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

Veeam Takes VMware Backup To The Next Level

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Veeam Software, innovative provider of VMware data protection, disaster recovery and VMware management solutions for virtual datacenter environments, is demonstrating its new vPower technology for Virtualization-Powered Data Protection this week at VMworld 2010.

vPower leverages virtualization and Veeam innovation to overcome the limitations of traditional backup and provide fast, flexible and reliable recovery for disasters both large and small.

The new patent-pending vPower technology, previously announced by Veeam in March, includes the ability to run a virtual machine (VM) in production or in an isolated virtual lab directly from a compressed and deduplicated backup file on regular backup storage.

vPower is the force behind the upcoming release of Veeam Backup & Replication v5.

Veeam Backup & Replication v5 also includes new Instant Indexing of Windows guest files, “tape-friendly” synthetic full backups, and enhanced deduplication and faster off-site replication.

Leostream Announces VMware Enhancements In Its Connection Broker 7.0

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At VMworld 2010, Leostream announced VMware enhancements in the Leostream Connection Broker 7.0, which provide customers who operate a VMware virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) with much more powerful management capabilities and improved scalability.

In the latest release of the Connection Broker, Leostream provides tight integration with VMware View, enhanced desktop provisioning, cluster management and linked clone support.

The Leostream Connection Broker, the most widely deployed, vendor-independent technology of its kind, enables IT managers to maximize the value of existing IT investments by easily integrating an array of clients, back-end systems and viewers to create a hosted VDI. Additionally, the Connection Broker integrates easily with existing network infrastructure with no changes to essential data center systems, such as authentication services and SSL VPNs. Once integrated, the Connection Broker provides a flexible set of policies for exact implementation of business rules for system administrators, users, and machines.

New VMware enhancements in the Leostream Connection Broker 7.0 include:

  • VMware View Support – Tight integration allows soft PCoIP connections for View users who require high-performance graphics. This also provides View adminstrators with the versatility of the Leostream Connection Broker, letting them extend VDI to include a variety of different platforms, while providing users with a single login to all resources.
  • Provisioning Enhancements – Additional configuration options for provisioning substantially improve the scalability of VDI in VMware environments. The Connection Broker allows lower and upper thresholds on pool size, and provides complete control over the virtual machine (VM) lifecycle, including how new VMs are provisioned and when they are deleted.
  • Linked Clones Management – Leostream can now create new linked clones from snapshots of parent VMs, which optimizes storage, simplifies the creation of new desktop images, and makes image management easier and more efficient.

These new enhancements provide View users with powerful ways to extend the capability, reach, and security of VDI deployments. This includes Leostream’s location-based policies and native integration with Cisco VPNs, as well as the ability to integrate a range of systems – from Citrix XenApp to the Oracle Sun Ray System to Linux virtual desktops – into a VDI that includes View.

DeskStream Introduces Its Dynamic Virtual Desktop Platform

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DeskStream, provider of the Dynamic Virtual Desktop (DVD) platform, today announced the launch of its product that enables enterprises and service providers to deliver a compelling client hosted desktop virtualization solution at outrageously lower cost.

The Dynamic Virtual Desktop platform sets a new benchmark for desktop management where it brings the Web Computing paradigm to work in complex legacy Desktop Computing to significantly ease the desktop management tasks in addition to leveraging Cloud Computing for delivering Desktop as a Service (DaaS) over the Cloud.

The market for desktop virtualization technology is expanding rapidly, especially with client-hosted virtualization becoming more relevant in today’s market where more and more organizations are considering developing a successful mobile strategy to deliver secure workspaces to their mobile work force anywhere and on any device over the cloud. The DVD platform is a very compelling solution for both IT administrators and the end users as it takes a balanced approach in addressing their respective priorities effectively without compromising cost, compliance, mobility, or user experience.

The platform delivers a reliable and scalable solution that enables enterprises and service providers to help create, secure, deliver and streamline the lifecycle of virtual workspaces swiftly and efficiently. Simplicity of operation combined with a unique desktop virtualization approach sets DeskStream apart in providing solutions to a wide range of challenges in a cost-effective way.

Citrix Acquires VMLogix

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Citrix earlier this week announced several key additions to its Citrix OpenCloud infrastructure platform for cloud providers. To further accelerate its OpenCloud strategy, Citrix also announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire VMLogix, a provider of virtualization management for private and public clouds.

