Year: 2006

virtualization.info is happy to introduce you a brand new logo (the very first one indeed) and a totally revamped blog look and feel (the 4th one in the virtualization.info history).

The new layout should be cleaner and easier to read, and a new section called Newest Posts has been added on top of homepage and on bottom of every single post page to help site navigation.

Any comment is welcomed!

Note: A layout glitch is preventing the correct visualization in Firefox. I’m very sorry about it. I’m fixing it as fast as possible.

Vizioncore released a very interesting paper about backup strategies for VMware ESX Server with their esxRanger product:

Virtualization has enabled companies to manage resources more efficiently and effectively for their mission critical applications and data. Backups, restores and disaster recovery methods are essential responsibilities of managing your virtual infrastructure. Having a hot backup strategy can be difficult to manage without automation. Additionally, without availability in remote locations for the data, applications and physical infrastructures, the business will be at risk. The need for disaster recovery options that support a WAN environment is vital to businesses that wish to operate regardless of the issues that cause outages.

In this paper, we will cover the important topic of virtual machine backups and specifically a winning strategy for efficient and effective backup and recovery of VMware ‘guest’ images on the ESX Server environment.

Download it here.

Quoting from the Vizioncore official announcement:

Vizioncore, Inc., the leader in backup, restoration, and disaster recovery automation for the VMware ESX Server®, today introduced its esxReplicator™ solution. Specifically designed to replicate virtual machines that run on ESX Server, vizioncore’s esxReplicator is the first solution that performs replication outside of the Guest OS.
…
Key features of the esxReplicator include:

• Ability to replicate between dissimilar hardware, or from multiple ESX Servers
• Supports local and SAN-based VMFS volumes
• Replicates both the OS and the data volumes
• Selectively replicates individual VMs
• Replicates directly to LAN or WAN destinations

…

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

Quoting from the VMware official announcement:

VMware, Inc., the global leader in virtualization software for industry-standard systems, today announced the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Alliance. The Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Alliance is a technology alliance of hardware, software and service providers for building joint virtual desktop offerings.
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Using VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, IT administrators host and centrally manage desktop virtual machines in their data center while offering end users a full desktop experience that can be accessed anytime and anywhere.
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As part of the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Alliance, VMware plans to collaborate with each member to create, test and integrate joint desktop hosting offerings based on VMware virtual infrastructure and the partner’s hardware or software product. Customers will have the freedom and flexibility to choose their preferred partner and deploy a best in class enterprise desktop solution that meets their business needs.

VMware has engaged a number of technology vendors to form this alliance including Altiris, AppStream, Ardence, ATOS Origin, Check Point Software Technologies, Citrix, ClearCube Technology, Devon IT, Dunes Technologies, Fujitsu, Fujitsu-Siemens, Hitachi, HP, IBM, Leostream, NComputing, NEC, Platform Computing, Propero, Provision Networks, Route1, Softricity, Sun, Wyse Technology and Zeus Technology…

Jerry Chen, Director of Enterprise Desktop Platforms and Solutions at VMware, wrote a very illuminating insight about VDI on the official VMware executives blog: The Console.

VMware is also offering a 25 virtual desktops pilot program for interested customers.
During the demo customers will see a special Virtual Desktop Manager software for enterprise management of virtual desktops.
The pilot lasts up to 4 days and costs $18,000 USD + travel and incidental costs.

An online demo can be requested here.

Quoting from CNET News:

…
Peder Ulander, Sun’s vice president of software marketing, said the company plans to announce in May one significant update to Solaris. The revamp, set to ship in June, will deliver new self-healing abilities, a high-security extension and the high-reliability ZFS, or Zettabyte File System, he said.

A second update is set to add Xen virtualization software, which helps run multiple operating systems simultaneously, and to add BrandZ technology, which enables software to run in separate, independent compartments atop a copy of Solaris. This release is likely to be announced in November and to ship by the end of the year.
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Another feature, CrossBow, is designed to improve networking. The first phase, due in June and called SoftRings, shares the burden of monitoring high-speed networking gear among multiple processors. That makes it easier for Solaris to keep up with the coming generation of 10-gigabit-per-second networks, Ulander said.

The second CrossBow phase, due by the end of the year, uses virtualized networking. That enables administrators to assign capacity to particular virtual machines or to networking services, such as serving up Web pages, Ulander said…

Read the whole article at source.

