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eG Innovations Adds XenServer and Sun LDoms Support to Its VM Monitor

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eG Innovations today announced that its eG VM Monitor now supports Citrix XenServer and Sun Microsystems’ Solaris Logical Domains (LDoms).

The enhancements are part of v4.2 of the company’s eG Enterprise Suite, which already supports VMware ESX and ESX 3i servers as well as Solaris Containers. The new software release also strengthens management of VMware environments. eG Enterprise agents can now be integrated directly within VMware’s Virtual Center. This greatly simplifies configuration of the monitoring for VMware server farms.

Also, the eG VM Monitor software now monitors the VMware Virtual Desktop Manager to provide an end-to-end view of a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) deployment. A new VM Search capability makes it easier to track the status and performance of virtual machines (VMs) as they move from one physical server to another.

The eG Enterprise Suite monitors Citrix XenServers and Sun LDoms in much the same way it monitors VMware ESX servers. eG Enterprise v4.2 offers agent-based and agentless monitoring of CitrixXen server v4.0 and 4.1. For agent-based monitoring, an eG agent on the control domain of a XenServer monitors the hypervisor and all its virtual machines (VMs).
Administrators can also choose to monitor their XenServers without agents, with either a Linux or a Windows system being used to host the remote data collector. Citrix XenMotion activity is tracked to determine when, how often, why and where VMs migrate to.

eG Enterprise v4.2 provides many other improvements and new features. These include: tracking and reporting uptime of individual VMs, ability to share customized views and reports among all or specific administrators, allowing administrators to select a console display “skin” (color) of their choice, providing selectable alert modes (e.g., email and SMS) to accommodate preferences of administrators who work in shifts; and custom monitoring of the BlackBerry Enterprise Server.

The eG Enterprise v4.2 will be available at the end of September. Pricing for any virtualization platform supported is per server monitored, regardless of the hardware capabilities (e.g., CPU, memory, socket) of the server, or the number of virtual machines or virtual desktops it supports. Pricing for a 25-node environment starts at $50,000.

Kingston Technology Highlights Importance of Memory in Performance of Microsoft Virtualization Technologies

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Kingston Technology Company emphasized the importance of memory in delivering the features and benefits offered by Microsoft virtualization technologies to improve computing environments ranging from the data center to desktop and beyond, during today’s Microsoft “Get Virtual Now” launch event in Bellevue, Wash.

“When deploying virtualization technologies, optimizing system memory is essential. Kingston offers multiple system options with our new 16GB server memory kits and 4GB notebook modules,” said Liesl Schwoebel, branded product memory marketing manager, Kingston. “With adequate memory installed, IT and business professionals can best reap the benefits offered by Microsoft’s portfolio of virtualization solutions, including improvements in computing efficiency, flexibility, continuity and agility.”
“As we fuel the next stages of IT innovation to make virtualization available to as many different types of users as possible, memory is fundamental in all of these scenarios,” said Zane Adam, senior director of integrated virtualization at Microsoft Corp. “Whether it’s virtualization to consolidate servers or to maximize desktop and notebook efficiency, in working with Kingston, Microsoft is confident that customers can take full advantage of the benefits of our full suite of virtualization offerings.”

Kingston memory modules are backed by a lifetime warranty and free 24/7 technical support. Kingston server memory is covered by the exclusive KingstonCare program, an additional layer of customer service that provides on-site spares, service reimbursement, cross-ship RMAs and all the tools necessary to minimize server downtime.

Xsigo Upgrades VP780 I/O Director

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Xsigo Systems (previous coverage), provider of data center I/O virtualization solutions, today announced the availability of an enhanced version of the company’s VP780 I/O Director. The enhanced product, called the VP780 x2, is designed to set new performance and ease-of-use standards for data center customers using virtual I/O technologies.

The new VP780 x2 offers all the benefits of its predecessor — greater data center agility, up to 50% less capital cost, and 70% fewer cables — now with a 100% increase in server connectivity speed. The VP780 x2 delivers 20Gbs of bandwidth to each server, making it the world’s fastest converged I/O fabric. The product also offers industry-first features that allow users to quickly monitor and manage their I/O topology with a single view that extends from the virtual machines to the physical switch ports.

