virtualisation

Evolve Technologies CEO Dave Sobel Joins Server Virtualization Advisory Board

July 30, 2009 by Robin Wauters 2 Comments

Evolve Technologies, a company that specializes in providing information technology solutions for the small business, faith-based and nonprofit communities in the D.C. Metro area, announced today that CEO, Dave Sobel, has joined TechTarget’s new SearchServerVirtualization.com Server Virtualization Advisory Board.

Sobel was selected for his extensive knowledge on the subject including the recently published book, “Virtualization: Defined. A Primer for the SMB Consultant,” and his successful blog, SMBvirtualization.net. Sobel is an active member of the Heartland Technology Groups in the U.S. and Europe, serving as a founding member of HTG5 and a facilitator for HTG11.

As a member of the Server Virtualization Advisory Board, Sobel will provide guidance meant to focus the publication’s virtualization news coverage and expert tips.
The Server Virtualization Advisory Board consists of systems administrators and consultants specializing in server virtualization technology.
Other members of the board include: Jack Kaiser, Vice President of Business Development and Marketing, International Computerware; Rob McShinsky, Senior Systems Engineer, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center; CJ Metz, Senior Systems Administrator, Orange County United Way; Eric Siebert, Senior Systems Administrator, Boston Market; Shannon Snowden, Consulting Partner, New Age Technologies; and Rick Vanover, Systems Administrator and virtualization expert.

Release: Hyper9 Virtualization Optimization Suite

July 30, 2009 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Hyper9 today announced the release of its flagship Virtualization Optimization Suite (VOS) giving IT managers and administrators better business insights into their virtual infrastructure. The product combines usability and dashboard features with in-depth analytics and reporting to help users find, reclaim and right-size virtual resources – and stem the tide of “VM Sprawl”.

A recent survey of Hyper9 customers concluded that at least 20 percent of existing VMs are deemed superfluous – and that organizations are spending significantly more than necessary on their virtualization strategy.

Lack of visibility into the virtual infrastructure, manual processes that circumvent best practices and standardization, multiple disconnected management tools and data sources, and undetected elements of VM sprawl – such as suspended VMs, VMs that are powered on but not being used, orphaned files, redundant snapshots, out of compliance software licenses and thin provisioning – are all contributing factors to the escalating costs and inefficiencies in virtual environments.

Hyper9’s Web-based Virtualization Optimization Suite provides a tops-down, cross-functional view into the virtual infrastructure by inspecting myriad data sources and displaying the results according to what a specific user – or group of users – cares about most. Key features and capabilities include:

Targeted Insights — My Environment and At-a-Glance views into the virtual infrastructure, such as VMs, VCs, hosts, guests and clusters
Hyper9 Active Links — one-click access to data, out-of-the-box reports and common tasks, such as “find VMs”, “run reports”, and “solve VM sprawl”
Hyper9 VMDNA — analyzes historical performance and configuration data, including visual comparisons of VMs over time and to each other
Workspaces — helps users organize and share content, and gain visibility into VMs and their usage
Visual Launch Pad and Tutorials – step-by-step guides and processes to solve virtualization challenges, such as VM sprawl
My Content — ability to build, save, organize and bookmark searches and reports for reuse
Customized Searches – for drilling down into the virtual infrastructure, including pre-built filters that support further data segmentation
Automated Monitoring and Alerting – proactively track changes, rogue VMs, VM sprawl and other key events
Community Support – provides access to resources, answers and advice from virtualization industry experts

“2009 Cloud Consensus Report” Shows Federal Government Cloud Computing Progress

July 30, 2009 by Robin Wauters 1 Comment

MeriTalk and the Merlin Federal Cloud Initiative (an alliance with Merlin International, NetApp, Riverbed, and VMware) today announced the results of its study, the “2009 Cloud Consensus Report – Bringing the Cloud Down to Earth.” The study reveals that though cloud computing is considered the hot technology topic today, neither the private nor the public sectors have a clear understanding of what cloud computing fully encompasses. Only 13 percent of private- and public-sector IT executives report that their organization or agency is using cloud computing, while 44 percent report using applications that rely on the cloud.

The “2009 Cloud Consensus Report” provides snapshots of industry and government cloud progress, details the issues stalling the Federal cloud transition, and provides recommendations to enable agency cloud-readiness. On track with industry, most Federal agencies claim to be in cloud learning mode, which presents an opportunity for the Federal government to lead by creating a unified cloud definition and standards that can be universally employed across all agencies and into industry. While government and industry are in early adoption, the future looks promising. Forecasting ahead, 76 percent of IT and government managers believe that the cloud is here to stay.

