Virtualization.com

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

Virtustream Buys Two Data Centers From NaviSite

by Leave a Comment

Virtustream, a privately held infrastructure services firm, today announced it has acquired two data centers from NaviSite as part of Virtustream’s data center growth strategy and support for itsxStream hybrid enterprise cloud platform.

Virtustream will continue to service existing customers with expanded data center services, and it will offer capacity within the San Francisco, Calif. and Vienna, Va. facilities to new customers, including those that deploy the xStream cloud platform.  Details about the transaction can be found in a related announcement from NaviSite.

Unveiled earlier in March, xStream is the first enterprise cloud platform that delivers cost and resource savings through flexible internal (private) and external (off-premise) cloud environments-commonly referred to as hybrid cloud environments-through one centralized subscription-based deployment, with guaranteed resources, capacity on demand and industry leading SLAs. xStream provides virtual, elastic and externally managed resources for running applications, and it is based on Virtustream’s long track record of successful enterprise virtual IT deployments.

Virtustream not only incorporates higher levels of security than most clients’ own internal systems, but also addresses end user concerns about availability by building redundancy into xStream deployments-data is replicated in real-time in a second data center located in a separate geography. In the event of an issue, services switch to the second data center with minimal interruption.

Release: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5

by Leave a Comment

Red Hat today announced the availability of the fifth update to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 platform, adding features designed to operate across physical, virtual and cloud deployments, the update offers enhanced virtualization and interoperability capabilities combined with support for important new hardware platforms.

As with all Red Hat updates, application compatibility and certification with the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 platform is fully maintained, meaning the broad portfolio of certified applications for Red Hat Enterprise Linux applies to the new update. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 is available to subscribing customers via Red Hat Network today.

In addition to overall platform enhancements and bug fixes, this update provides support for new platforms being delivered by several Red Hat partners, including AMD, Dell, HP, IBM and Intel. Newly supported platforms include Intel Nehalem EX, AMD Opteron (TM) 6000 Series (formerly codenamed “Magny Cours”) and IBM Power 7. This allows Red Hat customers to take advantage of some of the industry’s most powerful new servers.

In the fourth update to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 platform, delivered in September 2009, Red Hat introduced the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) hypervisor alongside the Xen hypervisor. Today’s Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 update provides a number of virtualization enhancements. Support for the large memory systems of new servers allows a larger number of virtual machines to be deployed on each physical server. With greater guest density customers have an opportunity to achieve higher levels of consolidation and reduce costs.

Huge page support is now automatic and extended to virtual guests, improving the performance of memory-intensive applications. Support for Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) offers virtual guests an improved ability to share PCI hardware resources and more efficient access I/O devices. As a result, Red Hat Enterprise Linux is one of the first operating systems designed to be capable of hosting a virtual guest that can saturate a 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Further I/O optimizations, which enable easier device reassignment, can help improve flexibility when migrating virtual guests across physical systems. In combination, these enhancements aim to allow large-scale, I/O bound, enterprise applications to be readily virtualized.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 also offers Microsoft Windows 7 interoperability enhancements and extends Active Directory integration, allowing improved user and group mapping, while simplifying filesystem management across platforms.

Verizon and IBM Team Up, Launch Private Cloud-Based Managed Data Protection Solution

by Leave a Comment

Verizon and IBM have expanded their relationship to deliver Managed  Data Vault – a new private cloud service that provides secure, quick and reliable daily backups, and fast recovery of enterprise information.

Available from both companies, the new solution is designed to automatically transfer data from a client location to a specially designed off-site data center via Verizon’s secure high-speed private network.  With Managed Data Vault, businesses can realize off-site data protection at on-site speeds while taking advantage of usage-based utility to meet data growth without limits.

Many companies today still transport their backup tapes by truck to an off-site location – a process that has proven to be a slow and unreliable approach to archiving – adding security concerns, time, complexity and cost to the data protection process.

According to industry experts, the global backup and restore market will grow by about 4 percent annually and is currently sized at nearly $3 billion.

