virtualization

Parallels Releases Server 1.0

June 17, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Parallels announced today that Parallels Server for Mac, the former SWSoft’s hypervisor solution for server virtualization, is now available. Parallels Server for Mac can run on any Intel-powered Apple hardware, including the Xserve and Mac Pro, running OS X Leopard Server and comes to market after a worldwide beta testing program involving Mac, Windows and Linux server professionals.

“Parallels Server for Mac opens the door for virtualization on Apple servers and represents an important step in delivering on our ‘Optimized Computing’ vision by adding hypervisor-based server virtualization,” said Serguei Beloussov, CEO of Parallels. “Parallels Server for Mac will be a catalyst in driving Mac server adoption in the enterprise, as it is the first product ever to enable IT professionals and developers to capitalize on the power of OS X Server while keeping the flexibility to run Windows and Linux workloads.”

Parallels Server for Mac includes support for OS X Leopard Server as a guest OS in a virtual machine. Running OS X Leopard Server in a virtual machine enables Mac server administrators to run multiple, isolated workloads on a single OS X Leopard Server-powered Xserve, providing the ability to test and sandbox with more agility than ever before.

Parallels Server includes the following features:

Virtual Support for 4-way Symmetric Multi-processing (SMP), which lets users assign up to 4 virtual cores to a virtual machine for exceptional performance under heavy workloads. 2-way SMP is also supported, giving users an unsurpassed level of virtual machine customization.
The inclusion of key next-generation technologies such as an ACPI BIOS, and support for up to 32GB of physical RAM.
Support for Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel VT-x) technologies to take full advantage of hardware-assisted acceleration.
A fully Scriptable Multi-client Parallels Management Console that lets users manages virtual and physical servers locally and remotely. The Parallels Management Console’s APIs are completely open and scriptable with Python, enabling administrators to automate common server tasks straight from the command line.
An Integrated Toolset that enhances and simplifies the user experience.The toolset includes: Parallels Tools, a set of helpful utilities that make working with virtual servers easier and more productive; Parallels Transporter, a built-in, assistant driven physical to virtual (P2V) and virtual to virtual (V2V) migration tool; and the Parallels Image Tool, which lets users modify settings of their virtual hard disk.
The ability to run any combination of more than 50 different x86 (32-bit) and x64 (64-bit) guest operating systems, including the just released Windows Server 2008 in secure, high-performing virtual machines.
A Powerful SDK that enables third party vendors to integrate Parallels Server support into their products. The SDK is the same one used by Parallels engineers to build the Parallels Management Console.

A full list of features and specifications is available here. This version is priced $999 for an unlimited number of cores.

EMC Joins Daoli Trusted Infrastructure Research Project

June 16, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

EMC has joined the Daoli Trusted Infrastructure Project which conducts research into “trust and assurance” in cloud computing environments. EMC joins a growing global research team that today includes four of China’s leading technical universities including Fudan University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Tsinghua University, and Wuhan University. The team’s research will focus on cloud computing, trusted computing and virtualization.

The research will explore a variety of techniques that could be applied to secure the underlying physical location as well as broadly shared resources.

“The team is exploring the convergence of several key technologies including cloud computing, trusted computing and virtualisation,” said Burt Kaliski, director of EMC’s Innovation Network. “It will look at how they might be applied to provide high-assurance software environments inside and outside the enterprise. The Daoli Project will help us understand what our customers are likely to encounter in the future, and we look forward to sharing the knowledge this research will generate.”

Participants will share findings with researchers worldwide by way of a wiki hosted by Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Details of the research are expected to be discussed at the third annual Asia-Pacific Trusted Infrastructure Technologies Conference in China in October.

[Source: VNUnet]

INetU Powers Virtualized Dedicated Hosting With Citrix XenServer

June 16, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Managed web hosting company INetU recently announced it has selected, after extensive research and testing, Citrix Systems’ XenServer for the launch of its new virtualization offering. INetU will be managing virtual servers for clients running Microsoft Windows and Red Hat Linux.

Dev Chanchani, President and CEO of INetU noted,

”We selected Citrix XenServer for a variety of factors. Some of those factors included strong Industry support from Microsoft and HP, along with impressive benchmarks and appealing management features. We feel strongly about the benefits virtualization brings within a managed hosting environment. Our support of virtualized environments allows our clients and prospects to start taking advantages of virtualization. For example, clients can quickly deploy additional servers to increase scalability or quickly migrate their virtualized servers to newer hardware without the hassle of reconfiguring a new server setting by setting.”

[Source: TheHostingNews]

App-V, The “Microsoft Application Virtualization” Formerly Known As “SoftGrid”

June 16, 2008 by Robin Wauters 2 Comments

Microsoft Application Virtualization, the name the software giant has given the app virtualization solution it acquired when it bought Softricity back in 2006, got a new calling name today to match the Hyper-V branding: App-V (instead of SoftGrid).

From the SoftGrid App-V blog:

“Really it only matters to you because from now on we’re going to do our best to stop calling this product SoftGrid and start calling it App-V. Or Microsoft Application Virtualization if we’re feeling formal. This blog will eventually go from being the SoftGrid blog to the App-V blog, the SoftGrid forums will probably become the App-V forums, etc. and I want to make sure all of you are ahead of the curve just so there’s no confusion when you start seeing this name thrown around more and more over time.”

On a sidenote: looking for App-V references, we also found out a German snatched away the app-v.com domain name a few days ago.

[Source: ThinComputing.net]

VMware Releases Stage Manager 1.0

June 16, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Almost a month after its original due date, VMware has released Stage Manager 1.0.

From the news release:

With VMware Stage Manager pre-production server sprawl, configuration drift and failed or delayed production releases are a thing of the past. VMware Stage Manager allows IT operations, service administrators and application owners to:

Visualize services, system configurations and release processes
Transition applications across the stages of the release process with a single mouse click
Accelerate the completion of change requests to production systems
Reduce server sprawl and resource requirements in pre-production
Enforce IT policies and regulatory compliance
Create and deploy clones of production systems for patch testing
Archive and restore any environment at any stage for auditing purposes.

Download the data sheet (PDF) for more information or try it for yourself by downloading an evaluation copy of VMware Stage Manager.

[Source: Virtual Enthusiasm]

Scalent Systems Releases Scalent V/OE 2.5

June 16, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Scalent Systems today announced general availability of Scalent V/OE version 2.5, with enhanced workload and image portability functionality. Scalent claims to be the first company to deliver portability of Windows and Linux server images and associated provisioning of network connectivity & storage access across virtual andphysical machines in real time, without costly and time-consuming conversions.

With Scalent V/OE, IT organizations can dynamically provision for average demand and shift available resources as needed, in real time, to match business needs. Specific business systems can be redeployed as dictated by business priorities, time of day, or other policy-based criteria – so less hardware, software, and other resources are needed.

“Our customers consistently reduce their server populations by over 50% without sacrificing performance,” said Ben Linder, CEO of Scalent Systems. “Scalent V/OE allows IT organizations to extend the benefits of virtualization by rapidly provisioning servers, network, and storage at the physical level to quickly react to changing business needs.”