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

Quest Releases PowerGUI PowerPack for VMware 2.0

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Quest Software announced the release of version 2.0 of its PowerGUI PowerPack for VMware, expanding the company’s leadership in Windows and Virtualization Management along with the technology provided by Vizioncore.

The new updates for Quest’s PowerGUI PowerPack for VMware includes a full featured PowerShell script library for VMware, to provide enhanced virtualization management capabilities for VMware admins.  It enables virtualization domain experts to take advantage of managing their virtual infrastructure using Quest PowerGUI and the VMware Infrastructure Toolkit for Windows.

PowerGUI is a free download available which simplifies management via Microsoft Windows PowerShell with an intuitive user console, powerful script editor and platform specific PowerPacks.  PowerGUI with the VMware PowerPack version 2.0 enables administrators to quickly and easily automate management tasks common to virtual infrastructures.  Together, Windows PowerShell, PowerGUI, and the PowerGUI PowerPack for VMware provide the ability to manage not only the applications organizations depend on but also the virtual infrastructure that power them, all from a single console.

JumpBox Releases 38 Open Source Virtual Appliances In Open Virtualization Format (OVF)

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JumpBox, publisher of virtual appliances which provide ways to trial, develop, and deploy applications, this week announced the release of 38 Open Source applications in the Open Virtualization Format (OVF), a software standard for packaging and distributing virtual appliances.

A JumpBox is a pre-built and configured virtual appliance that deploys in minutes, saving users up to 70% of the time and cost of traditional software application deployment. OVF enables even simpler JumpBox deployments, particularly for users of the VMware ESX hypervisor based virtualization system.

Applications delivered as OVF are available to premium subscribers to JumpBox Open, JumpBox’s annual subscription suite of virtual appliances for Open Source software.

Sun Releases xVM VirtualBox 2.1

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Sun Microsystems has introduced an updated to xVM VirtualBox, now at version 2.1 (download here).

The latest release offers several enhancements, including:

  • 3D acceleration graphics adaptor uses Open Graphics Library (OpenGL) to run high-performance graphics applications, including CAM-based imagery software.
  • Better network performance speeds up network-intensive apps like videos.
  • Bridged networking configuration makes it easier to deploy Web stacks like LAMP or SAMP.

Also, xVM VirtualBox 2.1 supports:

  • Sun Storage 7000 unified storage systems
  • Intel’s new Nehalem-based processors
  • Mac OS X on Intel Virtualization Technology
  • VMware’s virtual machine disk (VMDK) and Microsoft’s virtual hard disk (VHN) file formats
  • 64-bit guest OSes on 32-bit host platforms

CohesiveFT Elastic Server Now Supports Virtual Iron

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Virtual Iron is now available as a download option for CohesiveFT‘s Elastic Servers.

CohesiveFT functions as an automated “factory” that allows IT professionals to assemble, deploy, and manage virtual servers (i.e., virtual appliances) using a simple point-and-click interface.

More information is available both at the CohesiveFT blog and the Virtual Iron blog.

“CohesiveFT has created a compelling platform that reduces the complexity of creating production-ready virtual servers comprised of multi-sourced components,” said Chris Barclay, director of product management at Virtual Iron. “Now, with the addition of Virtual Iron within Elastic Server, our customers can easily take advantage of existing Elastic Servers or create their own custom servers. CohesiveFT’s create once, run anywhere platform simplifies deployments and gives customers choice of virtualization vendor. This is yet another way that Virtual Iron customers can do more with less.”

Industry Moves: Maurizio Carli Joins VMware As General Manager EMEA

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VMware announced today the appointment of Maurizio Carli as General Manager of VMware’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. Carli is responsible for strategic planning, business operations and management of key functions for the region, including sales, channels, services and marketing. He will report directly to Carl Eschenbach, Executive Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations, for VMware.

Carli brings more than 20 years of experience in the technology industry and knowledge of the EMEA region across several technology waves and economic cycles, including experience in emerging markets. He joins VMware from his most recent role as EMEA Managing Director for Google Enterprise. His prior roles include Senior Vice President and General Manager, EMEA for Business Objects and Vice President of the EMEA Software Group for IBM.

AppDNA Releases Beta Of AppTitude Virtualization Manager for Citrix XenApp

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AppDNA released a beta of AppTitude Virtualization Manager for Citrix XenApp and is working with the company on application compatibility testing for its XenApp product line. AppTitude for Citrix XenApp is designed to make it easier for partners and customers to deliver applications via XenApp – either hosted on the server or streamed directly to the user’s device.

AppDNA’s AppTitude 3.0 is an application compatibility testing solution that can help organizations to determine the optimal method of application delivery. AppTitude 3.0 provides business benefits that were never before possible, including vastly reducing the time, costs and risks associated with deployment of operating system migrations, software upgrades and virtualization.

With its ability to test for a number of new server-related functions, AppTitude 3.0 provides a single view of essential information on every application across the enterprise regarding suitability for virtualization, including XenApp and Microsoft Windows Terminal Services. AppTitude 3.0 also flags applications with potential interoperability and overlap issues.

The new AppTitude 3.0 release includes the AppTitude Virtualization Manager for Citrix XenApp, which allows organizations to rapidly move to XenApp by automatically identifying potential application compatibility issues and recommending actions to fix them. AppTitude 3.0 can test for application compatibility with XenApp versions 3.0 through 5. Included in the product are two types of analysis: static and run-time. AppTitude 3.0 also supports overlap analysis showing whether or not a particular application can be installed on a given server by checking for shared resources, such as file and registry keys. With these new capabilities the product is a highly-effective tool for Citrix XenApp server farm planning and management.