Virtualization.com – Page 340 – News and insights from the vibrant world of virtualization and cloud computing

Scalent And Enigmatec Team Up

April 6, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Enigmatec, provider of run book automation (RBA) software, and Scalent Systems, provider of infrastructure virtualization software for large data centers, today announced an integration partnership to enable policy driven automation of server repurposing in the data center.

The partnership reportedly combines policy-based IT process automation from Enigmatec and server repurposing from Scalent to deliver an integrated software solution to dynamically place compute resources where and when they are needed in the data center. This implementation of real-time infrastructure should dramatically lower data center management operations costs while increasing flexibility in the face of business need change.

The Enigmatec Management System (EMS) continually monitors all levels of a multi-tier application stack for changes in availability or demand. When EMS detects a failure or load spike, the system orchestrates the reallocation of resources to the appropriate users and applications, leveraging Server Automation software to ensure that all resources are maintained at required release, patch and configuration levels. EMS also provides full lifecycle management of shared virtual resources including decommissioning, archiving and returning resources back to a server pool.

Scalent allows data center operators to rapidly change entire systems and associated topologies, including which servers are running, what software is running on them, and how they’re connected to network and storage. Scalent does this in real-time without requiring physical changes to the infrastructure. Scalent V/OE software enables customers to take their data centers from “dead bare metal” (powered off hardware with no software installed) to live (newly deployed or restored), connected (to network and storage) servers, in five minutes or less.

“Scalent’s server repurposing solution gives IT operations the ability to dynamically change their server environment,” said Duncan Johnston-Watt, Chief Technology Officer, Enigmatec. “Integrating Scalent with Enigmatec takes this to its logical conclusion – using run book automation to orchestrate their data center virtualization solution delivers a policy-driven infrastructure which automatically adapts to meet changing business requirements.”

Celceo Enhances Application Virtualization Technology, Bridges Virtual and Non-virtual Worlds

April 6, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Last week, Boston-based Celceo unveiled the latest generation of its application virtualization technology for individuals and small businesses. With this latest release, Celceo allows “virtual applications to integrate with Windows while bridging the virtual and non-virtual worlds”.

From the press release:

“We were the first to virtualize applications that have already been deployed, and we’re proud to be the first in bridging the virtual and non-virtual worlds,” said Christian Carrillo, Founder of Celceo. “Application virtualization has great potential but has suffered from high adoption cost. Innovations like these make the technology more accessible to more people.”

…

Carrillo added: “At Celceo, we’ve created a platform that helps us realize that future by making application virtualization flexible and transparent to end users, yet powerful enough to grow well beyond a software deployment tool to a sophisticated management, auditing and security backbone.”

Celceo offers its technology to solutions providers through its Application Virtualization SDK. Celceo’s SDK is designed to integrate with enterprise management software as well as endpoint security agents, allowing enterprise administrators to control applications, audit their utilization and performance, and deploy new applications. Celceo also distributes a stand-alone virtualization product, Celceo SmartBox, built on top of its SDK, for individuals and small organizations who want to start using application virtualization today.

Gartner: Virtualization Wave To Cause Huge Market Disruption And Consolidation Through 2012

April 6, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Gartner says virtualization will be the highest-impact trend changing infrastructure and operations through 2012.

From the press release (emphasis ours):

“Virtualization will transform how IT is managed, what is bought, how it is deployed, how companies plan and how they are charged. As a result, virtualization is creating a new wave of competition among infrastructure vendors that will result in considerable market disruption and consolidation over the next few years.”

According to Gartner, the leading edge of this change is server virtualization, which promises to unlock much of the underutilized capacity of existing server architectures. Server virtualization is already having an impact on the server market; Gartner believes that virtualization reduced the x86 server market by 4 % in 2006. As hypervisor prices drop sharply and management costs decrease because of increased competition, virtualization will have a significantly larger impact, and Gartner analysts predict that more than 4 million virtual machines will be installed on x86 servers by 2009.

The use of PC virtualization is also set to increase rapidly. The number of virtualized PCs is expected to grow from less than 5 million in 2007 to 660 million by 2011. On the PC, the decoupling technology that breaks the close ties and dependencies between hardware and software occurs at two levels: between hardware and the operating system (machine virtualization) and between the operating system and applications (application virtualization).

Check out Gartner’s special report on virtualization, including a number of useful guides and a podcast with industry analyst Thomas Bittman.

