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Sysload Software Releases SP-ANALYST, Performance Management Solution for VMware ESX

April 23, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Sysload Software, a provider of performance and capacity management solutions for data centres, announced today that it has released SP-ANALYST for VMware ESX infrastructures.

SP-ANALYST for VMware ESX provides increased frequency and higher granularity of data collection, the use of a single console to monitor both physical and virtual machines, and an extra feature that controls the timekeeping discrepancy on machines running the ESX Server platform. By providing a centralized, real-time view of the data centre, Sysload’s solutions aim to make performance management easier, even on the most complex virtual infrastructures.

From the press release:

Sysload’s full range of solutions supports multi-platform environments in terms of equipment, operating systems, and proprietary virtualization platforms (e.g., VMware, SUN Solaris, HP-ux, IBM Aix, IBM i5/OS, Linux, Windows, Novell, Citrix XenServer).

Sysload’s data collection technology is based on dedicated data collection agents deployed directly on the monitored system that allow objective monitoring of an ensemble of physical and/or virtual servers. Sysload agents can collect up to 300 metrics directly from the heart of the monitored systems with very high frequency (intervals as low as 1 second) while consuming minimal resources (less than one percent of CPU with no continuous network traffic thanks to localized history files). This fine data granularity ensures precise monitoring of system utilization and allows the detection of virtualization-related micro saturation incidents that cannot be detected by most other monitoring tools on the market.

[Source: Sysload pressroom]

vmSight Releases 3.5 Version of Virtual Network Intelligence Product Suite

April 23, 2008 by Robin Wauters 1 Comment

vmSight recently announced the 3.5 release of its product suite. The Virtual Network Intelligence product suite allows customers to monitor, alert and report on application and user activity in virtual environments. The vmSight product suite includes VMware-certified virtual appliances for policy management and reporting and for monitoring.

vmSight Virtual Network Intelligence 3.5 adds the following key capabilities:

Application Performance Management – gather data on application response time, application uptime and network latency for all virtualized applications. Monitor, report and alert on service levels for specific applications, user groups and times of day. Measure end user experience and spot problems based on user satisfaction analytics and performance trends.

VM Sprawl Control – Sometimes referred to as “sprawl,” the uncontrolled proliferation of virtual machines can reduce the value and performance of Virtual Infrastructure. vmSight works to automatically and continuously monitor application performance trends and usage statistics to identify under-utilized applications and VMs. It identifies resources for reallocation and applications for consolidation to increase the cost savings of VM utilization.

VDI Diagnostics – continuously monitor VMware VDI deployments and infrastructure to ensure the success of VDI deployments. Capture information on RDP bandwidth, RDP connection results, network latency, and VMware VDM messaging results, as well as track all application activity from virtual desktops and bandwidth consumption by specific applications such as print jobs.

Other enhancements in the release include the ability to synchronize VM identities and groups from VMware VirtualCenter, along with the previously supported ability to synchronize user identities and groups from Active Directory (AD) or LDAP. This allows customers to define service level policies and report by groups defined in VirtualCenter and in AD/LDAP. The 3.5 release also offers capabilities to define charge plans and generate bills based on usage of virtualized applications. The model allows billing for virtualized business services on a connection time or data transfer basis.

[Source: press release]

VKernel Sets Up Worldwide Reseller Channel

April 23, 2008 by Robin Wauters 1 Comment

VKernel yesterday announced (PDF) the launch of its Global Channel Partner Program for value-added resellers (VARs), systems integrators, and consulting firms.

Additionally, VKernel hired Bill Brown as its director of channel sales to build and manage the new partner program. Mr. Brown joins VKernel from Acronis where he was the channel manager for the U.S. East Coast and Canada.

“The rapid growth of the server virtualization market is creating a new lucrative market for systems management solutions to real-world virtual data center issues. Traditional management tools in the physical environment simply cannot address issues in the virtual environment,” said Alex Bakman, founder and CEO of VKernel. “Our growing partner lineup is already reaping the benefits of our unique approach to systems management by offering a suite of virtual appliances that are designed to eliminate complexity, quickly solve problems, and immediately deliver value to their customers.”

“VKernel’s sales strategy is channel exclusive and we are dedicated to making our partners successful,” said Bill Brown, director of channel sales at VKernel. “The virtualization eco-system is currently evolving to include critical management solutions that partners need to fuel their growth and take advantage of a great market opportunity. It is our goal to have VKernel solutions included in each of our partner’s virtualization eco-system offerings.”

