virtualization.info Editors

– Non-Invasive Discovery of Server Networks –
PowerP2V offers complete
auto discovery of physical and virtual machine servers, their hardware
configuration profiles, and their application profiles without the
need to manually install software agents. This enables users that are
performing migrations to see a 360 degree view of all their available
hardware assets instantly. PowerP2V does not require manual
installation of agents at any point in the conversion cycle,
eliminating human effort substantially, and removing the risk agent
software installation often entails.

– Dynamic Virtual Machine Configuration –
PowerP2V allows users to make
detailed changes to the destination configuration prior to the
conversion cycle, such as CPU, disk mapping, memory, and network
resources, from a single PowerP2V console from any machine in the
network. PowerP2V also handles SMP conversions so that you can scale
up or down the configuration during the conversion process.

– Support for Linux and Windows –
PowerP2V is the first solution
to allow the conversion of physical Linux machines to virtual machines
in addition to MS Windows 2003/2000/NT support.

– Virtual to Virtual Conversion –
In addition to its robust P2V
capabilities, PowerP2V has the ability to perform conversions
from virtual machine to virtual machine (V2V) which can help
with upgrading from older to newer VM versions or between different
virtualization technologies.

– Extensive driver support –
PowerP2V offers a wide array of support
for data center hardware configurations including mass storage
devices. New drivers that are released from hardware vendors can
be supported by PowerP2V quickly and easily.

– Enhanced user interface –
PowerP2V provides exclusive “drag-and-drop”
functionality through its graphical user interface. Users can
discover, deploy, and configure virtual machines anywhere on the
network and track each conversion based on granular details during
each step of the conversion process.

“Virtual PC for Mac Version 7 will be available in the second half of 2004,” Jessica Sommer, Product Manager for the Mac BU, told The Mac Observer, Tuesday. Sommer would not be more specific on a time frame or month.

In explaining the delay, Sommer said, “This is the first version of Virtual PC for Mac developed by Microsoft. Initially, our development and testing timeline was estimated based on our experience with development of Office. The developing, testing, and bug fix cycle with Virtual PC is longer than that of Office and the testing more vigorous than previous versions of Virtual PC. Because of this, we have adjusted our release timing to match a more realistic schedule.”

In addition, there is an edition of Virtual PC 7 that ships with Windows XP in a box by itself, as well as Windows XP being included in the Office 2004 Professional Edition,” she commented. “We are waiting for the release of Windows XP SP2 in order to offer the most recent, most secure version of Windows XP to our Virtual PC for Mac customers. Windows XP SP2 release has moved to the end of July which has impacted our schedule as well.”

Sommer would not confirm the amount of manpower that is working on completing Virtual PC 7.0 for release. “There are 165 people in the Mac BU some are focused on Office, some on VPC, some on MSN Messenger,” Sommer said.

The company announced at Macworld Expo last January that it planned on releasing Microsoft Office 2004 Standard Edition, Office 2004 Student and Teacher Edition, Virtual PC 7.0 and its associated Office 2004 Professional Edition in the first half of 2004, targeting the month of May.

With the delay in finishing and releasing Virtual PC 7.0, Sommer confirmed to TMO the decision was made to go ahead and ship Microsoft Office 2004 Standard Edition and Office 2004 Student and Teacher Edition now and not to delay customers from purchasing the product. Customers waiting on the new Office upgrade began receiving notification their orders were being shipped beginning today, as earlier reported by TMO, and many customers were able to buy the products at Apple’s retail stores as well beginning Tuesday.

Office 2004 is a bundled suite made up of Word 2004, PowerPoint 2004, Excel 2004, Entourage 2004 and MSN Messenger Version 4.0. Office 2004 for Mac Professional Edition is the same offering as the Standard Edition, but includes Virtual PC 7.0 with Windows XP Professional.

Topspin provides the industry’s first programmable server switch, a new category of data center infrastructure designed to provide an intelligent backbone for grid, or on-demand, or utility computing. Topspin’s new VFrame server virtualization software suite allows provisioning intelligence to be programmed into the server switch hardware by industry-leading management and provisioning tools using VFrame APIs and a software developer kit (SDK).

“We are excited to have such a solid list of partners to kick-off this program,” said Ben Eiref, director business development at Topspin. “The greatest strength of VFrame is that it offers the first truly open solution for switch-based utility computing. We allow our customers to choose their preferred servers, storage, applications, and management tools and connect it all seamlessly through the server switch. With our VFrame development partners we can offer our customers a wide range of quality solutions.”

Opsware

“Customers want best of breed utility computing solutions that don’t lock them in to a single vendor,” said Tim Howes, CTO and EVP of development for Opsware Inc. “DCML, a developing open standard for utility computing, enables this multi-vendor vision. Opsware is looking forward to working with Topspin’s VFrame, using DCML to further automate the IT lifecycle and deliver utility computing.”

Oracle

“Topspin’s VFrame interface provides a useful way to implement server virtualization and provisioning policies through a single InfiniBand switch interface and we’re looking at how to take advantage of this with Oracle’s Grid Computing technology,” said Benny Souder, vice president of Distributed Database Development, Oracle Corporation. “I’m also pleased to see Topspin’s timely launch of this capability as it coincides with the creation of the Enterprise Grid Alliance, where the technology will link together best of breed grid building blocks.”

Platform Computing

“Customers are asking for a better way to flexibly share server, storage, and application resources,” said Robert Boettcher, vice president of Financial Services at Platform Computing. “Topspin helps provide the ability to virtualize the server infrastructure underneath the grid application services. Together, Topspin and Platform can provide a complete turnkey solution for data center managers who want to build their own grid infrastructure.”

Qlusters

“Working through Topspin’s VFrame server switch interface, Qlusters SSI single system image technology enables customers to achieve the scalability of traditional SMP systems running on much less expensive commodity clusters,” said Moshe Bar, CTO of Qlusters. “We’re pleased to see Topspin creating this developer program since we have common customers asking to have our two products running together.”

VMware

“VMware, the leader in virtual infrastructure software for x86-based systems, sees the potential of fabric-based technologies such as Topspin to bring additional I/O consolidation, performance and cost-containment benefits for customers as they deploy their VMware virtualization solutions,” said Brian Byun, senior director of Alliances, VMware. “We are pleased to be charter members of the VFrame developer program.”