entire data center and a company’s business needs.

Leveraging nearly a decade of virtualization expertise from Jennings, Theurer and other executives, Virtustream is helping its clients actualize the enterprise cloud by delivering unique cloud computing solutions backed by world-class service level agreements.

To ensure efficient adoption and utilization of cloud computing, Virtustream delivers a host of professional services for strategy and integration spanning all the layers of virtualization. Matt Theurer has been designing and deploying IT solutions for 20 years, architecting IT solutions to solve real world challenges for companies ranging in size from tens of users to tens of thousands of users. He was one of the first individuals ever certified on the VMware platform and holds many industry certifications from Cisco, EMC and Microsoft.

Sean Jennings has expanded Virtustream’s network of industry partners to offer clients a variety of options for application hosting, utilizing tools from industry leading vendors and Virtustream’s own unique cloud platform. Jennings has more than 20 years of experience enabling commercial and government enterprises of all sizes to gain efficiencies and competitive advantage through the design and deployment of creative, forward-looking IT solutions. He has earned numerous certifications from Checkpoint, EMC, HP/Compaq/DEC, Microsoft, Novell and VMware.

VMware today kicked off VMware Partner Exchange 2010, the company’s third annual global partner conference.

This year’s event comes on the heels of a successful 2009, during which VMware experienced steady growth in the VMware Partner Network and continued investment in programs such as solution competencies, VMware Partner University, and certification training — helping partners deliver virtualization solutions to customers on the journey to cloud computing.

In 2009, VMware experienced steady partner program growth:

• The VMware Partner Network grew to 25,000 partners worldwide
• As part of the VMware Partner Network, the VMware Service Provider Program (VSPP)grew to more than 1,700 service provider partners from around the world, signaling increased interest in virtualization and cloud computing from customers

VMware also experienced momentum in its solution competency program. Through VMware Partner University, VMware partners can earn solution competencies in infrastructure virtualization, business continuity and desktop virtualization to demonstrate and differentiate their expertise to customers.

Since solution competencies were introduced in 2009, more than 50 percent of Premier- and Enterprise-level partners have achieved their first competency in infrastructure virtualization or are well on their way to achieving it. Moreover, the desktop virtualization solution competency has gained popularity as a strategic asset among VMware partners:

Other certifications offered through VMware Partner University also gained momentum in 2009, further demonstrating the value of VMware training:

• Introduced in 2008, the VMware Technical Sales Professional (VTSP) certification grew 427 percent year over year, with more than 19,000 individuals earning this certification in 2009
• The popular VMware Certified Professional (VCP) certification grew 85 percent year over year, with nearly 12,000 individuals earning this certification in 2009

Leostream today announced that its vendor-neutral connection broker now provides greater flexibility, simpler deployment and more efficient management of hosted virtual desktop infrastructures (HVDI). The most effective connection management technology of its kind, the Connection Broker enables companies to deploy enterprise-class virtual desktop environments while minimizing complexity.

The Leostream Connection Broker is the software management layer that ties desktop images in the data center to the appropriate end user devices — thin clients, laptops, workstations, or Web pages — delivering an end-user experience as good as or superior to that of a conventional desktop. The Connection Broker is vendor-independent, providing HVD support for VMware, Citrix, Microsoft, and Xen.org hypervisors, as well as for hosted applications and sessions, physical desktops, dedicated blades and other systems.

For IT managers, the Connection Broker deploys quickly, provides a rich set of policies for the exact implementation of business rules for users and machines, and consolidates resources into a “single-pane-of-glass” view. The Connection Broker 6.3 is a major point release with features that continue to streamline the deployment, scaling and ongoing management of HVDs.

It integrates easily with existing management infrastructure and adds only the HVD-specific policies necessary to complement established corporate policies. No changes to certified systems such as authentication services and SSL VPNs are required.

For IT decision makers, the Connection Broker provides key strategic flexibility to mix and match various solutions within their HVDI without fear of vendor lock-in. This flexibility is becoming increasingly vital as HVDI technologies develop and mature, and as new vendors continue to enter the rapidly expanding market.

More here.