Virtualization.com

Xsigo Systems today announced that Avaya, a global enterprise communications systems provider, has deployed Xsigo virtual I/O as part of a recent virtualization deployment that supports the company’s software development teams.

Virtual I/O was seen as critical to meet the project’s server utilization and continuous uptime objectives that would help to accelerate the company’s engineering efforts while reducing costs. Compared with alternative solutions, Xsigo virtual I/O allowed the company to run twice as many virtual machines per server while delivering continuous uptime.

Avaya is a leader in voice and data communications services, with over 16,000 employees and 2,300 research and development professionals worldwide. The company’s communications applications, software, and services helps enterprise customers simplify complex communications systems and integrate technologies from other vendors. This virtualization project consolidated and streamlined the management of servers used to design and test applications software.

The company deployed multiple Xsigo VP780 I/O Directors to provide connectivity for their virtualized server environment that also includes Dell PowerEdge 1950 and R610 servers, VMware ESX software, and Fibre Channel-attached storage.

Benefits achieved with the Xsigo I/O Director include:

· Scalability: Up to 64 connections per server (1GE, 10GE, and Fibre Channel)
· Performance: Up to 80Gbps bandwidth to each server
· Flexibility: Dynamic connectivity management without server reboots
· Simplicity: 70% fewer cards, cables, and switch ports

Wyse Technology, a provider of thin computing and client virtualization solutions, announced the availability of Wyse TCX Suite 4.0.

Wyse TCX Suite 4.0 unifies all existing Wyse TCX solutions in a single product suite, as well as adds new features.

Each underlying software component in the suite delivers an enhancement component designed to work seamlessly within Microsoft Terminal Services, Citrix XenApp, Citrix XenDesktop and VMware View environments. Wyse TCX Suite 4.0 includes comprehensive platform support including Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2. Wyse TCX Suite 4.0 is compatible with XenDesktop 4 and VMware View 4.

Wyse TCX Suite 4.0 features Collaborative Processing Architecture (CPA) which divides the workload between the server and client whenever appropriate, reducing the need for larger servers, and delivering the best client virtualization computing experience available.

The Wyse TCX Suite 4.0 comprises of multimedia acceleration which is a technology that streamlines the delivery of the multimedia stream to the local client for a rich playback experience within a thin computing architecture. It also offers flash acceleration which is a technology that extend the capabilities of the remoting protocols for delivering Flash video content using Windows Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Internet Explorer 8, without the need for a Flash player on the local client.

The Wyse TCX Suite 4.0 also comprises of multi-display system which makes virtual desktops and applications multi-monitor aware over RDP and ICA connections, and the client USB (universal serial bus) port virtualization which makes client attached USB devices visible to virtual desktops and applications. It also offers rich sound which enables and facilitates the deployment of virtual desktops and applications that require receiving and transmitting audio without compromise.

The Wyse TCX Suite 4.0 also offers Avaya SoftPhone and Elluminate applications support, high fidelity audio over high latency links, redirect USB devices in shared mode to terminal server/XenApp based desktops, Windows Taskbar on primary monitor, WMV multicast support without URL or infrastructure modification, and enhancing core media redirection with H.264/MP4 part 10 and MS MP4 part 2 v3 (DivX 3.1) support.

Wyse TCX 4.0 is available immediately at $35/device seat.

Pano Logic today announced its new comprehensive partner program intended to accelerate partner growth and profitability, and expand the EMEA channel.

The program to reward existing and new resellers of the PanoSystem, an all-in-one zero client desktop virtualization platform, with generous margin incentives while reinforcing their continued commitment with comprehensive training, support, sales and marketing tools, and access to marketing funds to drive pipeline creation.

The Pano Logic technology is the only VDI system to radically centralize all computing power to the virtualized server, so there is absolutely no processing power at the endpoint. Analyst houses Gartner and Forrester are both forecasting increased uptake of desktop virtualization in 2010, with analyst Roy Illsley of OVUM predicting an increase from one per cent to five per cent of businesses using desktop virtualization by the end of the year (Roy Illsley, 2010: The Tipping Point of Desktop Virtualisation; 2009).

This presents a significant opportunity for resellers to increase profitability within their existing install base and add new customers. Existing partners are already taking advantage of the trend.

UK-based STL Technologies, who joined the Pano Partner Program in October of 2009 experienced the traction and is now promoted to EMEA Premier Partner status, the first Pano Logic EMEA Premier Partner.

LPI Level Platforms has announced the availability of Managed Workplace 2010, marking a milestone in the evolution of its agentless platform for solution providers offering managed services to their small and mid-sized customers.

These features include:

Onsite Utilities providing one-click access to a collection of troubleshooting and remote access.
Website Console allowing one-click remote access to web-based administration interfaces for network devices and applications.
Significant new Intel vPro productivity enhancements including remote imaging of non-functioning devices
Roaming Devices allowing a roaming laptop to be managed as if connected to the LAN
66 new best-practices Policy Modules
158 partner-requested productivity improvements.

Fortisphere, a Virtual Service Management software company, today announced the completion of a successful implementation for DAI, assisting the international development firm in evolving its virtual management approach to more confidently support quickly increasing business critical workloads.

With nearly 2000 staff worldwide, DAI confronts development challenges in a wide range of practices and in countries. Even shortly after taking occupancy in a new Washington, DC-area facility several years ago, DAI’s rapid growth soon meant the data center was running out of space.

In an effort to alleviate constraints around space, power and climate control, DAI leveraged VMware ESX. The technical success and initial savings encouraged DAI’s IT team to extend virtualization further across the infrastructure. Soon, over 50% of DAI’s servers had been virtualized. But as resources reached their limits, and with no reliable view into precisely how virtual resources supported their respective services, whenever application performance issues reared their head, virtual servers became the de facto scapegoat.

DAI’s IT team had used VMware’s Virtual Center with some initial success to maintain individual virtual machines (VMs) at a very granular level. But because the team didn’t have the visibility required to associate each VM with the particular business services each supported, virtual administrators had no way by which to prioritize which issues to tackle first. As the infrastructure grew, this bottom-up, manual process for problem resolution increasingly led to shortfalls in service delivery.

In early 2009, DAI turned to Fortisphere Virtual Service Manager (VSM) to transform its approach to virtualization management, with the mantra in mind that all VMs are not created equal. Firstly, VSM provided a visual inventory of all VMs, with extensive drilldown capabilities. But VSM also went beyond mapping, furnishing administrators the ability to intelligently tag each VM and associate the services it provides with specific business functions or projects. Once worked with business stakeholders to define mutually agreed service levels, VSM in turn furnished role-based views that display filtered data on only those VMs relevant to each stakeholder.

As a result of the implementation, DAI solves issues leveraging a new level of visibility, control and automation across its entire virtual environment. Fortisphere VSM has enabled the IT organization to reduce administrative costs, by optimizing virtual administrators’ productivity through an approach that prioritizes issue resolution based on service impact. This means its business users receive better service, and overall IT has earned much greater stakeholder confidence.