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

SoftLayer Extends Offer With Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V

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SoftLayer extends its solution set to include virtualization with the release of Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V. Hyper-V can be ordered through the SoftLayer customer portal and provisioned automatically along with a server’s operating system or systems.

“Deploying Hyper-V is the first step in an extensive virtualization strategy that we are rolling out over the coming months,” stated George Karidis, Chief Strategy Officer. “The opportunities and advantages of virtualization are radically impacting the way we envision SoftLayer’s future and our fundamental approach to server and data center architecture.”

Citrix Pushes Embedding XenServer With Extended OEM Incentive Program

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Citrix has extended its Citrix Advisor Rewards program today to pay channel partners on sales of Citrix XenServer software that ships as an embedded feature in servers from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like HP.

The program, originally introduced in 2004, pays Citrix Solution Advisors for designing and delivering solutions based on Citrix application delivery products, even if a different channel partner ultimately fulfills the order. Extending the program to include embedded versions of XenServer eliminates any potential channel conflict with OEM partners and ensures strong incentives across the board by compensating partners that influence embedded XenServer deals as well as those who fulfill them.

Citrix has announced several OEM agreements in recent months to embed XenServer in servers from systems vendors such as HP. As a result of today’s announcement, the Citrix Advisor Rewards program now pays channel partners on sales of these products, effectively eliminating potential channel conflict and focusing the extensive expertise of Citrix Solution Advisors on delivering the best possible solutions to customers.

“Customers want to implement virtualization with reduced risk, and HP understands that the channel is essential to meeting those requirements,” said Scott Farrand, vice president, Industry Standard Server Software, HP. “Citrix’s new channel program enables partners to offer a comprehensive virtualization solution that integrates the power of HP ProLiant servers with the rich functionality of the Citrix XenServer HP Select Edition from a single, reliable source.”

Dell Introduces Blade Chassis Virtualization Tool FlexAddress

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Dell has followed on the introduction of its PowerEdge M-Series blade server solution with Dell FlexAddress, a tool for blade chassis virtualization and persistent identity. Dell FlexAddress is in essence an I/O virtualization tool for its blade servers, making it easier for IT managers to install new blades and swap out servers.

Dell FlexAddress is enabled by a special SD card for the PowerEdge M1000e Chassis Management Controller (CMC) and the latest firmware. The FlexAddress SD card is now available worldwide with a starting price of $499.

Dell says FlexAddress allows any M-Series blade enclosure to abstract the Fibre Channel World Wide Name (WWN) and Ethernet/iSCSI Media Access Control (MAC) from the blade hardware and, instead, tie it persistently to a slot in the M1000e chassis. This feature provides customers with an efficient, flexible and consistent infrastructure. Dell FlexAddress is managed by the Chassis Management Controller (CMC) in the PowerEdge M1000e, keeping it agnostic to the I/O module and avoiding the need to “switch your switch.”

Since Dell FlexAddress is controlled by the Chassis Management Controller (CMC), it doesn’t add a management layer. This means it can seamlessly integrate into the network management tools already used in any data center today, such as CiscoWorks.

Univa UD Appoints New Management Team, Unveils New Data Center Automation Strategy

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Univa UD, a provider of data center automation and virtualization products, recently announced it has named industry veterans Alex Brown and Kent Purdy to lead its data center automation business division and retool its product suite. The announcement comes as Univa UD officially launches Reliance as its cornerstone product for service-based management of application delivery environments.

Brown joins Univa UD as VP and general manager of data center automation. Brown brings 20 years of experience and a wealth of enterprise software and data center strategy expertise to Univa UD. He joins the company from Dell, where he was the global leader in charge of developing Infrastructure Services solutions, most recently including Dell’s initial Virtualization and Data Center Power/Cooling offerings.

During his time at Dell, Brown also ran Asia-Pacific-Japan Consulting as well as his initial post at Dell leading Central United States Consulting. His previous firm, Plural, was acquired by Dell in 2002.

Also joining Univa UD is Kent Purdy, who will lead product development for the data center automation division. Purdy also brings more than 20 years experience in the business software industry, maintaining product focus specific to IT centric administration and management solutions for servers, distributed computing, and grid environments.

Purdy joins Univa UD from Altiris, where as senior product alliance manager he drove product strategy into partner roadmap and execution plans. At Altiris, Purdy managed Dell’s OpenManage product line, including Dell’s Client Manager for desktop and mobile management as well as their Dell Management Console server management platform. Purdy has also held lead product management positions at Platform Computing, Novell, and Citrix.

Univa UD at the same time officially launched its data center automation business, anchored by its Reliance product for service-level management of application delivery environments. Univa UD plans to release a major upgrade for Reliance in Q3 2008 including key partner integrations.

Real-Time Systems Releases New Hypervisor Software Version, Includes Windows XP Support

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Real-Time Systems recently announced the availability of the latest version of its Real-Time Hypervisor software. Available immediately, this software product enables the simultaneous running of multiple operating systems on multi-core processors, and now also supports Microsoft Windows XP.

To take advantage of multi-core CPU’s, more and more real-time software manufacturers have been forced to develop custom solutions. A few years ago, Real-Time Systems developed a software product to make it possible for embedded application engineers to run standard operating systems, both real-time and conventional, on Intel multi-core platforms.

Conventional hypervisors are generally implemented by interposing an additional software layer between an operating system and the CPU core that it uses. RTS claims this kind of solution often influences the deterministic behavior of the real-time system.

In contrast to that, the RTS Real-time Hypervisor makes it possible to run – simultaneously, independently and robustly – a number of standard (homogeneous or heterogeneous) operating systems on a single x-86 multi-core execution platform. According to the company, RTS software technology does not in the least interfere with any of the supported operating systems’ timing behavior.

By enabling the support of Microsoft Windows XP in the RTH Hypervisor environment, RTS says it has opened up an entirely new world of possibilities for innovative embedded systems. There are countless time-critical applications that would profit by simultaneously running both the real-time software and Windows-based man-machine interfaces on the same

Currently, the RTS Hypervisor supports Windows XP, Windows CE and Linux, as well as VxWorks, PharLab ETS and Microware OS-9. Support for additional operating systems is in progress. RTS Hypervisor, ver. 1.5, is available now. Version 2.0 is scheduled to be released in the fall.

ONStor Surveys Businesses, Claims Europe Lags US In Storage Virtualization Adoption

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Recent independent surveys conducted in both the United States and Europe by provider of clustered NAS solutions, ONStor, indicate that the majority of businesses surveyed in both regions believe that their existing storage solutions will only be able to scale for the next one to two years. Only 27% of European respondents are actually implementing storage virtualization today compared to 35% in the US.

73% of US respondents reported that they currently operate a virtualized server environment, and 67% answered that they are considering deploying virtualized storage in their data centers. In the US, 45% of businesses surveyed stated that they would realize operational cost savings between 20-40%, which is the main driver of storage adoption. In Europe that figure was near identical on 48%.

Other results from the survey:

  • 59% of respondents believe that at the current growth rate, their existing storage solution will be able to scale for only one to two years; way ahead of the European market, which was on 40%
  • Half of US respondents believe that simplifying management is the most important consideration when choosing a storage virtualization solution. In Europe, the figure was far higher on 60% of the sample.

Respondents across both continents agree that as information continues to double year on year, storage virtualization is fast becoming a business imperative.