The acquisition of VMLogix is expected to close in the third quarter of 2010, subject to the satisfaction of closing conditions.

It will add key lifecycle management capabilities to the Citrix OpenCloud platform, making it easy for cloud providers to offer infrastructure services that extend from pre-production and quality assurance, to staging, deployment and business continuity.

The acquisition will also allow Citrix to add an intuitive, self-service interface to its popular XenServer virtualization platform – a key component of the OpenCloud framework – enabling end users to access and manage their own virtual computing resources in on-premise private cloud environments, much like they set up virtual services in large public clouds like Amazon or Rackspace today.

Citrix also announced plans to expand its OpenCloud platform to include enhanced networking and interoperability capabilities.

These new additions will include the ability for customers to seamlessly manage a mix of public and private cloud workloads from a single management console, even if they span across a variety of different cloud providers. All of these enhancements will be available to the more than 600 service providers worldwide who are now certified to deliver services based on the Citrix OpenCloud platform.

Facts and Highlights:

New additions to the Citrix OpenCloud infrastructure platform include:

  • Open Lifecycle Management – The VMLogix acquisition will add open virtual lifecycle automation and self-service capabilities that support all leading virtualization platforms. These capabilities will make it easier for IT teams to build, share and deploy production-like environments on-demand in both private and public clouds, and migrate virtual workloads between production stages with a single mouse click – even across different hypervisors. By giving users self-service access to a single pool of computing resources, cloud providers can help customers reduce capital expenses and improve flexibility, even across diverse virtualization and cloud environments.
  • Open Cloud Interoperability – To accelerate cloud interoperability, Citrix will also be integrating the Citrix OpenCloud infrastructure platform with OpenStack, the open-source orchestration and management technology it is co-developing with Rackspace, NASA, Dell, and more than 20 other leading technology and cloud service providers. The OpenStack orchestration capabilities perfectly complement the Citrix OpenCloud platform by adding key cloud management functions and enabling cloud providers to give customers open integration as well as a more consistent view of both private and public cloud workloads. In booth #1219 at this week’s VMworld conference, Citrix will be demonstrating the ability to manage workloads across XenServer virtual machines running in an on-premise private cloud, and VMs running in a public-cloud environment using OpenStack – all from a single management console.
  • Open Cloud Networking – The Citrix OpenCloud platform will also be adding powerful new virtual switching capabilities that leverage the Open vSwitch project, and support the OpenFlow protocol, an emerging industry standard that pools the resources of per-host virtual switches to create a dynamic, distributed, policy-controlled cloud fabric. These new capabilities will make it easier for cloud providers using the Citrix OpenCloud platform to create isolated, multi-tenant cloud environments, while offering dynamic, per-flow control, and per virtual-interface policies. They will also enable rich packet processing capabilities at the network edge, including the ability to leverage advanced application networking capabilities in Citrix NetScaler, another key component of the OpenCloud platform.

SolarWinds Debuts New, Free Virtual ManagementTool – VM Console

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SolarWinds, a provider of IT management software to more than 95,000 customers worldwide, announced the newest addition to its community-driven free tool offering, VM Console.

VM Console joins VM Monitor as SolarWinds’ second virtualization management free tool, and is designed to bounce (shutdown and restart) and track virtual machines (VM) from the convenience of a real-time, desktop dashboard.

VM Console features:

  • Bounce VMs without logging into vCenter or vSphere
  • Use vCenter/vSphere credentials to view a top-down hierarchy of the virtual environment
  • Track the real-time up/down status of VMs from the desktop without logging into VMware apps
  • Take a snapshot of your VM prior to shutdown
  • Search VM names or IP addresses

SolarWinds VM Console is free and available on the SolarWinds website.

DeviceVM Brings Windows Experience to the iPad With Splashtop Remote

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DeviceVM today announced the availability of Splashtop Remote for the iPad.

Splashtop Remote allows users to effortlessly access and control their PC, fully experiencing Windows remotely through an iPad. For the first time, users can enjoy a rich and interactive remote PC experience that includes full real-time video and audio capabilities.

With Splashtop Remote, users can watch movies, listen to music, access all Windows files and applications, and even play PC and Flash games remotely.

Splashtop Remote for iPad is available today in the Apple App Store. It will retail at a regular price of $19.99, with a special introductory price available for a limited time following the launch.

Splashtop Remote connects to any Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP operating system. Splashtop Remote consists of two components: an application running on the iPad, and an application running on the PC. The iPad connects to the PC over any network.