vmware

Cisco Plans Bold Move Into Server Business, Enters Arena With HP And IBM

January 20, 2009 by Robin Wauters 1 Comment

According to the NY Times, Cisco Systems is planning a big push into the server market, essentially entering into competition with its historical partners HP and IBM (who declined to comment on the story).

A risky move for Cisco, but a very interesting one.

The product — a server computer equipped with sophisticated virtualization software — is a bold but risky move by Cisco into an unfamiliar, intensely competitive market that typically produces far lower profits than Cisco makes from network gear. But it reflects the company’s ambition to grow beyond its roots as the so-called plumber of the Internet to offer everything from instant messaging software to digital stereos.

As The Register points out, VMware technology is likely the foundation of the virtualization part, since Cisco still owns part of the company (about 2%). Cisco is not disclosing any specifics though, but the NY Times learned that Cisco could show off the first of its new systems as early as March.

Acquisition rumors between Cisco Systems and VMware (and even EMC in full) are sure to flare up again.

A good follow-up article was published on Forbes.

Research and Markets’ Latest Report: “Vendor Landscape: Virtualization Competition Heats Up”

January 19, 2009 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Via VMBlog comes word of a new report from Research and Markets titled: “Vendor Landscape: Virtualization Competition Heats Up”:

“VMware retains its leadership position in this updated vendor landscape of virtualization software. However, the virtualization market has seen greatly increased competition in 2008. Microsoft has emerged as a legitimate competitor through its release of the Hyper-V hypervisor and Citrix has stormed onto the scene with its acquisition of XenSource.

This research note provides an overview of the x86 server virtualization landscape and addresses how the vendors meet the following key selection criteria:

-Vendor and product maturity.
-Advanced features and suitability for a utility infrastructure.
-Cost of licensing.

VMware remains in the leadership zone due to its market share and continued innovation toward comprehensive data center virtualization. However, where VMware was the only game in town a few short years ago, now the competition has become serious. Going into 2009, expect continued feature innovation and pressure on pricing. ”

Entire Line Of HP Thin Clients Now Certified for VMware View

January 19, 2009 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

HP has announced that its entire line of thin clients is now certified for VMware View, making the products easier for customers to deploy in VMware environments. The certification includes rigorous testing and quality assurance with VMware View for enhanced reliability and ease of deployment.

HP is among the first in the industry to offer customers Linux thin clients certified for VMware View Manager, an enterprise desktop management server that enables IT administrators to quickly provision and tightly control user access. Additionally, HP is currently the only vendor to receive View Manager certification for Windows CE.

HP offers an extensive lineup of Windows and Linux-based thin clients suited for VMware View deployments that deliver a range of performance and features to support a wide variety of user needs – from basic data entry to advanced 3-D imaging and remote collaboration.

Windows-based HP thin clients certified for VMware View Manager, as well as HP ThinPro Linux products are available now at a starting price of $299. HP ThinConnect Linux-based thin clients certified for VMware View Manager are expected to be available Jan. 26, starting at $249.

Are You A vExpert?

January 19, 2009 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

“VMware is very proud to introduce the VMware vExpert Awards. The VMware vExpert Awards will be given to individuals who have significantly contributed to the overall community of VMware users over the past year, either online or offline. You might be contributing online to blogs, forums, wikis, or other online sites. You might be organizing VMUG meetings or otherwise getting the word out to local IT professionals. You’re helping spread the word about virtualization and making people successful in deploying this game-changing technology. We want to thank you.”

Nice initiative from VMware, but it was apparently misunderstood by some, as John Troyer points out here:

“I’ve had a number of conversations today that have made it clear to me we have a bit of a misunderstanding. The vExpert awards are not a popularity contest. The awards will be made on the basis of your activities in 2008 for the community. Do not spam all your friends and colleagues asking for testimonials to be sent to the nomination site.

There is no voting. Multiple nominations will not help you. Instead, a committee will look at the hard work you’ve put in spreading the good word about virtualization in 2008, and will pick out the most worthy virtualization advocates. Having hundreds of people submit nominations will just make more work for me, and it’s never a good strategy to piss off the chairman of the judging committee.”

Release: ToutVirtual VirtualIQ Pro 3

January 14, 2009 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

ToutVirtual, which develops software for managing virtual computing products, announced that it has upgraded its VirtualIQ Pro product. The firm’s software is used by system administrators to manage virtual servers from VMware, Xen, Microsoft, and others.

ToutVirtual said the upgraded VirtualIQ Pro 3 product adds new auditing features to track physical asset and non-virtual asset changes; an integrated administration console; analysis of migration from physical to virtual servers; along with other features.

VirtualIQ Pro software supports unlimited number of CPU sockets and unlimited virtual machines. Several pricing levels for VirtualIQ Pro are available based on CPU socket and VM support. As a quick-start or test drive, VirtualIQ Pro for up to 5 CPU sockets or 25 virtual machines is available for free download. Pricing starts at $199 per CPU socket per year.

Industry Moves: VMware Taps Tod Nielsen For Chief Operating Officer Role

January 7, 2009 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

VMware announced today the appointment of Tod Nielsen to the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer. Nielsen will report directly to President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Maritz.Nielsen, 43, joins VMware from Borland Software Corporation where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer since November 2005. Prior to Borland, Nielsen held several key executive management positions at leading software companies including Microsoft, BEA and Oracle.

Nielsen brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in enterprise software and application development to VMware. Prior to Borland, Nielsen served as senior vice president, marketing and global sales support for Oracle Corporation. Prior to Oracle, Nielsen was the chief marketing officer and executive vice president of engineering at BEA Systems, where he had overall responsibility for BEA’s worldwide marketing strategy and operations, as well as all research and development operations. Nielsen joined BEA after the acquisition of his private company, Crossgain Inc., where he served as its chief executive officer. Nielsen also spent twelve years with Microsoft Corporation, in various roles, including general manager of database and developer tools, vice president of developer tools, and, vice president of Microsoft’s platform group.