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

HyPerformix Releases Capacity Manager 3.4

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HyPerformix recently announced the availability of the latest version of their flagship HyPerformix Capacity Manager product.

Capacity Manager is a capacity planning platform that is designed specifically to support IT decision makers with accurate predictions of capacity requirements, cost implications and expected performance from virtually any IT architecture. Capacity Manager also identifies servers and workloads that are safe candidates for consolidation and virtualization. Capacity Manager collects performance and business data and applies advanced algorithms to deliver concise, accurate predictions through compelling interactive dashboards.

HyPerformix has simplified capacity planning to accelerate customer success, and has incorporated extensive process automation and best practices into Capacity Manager 3.4.

VMware Puts Out Release Candidates for Server 2.0, Workstation 6.5 and ACE 2.5

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Troubled VMware doesn’t let recent problems and acquisition talk get in the way of continuously updating its product line.

Readying their official launch, the company has put out several release candidates recently: just last week, VMware announced the Release Candidate 2 (build 110949) for Server 2.0 and the Release Candidate 1 (build 110068) for Workstation 6.5 and ACE 2.5.

0wning Xen … In More Detail

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Over at her own blog, Joanna Rutkowska from Invisible Things has some updates on their findings about Xen security as we earlier reported.

Joanna argues that most of the attacks presented indeed require that the attacker first gains access to the Dom0 before he can launch the attacks but that doesn’t take away the severeness of the issues.

Other rootkits also require for the attacker to first gain root access before he can hide his toolset from the eyes of the administrator.

She continues to argue that other attacks already provide people with potential access from DomU to Dom0 via a virtual machine escape bug

But even there the attacker first has to gain root in the DomU before he can potentially climb up to Dom0

Still there’s a significant difference in gaining (root) access, and hiding the fact that you got it. But indeed neither of both should be possible

What’s All This Talk About VMware Buying Red Hat?

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We were looking at the swirling rumors coming in about a potential acquisition of Red Hat by VMware, and ultimately decided not to cover the rumor because … well because it seems so irrational.

But is that actually so?

This is what BusinessWeek wrote:

Speculation is rife that the company (Red Hat) is a takeover target. “It makes no sense that they’re still hanging out there,” says Eric Gebaide, a managing director at investment bank Innovation Advisors.

One possible suitor is virtualization software company VMware, which some industry executives says is on the lookout for an operating system to add to its portfolio. Former VMware CEO Diane Greene, ousted by her board in July, had set up meetings with Red Hat in part to position VMware as friendly to open source and possibly as a prelude to a buyout discussion, according to a person familiar with the conversations. Representatives of both companies declined to comment.

Ostatic followed up with a snapshot analysis, and now the folks over at Cnet News.com are trying to make sense of such an acquisition.

Ostatic concludes in its post:

A combination of VMware virtualization and a proven, popular operating system could pave the way for a future of healthy competition for VMware with other operating systems that bundle virtualization. I wouldn’t be surprised to see both VMware and Red Hat pursue all of this.

Meanwhile Cnet’s Matt Asay contradicts:

I would think this trend cuts the other way. Red Hat (and Novell) likely see virtualization’s commoditization as a reason to push the knife deeper into VMware. Being acquired by an important but commoditized feature of their operating systems doesn’t sound appealing to me…

What do you think?

VMware

Red Hat

Unified Network Storage Provider agàmi Folds After Burning Through $45 Million In 6 Months

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This isn’t the prettiest of stories: Valleywag and the Mercury News are reporting that unified network storage startup agàmi Systems has left the building. The company is shutting down after raising a lot of money, most recently picking up $45 million in Series C financing.

Back then, the fundraising was led by Advanced Equities (recent reports about this particular VC firm itself have been far from positive either) with participation from current investors New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Kleiner Perkins, APEX Venture Partners, Alta Partners, TIF Ventures and Duff Ackerman Goodrich, and new investments from ITOCHU Corporation and David Stiles (CEO), and was going to be used to ramp up sales & marketing.

Too little, too late, apparently.

More than two weeks after the shutdown, agàmi’s Web site was still up and touting the company as “the leading provider of unified network storage solutions.”

The official word:

“Agami’s board has decided to shut the company down as the efforts to raise further capital didn’t materialize in time. It’s really unfortunate, but that is true,” said Sreekanti. “The company is going through a process of the liquidation of assets, so I don’t have anymore details than that.”

And the reaction from NetApp CEO Dan Warmenhoven:

“You don’t raise $45 million and then get shut down. That doesn’t make sense.”

Agàmi employed between 80 and 100 people, with most in Sunnyvale, some in Hyderabad, India. Questions remain whether Agami had burned through its funds or whether some of agàmi’s investors, pulled back money that was contingent on technology or sales progress.

agami Systems

PHD Technologies Appoints Sridhar Murthy As CEO

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PHD Technologies, provider of the esXPRESS backup and restoration solution for virtualized infrastructures, today announced the appointment of Sridhar Murthy as the company’s chief executive officer.

For the past two years, Murthy served as chief operating officer and chief financial officer at TicketsNow.com. During his tenure, the company doubled its revenues. Prior to this, Murthy was chief financial officer and vice president of operations at Collabnet, a provider of hosted enterprise solutions for distributed and outsourced software development. Earlier in his career, Murthy held finance and operations leadership positions at Get2Chip, Ariba Inc. and Remedy Corporation.

PHD Technologies recently received a significant equity investment from a top tier venture firm to help fund new product development and geographic expansion. In Q1 2008, esXPRESS surpassed the 1000th customer milestone.