NComputing Debuts X350

April 2, 2008 by Robin Wauters 12 Comments

NComputing has added another offering to its X-series product line. The new X350 is designed specifically for organizations that want to economically and efficiently add users for the lowest cost and best performance.

Built to accommodate popular slim-line PCs, the X350 kit, with a list price of $249, turns one PC into four virtual desktops – each delivering rich multimedia performance and full-screen video. With a second X350 kit, a total of seven users can share a single PC. The X350 is a lower-cost, low-profile version of the highly successful NComputing X550, which supports up to 11 users on a full-sized PC. And like all NComputing solutions, the X350 features the award-winning NComputing vSpace desktop virtualization software.

The NComputing solution is based on a simple fact: today’s PCs are so powerful that the vast majority of applications use only a small fraction of the computer’s capacity. NComputing enables a single PC to be virtualized so that many users can tap the unused capacity and share it as if each person had their own computer. Each user enjoys a full PC experience by connecting their own monitor, keyboard and mouse to an NComputing device, which is then connected to the shared PC. Each X350 kit contains three NComputing XD2 devices and a low-profile PCI card that fits inside space-saving computers. Unlike other desktop virtualization solutions, the patented and highly-efficient X350 delivers rich multimedia and full-screen video.

The X350 is available now from thousands of resellers around the globe. In less than two years, NComputing has sold more than one million seats, making it the largest provider of ultra-low-cost computing solutions. NComputing’s simplicity and ease of use have contributed to rapid worldwide acceptance: anyone with basic PC skills can install an NComputing solution and the savings are immediate. Over 40,000 organizations in 140 countries have deployed NComputing to slash their computing costs and electric consumption. Each access device uses just one watt of electricity, compared to 110 for a standalone PC, making NComputing the greenest computing solution on earth.

HP’s Ann Livermore On Virtualization

April 1, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

In an interesting interview with ZDNet UK, HP’s Ann Livermore, who heads the company’s Technology Solutions Group, talks about the difference between HP and IBM and touches upon virtualization.

A highlight:

What is HP’s take on virtualization, and where do you think the barriers are that stop people getting the maximum value from it?

Livermore: A lot of people associate virtualization with the server, and what really needs to be done by customers is to virtualize the entire data center, the servers, the storage, the networking, and the applications. And the first problem customers run into when they start doing that is: “How do I manage this thing? When I have physical servers sitting there, virtual servers and in a mixed environment, what do I do?”

The software we provide is to manage both the physical and the virtual servers through a single pane of glass, a single set of software, and actually create the equivalent of a logical server environment that is being managed. We believe one of the biggest impediments has been: “How do I manage this thing once it is in production?” With our software, you are able to visualize it, plan the changes, and actually make the changes in the environment.

Do you see a slow transition to virtualization?

Livermore: Yes, and most are going to find that the transition from physical to virtual is slow enough that they are going to have to manage both for a while.

But you do see virtualization on the desktop becoming more popular?

Livermore: Absolutely. We believe that for security reasons, for performance reasons, cost reasons, any of those can be compelling reasons for a virtualized desktop–or a thin-client accessing the services you need from that device.

Could this be ideal for blades?

Livermore: PC blades can be an implementation of virtualization. HP made an acquisition a year ago of Neoware for our PC business to give us the capability to have a virtualized client environment. So we feel good about our blade business. Half of all virtualized environments are blades, so when people are thinking of virtualizing, very often they end up with a blades environment. That places us in a strong position.

[Source: Cnet News – Newsmaker]

VKernel Partners With Prosper Intelligence And The Virtualization Consolidation Academy

April 1, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

VKernel, a Portsmouth-based provider of virtual appliances for managing virtual server environments, announced today a partnership with Prosper Intelligence and its Virtualization Consolidation Academy. Under the agreement, Prosper Intelligence will distribute VKernel’s Suite of Virtual Appliances for managing VMware ESX environments to its network of partners and solution providers throughout Eastern and Central Europe.

From the press release:

“The VKernel Virtual Appliance Suite for Systems Management is a set of “plug-and-play” virtual appliances designed to quickly solve real world systems management challenges as organizations migrate to VMware virtual environments. VKernel products enable IT groups to immediately address today’s critical pain points by providing visibility into the capacity and resource consumption of each virtual machine. VKernel is currently offering a Chargeback Virtual Appliance for gaining cost visibility and a Capacity Analyzer Virtual Appliance for eliminating capacity bottlenecks.”

[Source: BusinessWire]