Verizon and IBM will leverage each other’s complementary capabilities to deliver the new solution.  Verizon will provide its suite of leading global private data network solutions along with data center expertise, IT consulting services and application-aware capabilities, which give visibility into utilization and latency. IBM will supply backup infrastructure and management capabilities, supported by its extensive information protection expertise and more than 40 years experience in business continuity and resiliency.

Ideal for global enterprises with stringent security and performance requirements, Managed Data Vault is an excellent match for the financial, retail and health care services markets. The service is well-suited to a diverse mixture of applications, databases and operating system (OS) support services and comes complete with IT consulting services support to help organizations manage through this process.

This solution will initially be available to Verizon and IBM clients in the New York City metropolitan area.

Veeam Launches Custom Partner Program for Managed Service and Cloud Providers

by Leave a Comment

Veeam Software, provider of data protection, disaster recovery and systems management solutions for VMware virtual datacenter environments, has launched a customized partner program for service providers and cloud computing providers that specifically aligns to the way they do business.

Veeam’s ProPartner Service Provider (PSP) program will help these providers create new revenue opportunities and provide their clients with additional service offerings. In addition, Veeam’s solutions will help PSP partners better protect and manage their VMware environments and reduce their infrastructure costs through management automation.

Most management tools for VMware only offer an IT-centric view of the virtual infrastructure and don’t allow virtual resources to be managed or prioritized by business needs, such as customer or SLA. However,

Veeam gives service providers a clear view of their multi-tenant infrastructures and enables them to:

One of the first service providers to participate in Veeam’s PSP program is iland™, a leading cloud computing provider. iland enables organizations to realize tangible business benefits by delivering cloud-based IT solutions for disaster recovery, desktop virtualization, production server environments and hybrid cloud co-location for enterprises of all sizes.

Sourcefire Extends Intrusion Prevention Capabilities to the Xen Platform

by Leave a Comment

Sourcefire, the creators of Snort and a provider of cybersecurity solutions, today announced the expansion of the Sourcefire 3D System to support the Xen 3.3.2 and 3.4.2 virtualization platforms.

Now supporting the two leading virtual environments – Xen and VMware – Sourcefire is enabling customers with diverse virtual platforms to further protect these investments, while also leveraging these resources to increase intrusion prevention capabilities.

Sourcefire’s Virtual 3D Sensor and Virtual Defense Centre now provide Xen environments with all the functionality originally available for VMware. Users can deploy Virtual 3D Sensors to inspect traffic between two or more Xen or VMware virtual machines, while also using physical Sourcefire 3D Sensors to inspect traffic going into and out of a virtual environment.

With this support for both Xen and VMware, Sourcefire is making it easier to deploy and manage virtual sensors at remote sites where physical resources may be limited, such as retail stores and branch offices, or where little rack space remains in the datacenter. This release also provides additional flexibility to enterprises and cloud computing companies, which rely on a variety of virtualisation platforms to support specific requirements.

The Virtual 3D Sensor provides simultaneous execution of Sourcefire IPS, RNA (Real-time Network Awareness) and RUA (Real-time User Awareness) functions. Customers can deploy the Virtual Defense Centre to monitor any combination of up to 25 virtual or physical 3D Sensors. They can also opt to monitor their Virtual 3D Sensors from the same physical Defense Center they use to monitor their physical 3D Sensors.

FastSoft Introduces Desktop Virtualization Acceleration Solution

by Leave a Comment

FastSoft announced its Desktop Virtualization Acceleration solution earlier this week for remote workers.

It accelerates Citrix Remote Desktop, Microsoft RDP, and other leading thin client applications up to 500%, significantly improving end-user experience and productivity for remote workers. Like other FastSoft solutions, it is deployed on the server side and does not require client software on the remote side, giving FastSoft’s customers fast and scalable deployments.

ReSource Pro, a leading business process outsourcing provider to the insurance industry, has seen a 10% increasing in remote worker productivity using FastSoft’s thin client acceleration solution.

The solution employs FastSoft’s patented FastTCP algorithm developed at the California Institute of Technology. It eliminates long pauses during remote desktop sessions, ensuring that thin clients are not starved for bandwidth and that they recover quickly from packet loss.