[Source: VMblog]

Which Technology Is Cooking In The VMware Kitchen?

April 23, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

In a blog post aptly titled ‘Phwaar’, VMware System Engineer Andrew DugDell reveals absolutely nothing about a new technology that’s internally available, but makes us darn curious in the process.

Dugie writes:

“I’m a bit excited, infact I’m a lot excited. I saw an email today, and then it all hit home. The email was from one of the product teams announcing internal availability of a new technology. It’s one of the technologies that really make me go “phwaar“. (And I thought it was phwaar even before my life here at VMware) — and the phwaar is getting closer, every day.”

…

“It’s kind of like Christmas. You know it’s coming; you can expect [it] all year long, but it’s not until the Christmas decorations go up and the presents start arriving under the tree, that it really sinks in. Then once it arrives, it’s a flurry of wrapping paper, and eagerness, and, and …well you know the rest of the story. Anyway. It’s such a such a simple, (some might mistake it as almost trivial) technology, but it’s so fundamentally exciting that it will change the rules of “traditional computing” [again] completely.”

Anyone have any idea on what gets the man so excited?

VMware’s Financial Results For Q1 Are In, 69 Percent Revenue Increase Beats Wall Street Expectations

April 23, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

VMware today announced financial results for the first quarter of 2008:

Revenues for the first quarter were $438 million, an increase of 69% compared to the first quarter of 2007. (Analysts were expecting a top line of $422.4 million, according to Thomson Financial.)
GAAP operating income for the first quarter was $48 million, compared to $46 million in the first quarter of 2007. Non-GAAP operating income was $106 million, an increase of 62% over the year-ago quarter.
GAAP net income for the quarter was $43 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, compared to $41 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Non-GAAP net income for the quarter was $88 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, compared to $0.16 a year ago.

From the press release:

First-quarter U.S. revenues grew 65% compared to the year-ago quarter on increased demand from large enterprises standardizing on the VMware platform and an increase in the number of smaller transactions delivered through VMware channel partners. International revenues, which increased 74%, were driven in part by triple-digit business growth across Australia and emerging markets including Brazil, China, India and Russia.

Software license revenue grew 73% compared to the same period last year to $294 million and service revenue, including support, subscription and professional services, increased 62% to $144 million.

As for the financial outlook:

VMware continues to expect 2008 revenue growth of approximately 50% compared to 2007.

Second quarter 2008 revenues are expected to increase approximately 55% compared to the second quarter of 2007.

The stock was up $1.95, or 3.5%, to $58.02 in after-hours trading.

“Our product suite has a very high return on investment,” Greene said. “That puts us in a very good position for getting wallet share as the economy gets a little more uncertain.” Large deals, valued at $1 million and up, made up 20% of bookings during the quarter, Greene said in an interview.

Total bookings were not disclosed.

[Source: TheStreet]

Blue Lane Releases VirtualShield 4.2

April 21, 2008 by Robin Wauters 1 Comment

Blue Lane Technologies today announced the general availability of VirtualShield 4.2, which it claims to be the first virtualization security solution to include inter-VM flow analytics and enforcement, application-aware partitioning (VMwall), and a robust set of application, protocol and vulnerability security policy controls.

These capabilities in the latest release of VirtualShield, enhanced by VMware VirtualCenter integration, allow Blue Lane’s layer 7 architecture to apply granular application/protocol/port-based policy enforcement on the flows between VMs. According to the press release, VirtualShield’s accuracy, comprehensive protection and minimal processing requirements make it the first IPS capable of protecting virtualized production data centers from network-based attacks.

VirtualShield 4.2 includes:

Advanced flow analytics and policy enforcement by cluster, host, VM, data center, OS, application or protocol;
VMwall – Blue Lane’s Integrated application-aware firewall enforcement by cluster, host, VM, data center, OS, application or protocol;
A rich array of inbound/outbound application policy controls for intra-flow policy;
Protocol integrity check for aligning ports with appropriate protocols and services; and
A vulnerability policy framework to proactively protect VMs from attacks like SQL injections, cross-site scripting and http smuggling.

Blue Lane VirtualShield 4.2 will be available May 15. Current VirtualShield customers will receive the upgrade as part of their support plan.