Federal Civilian and Department of Defense agency respondents cited savings as the top benefit to cloud computing – 63 percent of all Federal respondents believe this technology is the key to reducing IT expenses. Today’s economy, the increased emphasis on agency cost savings, and President Barack Obama’s technology initiatives of transparency, collaboration, and participation all make the promise of the cloud appealing to those looking for the panacea for Federal IT woes. The new administration is placing special emphasis on transitioning to the cloud to tap into the cloud’s potential to allow agencies to save without sacrifice. The National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) has offered a working definition of cloud computing. But what is holding up the transition?

Seventy-eight percent of respondents claimed that concerns over security in the cloud are the biggest barrier to cloud adoption, while 41 percent also cited privacy concerns. To build cloud confidence, Federal IT executives need security assurance and examples of cloud implementation success stories to clear the way for widespread cloud adoption. In the interim, agencies can take advantage of the benefits of the private cloud to centralize and virtualize their IT infrastructures and comply with Federal mandates, such as continuity of operations (COOP).

TheAdmins Introduces 24×7 Tech Support On All Things Citrix, Microsoft, VMware and Cisco

July 30, 2009 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

TheAdmins, a value-added reseller (VAR) providing virtualization, application delivery, data security, network infrastructure and storage/business continuity services, today announced the introduction of its Continuous Support Offering (CSO).

TheAdmins CSO is a service level agreement (SLA)-based support service designed to supplement IT services staff in resolving technology-critical issues with select Citrix, Microsoft, VMware and Cisco products.

Traditionally, companies have purchased IT services support agreements directly from manufacturers to serve as a lifeline in the event of an emergency. However, the reality is that many of these agreements serve as a mere insurance policy, and if unused, result in lost fees – only to be renewed again the following year. Also, manufacturer support is typically limited to the manufacturing company’s product line only – resulting in very specific and restricted support.

Products currently supported through TheAdmins CSO include:

All Citrix products
Microsoft (Active Directory, Messaging and Windows Server)
VMware Virtual Infrastructure 3 (VI4 support coming soon)
Cisco (routing and switching)

Service level agreement response time is as follows:

One-hour for telephone support
Four-hour for on-site coverage for New Jersey, New York City and Philadelphia

TheAdmins CSO is available now to new and existing TheAdmins customers. The cost of the service is $6,250 annually for 25 support hours, which can be used for telephone or on-site support seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

Upon depletion of the purchased hours, replenishment options are available. Any time remaining at the end of 12 months may be used for other TheAdmins IT services, such as projects, staff supplementation, system management and troubleshooting.

StorMagic SvSAN Configuration Guides Now Also Available For Intel Server Platforms

July 30, 2009 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

StorMagic, a developer of iSCSI SAN management software for virtualized server environments, today announced the availability of a validated configuration for StorMagic SvSAN and VMware Infrastructure 3 for ESX 3.5 software on the Intel Server Board S5520UR.

This server configuration was developed jointly by StorMagic and Intel engineers through the Intel Enabled Server Acceleration Alliance (Intel ESAA), a collaborative program that streamlines technical certification and validation of Intel-based server products and enables Intel OEMs and channel partners to quickly deliver reliable, high-quality server solutions to their customers.

With the StorMagic SvSAN, IT administrators can turn unused storage capacity into a virtual SAN, benefiting from high-end features of the VMware platform such as VMware VMotion^T, and building a high-availability shared storage solution for less than US$2,000. The StorMagic SvSAN also works with VMware vCenter Server to enable administrators to quickly and easily configure and manage the entire virtual environment from a single management console.

VISI Launches Virtual Dedicated Server (VDS) Product Based On VMware Infrastructure 3

July 29, 2009 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

VISI, Minnesota’s largest cloud computing, data center services and managed hosting provider, is proud to announce the launch of its new Virtual Dedicated Server (VDS) product based on VMware’s industry-leading virtualization and management suite, VMware Infrastructure 3.

VISI’s VDS product was designed to provide a higher level of security, reliability and performance than you can get with traditional hosting products. VISI has leveraged VMware’s High Availability (HA) feature to maximize customer’s uptime by rebooting a virtual server on another physical host in the event of hardware failure.

VMware’s Infrastructure 3 allows VISI to offer customers greater control and flexibility by providing them their own operating system (OS) instance. Customers are able to select the amount of CPU, memory and storage they need. Data is stored on a SAN-based storage system for enterprise-class reliability.

As a member of the VMware Service Provider Program (VSPP), VISI is well positioned to deliver knowledge and expertise to customers from initial pre-sales and consulting engagements to post sales support and implementation services. VISI has attained the following credentials as part of its VMware practice: VMware Sales Professional (VSP), VMware Technical Sales Professional (VTSP), and VMware Certified Professional (VCP).