The enhanced data center I/O management capabilities of the VP780 x2 include a single-screen view of virtual machines, virtual switches and I/O topologies. This view enables end-to-end visualization of resources extending from the virtual machine to a physical switch port. Enhanced performance monitoring now includes traffic statistics accessible through third party tools.

The faster server connection speed delivers greater throughput and increased VMotion performance for faster deployment of virtual resources.

Also new in the VP780 x2 are enhanced SAN and iSCSI boot capabilities that allow users to boot any server from any Fibre Channel or iSCSI LUN for fast re-purposing of server resources. Customers can now adapt to dynamic workloads, deploy resources on demand, and boost utilization by rapidly changing both a server’s I/O personality and its application workload, all within the Xsigo virtual I/O environment.
Xsigo is the only vendor to combine virtual I/O technology, a unified fabric, and a hardware-based platform to deliver data center-wide scalability and a single point of management for all I/O resources.

Xsigo launched its first virtual I/O product in September of 2007 specifically to address the I/O complexity and performance bottlenecks found in today’s data centers. Xsigo consolidates the I/O infrastructure and replaces physical network and storage interfaces (NICs and HBAs) with virtual resources that are remotely manageable from a single console. The Xsigo solution works with today’s existing infrastructure, and incorporates a modular design that is easily adapted to accommodate new networks, servers, and interconnect standards.

The beta version of the VP780 x2 is available immediately and sold directly through Xsigo Systems, Inc. and its qualified resellers.

Xsigo Systems

Radiant Logic Introduces “Context Server” at DEMO

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Radiant Logic today announced at the DEMO conference the first-ever “Context Server”. The RadiantOne Virtual Context Server (VCS) expands upon Radiant Logic’s identity virtualization platform. By extracting contextual information buried in application silos, RadiantOne VCS enables better integration of business processes.

RadiantOne VCS publishes information out of application silos by dynamically generating English sentences out of application metadata. Those sentences are organized into meaningful views acting as contextual links across business processes. This enables information to be searched, retrieved across application silos and updated in the right context.

RadiantOne VCS builds upon Radiant Logic’s identity virtualization platform, which includes the company’s flagship product RadiantOne Virtual Directory Server (VDS).

PHD Technologies Hires Igor Saulsky To Sell More Of Its esXPRESS Solution

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PHD Technologies (previous coverage include their undisclosed funding round and the appointment of CEO Sridhar Murthy), provider of the esXPRESS data protection solution for virtualized infrastructures, today announced the addition of Igor Saulsky as Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales.  Saulsky brings more than two and a half decades of software product and corporate sales experience to lead the company’s global sales efforts.

Saulsky spent nine years at Symantec/Veritas Software, during which time the company’s sales grew from $70 million to $2 billion.  Saulsky held a variety of instrumental sales roles, including managing the worldwide sales launch of Veritas’ Storage Virtualization and Computing Utility solutions, and leading the Symantec/Veritas sales integration in the New York region.

More recently, Saulsky led sales organizations at Ingres and Quest Software, where he was responsible for recruiting, training, and managing regional enterprise sales teams.  He joins PHD Technologies from Sunpower Corporation.

Microsoft Announcements: Hyper-V Server To Compete With ESXi, Windows Server 2008 R2 Will Sport Live Migration Feature

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Microsoft is doing a big virtualization splash today with their much-hyped ‘Get Virtual Now’ event in Washington. The Hyper-V 1.0 hypervisor was officially released, but that wasn’t much of a surprise, unlike the launch of a new version (free of charge) dubbed Hyper-V Server 2008. It’s a standalone server virtualization tool that enables firms to consolidate Windows and Linux workloads onto a single physical server.

You guessed it: it’s direct competition to VMware ESXi, and it’s going to make waves. The new product will be supported by the upcoming System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, to be released within 30 days as well.

Another surprise: the next version of Hyper-V which will be included with Windows Server 2008 R2, will have a live migration feature, something Microsoft was often criticized for because it lacked it. According to Mary Jo Foley, the release is slated for 2010.

Microsoft