Quoting from the Softricity official announcement:

Softricity®, the on-demand application virtualization company, today announced the immediate availability of SoftGrid® 4.0, designed to make virtual applications easy to create, deploy, manage and use. With SoftGrid 4.0, enterprises can virtualize any Windows application and make it available to computers worldwide within minutes, while supporting end-users with new remote help features that further reduce application management costs.
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SoftGrid 4.0 adds new features that significantly extend the value of customers’ virtual application environments:

Rapid Virtualization
SoftGrid 4.0 virtualizes all components of an application – not just redirecting files or the registry – turning them into portable run-time “application images” that can be run on any computer the moment a user needs them. SoftGrid 4.0’s Sequencer, the packager that virtualizes applications, has been completely re-designed to turn sequencing into a completely automated process that has been optimized for speed. For example, the latest Microsoft Office suite now takes less than 10 minutes to virtualize. SoftGrid 4.0’s virtualization engine is also significantly more comprehensive, including the virtualization of Windows services (used by many complex applications) and user specific preferences (which enables end-users’ customizations to follow them to any computer they log into). SoftGrid can now also virtualize administrative mode, enabling applications that require administrative rights to run in a much more secure user mode. In sum, with SoftGrid 4.0 Softricity continues to pioneer new levels of application virtualization that is unmatched by any other vendor.

Controlled Streaming
The SoftGrid platform is the only application virtualization product on the market that combines virtualization and on-demand streaming into a single, powerful solution. With SoftGrid 4.0, administrators and end-users have more control over streaming, including the ability to both “pre-cache” applications (stream 100% of the program on demand) and work in a disconnected mode. Cached applications are now locked in memory, preserved even in the case of unexpected computer shutdown. Streaming has also been accelerated, by an average of 40% faster than previous versions.

Scalable Centralized Management
New usability features and functions in 4.0 enable much easier centralized management of both small and large-scale deployments. The most compelling of these features is the ability for administrators to remotely control SoftGrid clients from any other computer, providing help-desk support and terminating unattended sessions without desk-side visits. Another key addition is “Active Upgrade,” where updates to virtualized applications on the server are now accomplished without disconnecting connected users, while SoftGrid server configurations can be migrated to other servers simply with a single click of the mouse from the management console. For customers with hundreds or thousands of users and applications, there is a new hierarchical management interface that allows for easy and organized access.

Microsoft Integration
SoftGrid 4.0 has also been designed to integrate directly into Microsoft’s Systems Management Server (SMS). SoftGrid for SMS allows users to virtualize applications and stream them from within SMS.

Support for Virtual Machines
Version 4.0 has been certified to work with virtual machines by Microsoft and VMware. This has been completed to assist customers who are employing a hosted virtual desktop infrastructure. This enables Softricity to provide on-demand applications for on-demand virtual desktop solutions.

Cost Savings
Many of SoftGrid 4.0’s new features further improve the cost savings captured by the Softricity’s Forrester TEI™-Compliant Return on Virtualization™ Calculator. These savings stem from increased centralized control, the ability to remotely help end-users, faster sequencings and active application upgrades.

See an introductory webcast here.

Brian Madden interviewed David Greschler, Co-Founder of Softricity, about several interesting topics, obviously including the just released SoftGrid 4.0.

You’ll hear about:

• An overview of the Softricity technology and how it works
• Softricity’s ZeroTouch product and how it integrates with Citrix and other SBC products
• “The Softgrid” video
• The difference between application virtualization and application streaming
• How Softricity is different than Citrix Presentation Server’s Application Isolation Environmnets
• Citrix Project Tarpon
• New features in Softgrid version 4
• The future of Softricity

Listen at the podcast here.

PC Magazine published an interesting review about Parallels Workstation 2.1 (not the version for Mac OS X on Intel architecture) assigning a score of 3.5/5 and providing this conclusion:

For those who can do without linked clones, snapshots, and a few other high-end features, Parallels Workstation offers a less expensive alternative to our Editors’ Choice, VMware Workstation. It’s simple to use and handles straightforward virtual machine tasks, such as running a legacy app in a legacy operating system.

Read the whole review at source.

CommVault and VMware realized a webcast about ESX Server disaster recovery with CommVault QiNetx product:

Our goals in this webinar:

• Help you to understand the technical details of ESX Server systems – and what you need to backup to be able to recover
• Explain the various options for protecting ESX Server systems
• Let you hear from an Analyst from The Data Mobility Group on using Unified Data Management with virtualized systems
• Let you see it for yourself in a product demonstration
• Give you insight from experienced administration teams already familiar with CommVault and VMware systems
• Explain and demonstrate a Disaster Recovery processing, using CommVault QiNetix and VMware ESX Server Systems

Watch the webinar here.

Softricity is expected to announce the last version of its flagship product, SoftGrid 4.0, at Microsoft Management Summit 2006, on the 24th-28th April week.

On Bob de Kousemaeker’s blog appeared a brief list of main upcoming features:

• Virtual services support
• Automatic detection of all file types associated with applications
• 100%+ faster virtualization
• Active Upgrade™
• Hierarchical application organization and group management
• One-click configuration portability
• Policy-based central management
• Support for hundreds of virtual applications on tens of hundreds of desktops
• Integrated with Windows management infrastructure in general and MMC in particular

SoftGrid could also win the Best of MMS award as reported by GRID today, being selected as a finalist.

Thanks to Thincomputing.net for the news.