virtualization.info

After 1 month of beta testing, the virtualization startup VMLogix is ready to enter the so-called virtual lab management market, challenging the market leader VMware and its unique competitor at the moment: Surgient.

The VMLogix product, Lab Manager, has same name of VMware one but at the moment has a different focus, putting more attention to SMB than enterprise customers.

This first release offers following features:

• Virtualization Support
  Comprehensive native support for Microsoft Virtual Server and VMware Server
• Physical Hardware Support
  Provision bare metal hardware effortlessly with multiple partitions in any format (FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, swap, ext2, ext3), specify partition size and set partition boot order
• Automated & Manual Testing
  Seamless support for complete process automation and also flexibility to allow user intervention at all phases. Avoid tedious work with both manual and automated testing scenarios
• Synchronized Multi-Machine Tests
  Configures test scenarios involving multiple machines in varying roles, and provides test script synchronization across these machines
• Multi-Platform Support
  Supports all major Microsoft Windows platforms (MS-DOS, 95, 98, NT4, 2000, 2000 Server, XP, 2003 Server & respective service packs) and all popular Linux distributions (RedHat, SuSE, Ubuntu, CentOS)
• Built-In Remote Access
  Integrated remote access (Microsoft Remote Desktop/VMRC, VNC ActiveX, VNC Native Viewer) enables users to monitor and control test machines directly from their desktops and via embedded controls in their browser
• Tracking & Reporting
  Detailed logs of all system & job activities provides high degree of management and visibility into the health & utilization of infrastructure and adherence to prescribed development & QA processes
• Instant Notifications
  Email & SMS notifications are generated for events of interest (e.g. test script failures)
• Global Multi-Site Development Model Support
  Replicate, synchronize and share libraries of configurations among multiple teams, locations and even your offshore development centers and outsourcing partners
• Import & Export
  Test definitions can be exported and archived along with project source code & test scripts
• License Management
  Software and OS license usage on test machines can be monitored and compliance enforced (admin configuration option)
• Flexible Scheduling
  Test runs can be automatically scheduled for specific date/time, on periodic intervals (hourly, daily, weekly), or based on events (completion of builds) or FIFO, making it simple for teams to automate repeated runs
• Cost Allocations
  Test infrastructure usage is carefully tracked via fine grained ownership & user ids to which allows organizations to build accurate cost allocation reports by project or business unit
• Security Controls & Audit Trails
  Strict authentication (built-in, Microsoft Active Directory, LDAP) and role-based access control backed up by a comprehensive audit trails ensures system integrity
• Wake on LAN
  Have test machines powered off & on automatically, allowing idle hardware to be safely turned off, lowering power and air-conditioning costs

Support for enterprise environments will arrive in early 2007, when VMLogix will start supporting VMware ESX Server.

LabManager 2.6 is available for download here.

The virtualization.info Virtualization Industry Roadmap has been updated accordingly.