Virtually Speaking

November 20th, 2009

iPhone - is it a good tool for traveling business people?

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 4:00 am

Categories: Off topic, Travel issues

Tags: Apple iPhone, AT&T Corp., Tool, Time Zone, Business People, Email Client, E-mail, Smart Phones, Online Communications, Consumer Electronics

Although I like the form factor and user interface of the iPhone, I increasingly question its use as a tool for traveling business people. In no particular order, there are some of the concerns I have about the device and AT&T’s service.

• My work involves travel. I need to be able to rely on a smartphone’s ability to be an internet tablet, a Email client and, oh yes, a telephone. AT&T’s network in Boston, New York, Orlando and San Francisco often left me with poor telephone service, poor internet access or no access at all.  Colleagues using other networks often had no problems whatsoever in the same locations.
• International roaming is unbelievably expensive. Since the iPhone is locked to AT&T’s network, I can’t purchase a low-cost SIM and pay as you go service in another country.
• The calendar handles events scheduled in different time zones very poorly.  Even though many business travelers fly to appointments in other cities, the iPhone calendar offers no way to enter an event that starts in one time zone and ends in another. In fact, there appears to be no way to enter the time zone of an event on the iPhone itself short of changing the default time zone for the entire calendar. There are ways, however, to tag events with a time zone on a host PC or Mac.
• The Email client doesn’t recognize meeting invitations. The client doesn’t even offer a way to look at those invitations.  Once again, the only way to deal with these typical business situations is head back to the host PC or Mac.
• The Email client has no ability to create or delete folders. Once again, the only way to deal with this requirement is to head back to the host PC or Mac
• No multitasking. Need I say more?
• Apple’s cat and mouse game with developers making needed applications, application features and the like unavailable.
• AT&T where is support for tethering?

I’m increasingly finding the iPhone to be a poor tool for business people and am seeking a replacement.  I’ll let you know what I find.

November 19th, 2009

Delta Sonic Car Wash systems deploys Vyatta

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 3:00 am

Categories: Consumer use of Virtualization, Network Virtualization, Virtualization

Tags: Network, Credit Card, Credit Card Transaction, Delta Sonic Car Wash Systems Inc., Vyatta, Delta Sonic, Financial Services, Sales Channel, Networking, Finance

From time to time, I spend some virtual time with someone using technology developed by one of the suppliers I track. This time, the victim, errr, the person is Matthew Mackes of Delta Sonic Car Wash Systems who has deployed products from Vyatta.

Please introduce your organization and your role at Delta Sonic Car Wash.

I am Matthew Mackes, Network administrator at Delta Sonic Car Wash Systems. Delta Sonic is a family owned Car Wash business that also offers oil changes, gas, and convenience stores. We have 28 locations across NY, PA and IL.

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November 18th, 2009

Pressure tactics don't always work

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 3:30 am

Categories: Off topic

Tags: Journalist, Analyst, Supplier, Analysis, Channel Management, Marketing, Dan Kusnetzky

Although a very rare, on occasion I’ve had suppliers of systems, software or services tell me that they’ll sue if I publish an unfavorable analysis of their products or service, unfavorable survey results or unfavorable opinions about their go to market strategies, products or services. I’ve also seen major suppliers threaten to cancel their subscriptions, stop speaking with analysts and the like.

One supplier of systems and commercial products “fired” me, telling me that they wouldn’t speak with me again because I published an opinion, based upon a long series of annual research reports, that indicated that they were likely to be passed by another product showing strong year-over-year growth. Since they continued to speak with one of my staff, I really didn’t mind.  In fact, that allowed me to publish ever more pointed things about their product announcements. Had they spoken with me first, I might have understood their product strategy and have treated product deficiencies differently.

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November 17th, 2009

SteelEye DataKeeper for Windows Server 2008 R2

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 3:00 am

Categories: Clustering software, HA/Failover, Linux, Virtual machine software, Virtual processing software, Virtual storage, Virtualization, Windows

Tags: Microsoft Windows Server, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, Disaster Recovery, DataKeeper Cluster Edition, SteelEye DataKeeper Cluster Edition, Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Windows, Servers, Operating Systems, Software

I’ve watched SteelEye for quite a number of years as they changed from a clustering/high availability software (LifeKeeper) supplier focused solely on UNIX to a supplier of a number of technologies for Windows, Linux and virtual environments.  Recently the company added DataKeeper for Windows Server 2008 R2 to their portfolio. It is clear that availability and reliability needs to be a focus for business critical applications.

Here’s how SteelEye describes DataKeeper for Windows Server 2008 R2

DataKeeper, a highly optimized data replication solution for Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008, is available in two versions. The first delivers data replication services as an extension to Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008, while a second version of DataKeeper Cluster Edition further extends the capabilities of Microsoft Cluster Services and Windows Server Failover Clustering. Both editions support real-time replication of Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V virtual machines between physical servers across either LAN or WAN connections.

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November 16th, 2009

Vik Desai of Liquid Computing on Unified Computing

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 3:00 am

Categories: Cloud computing/SAAS/ISP Issues, Virtual machine software, Virtualization

Tags: Data Center, Customer, Computing, Liquid Computing, Data Centers, Storage, Hardware, Data Management, Dan Kusnetzky

I received a message conveying some thoughts on unified computing coming from Vik Desai, CEO of Liquid Computing. While I haven’t had the chance to actually chat with him about his opinions, I thought them interesting enough to pass along to you.

Vik Desai’s comments

Unified computing(UCS) is a compelling market that is heating up with all the major vendors jumping into the fray. However,the very benefits of unified computing get negated if customers have to invest in expensive hardware from big vendors with no open architecture. Liquid Computing’s solution on the other hand is a completely open solution that can support any combination of standard operating systems or virtual environments. This means that it can be seamlessly installed within any data center, and doesn’t require any special or proprietary drivers that can compromise the integrity of application performance.

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November 14th, 2009

Engine problems create travel adventure

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 3:59 am

Categories: Off topic, Travel issues

Tags: Flight, It Services, Recruitment & Selection, Human Resources, Workforce Management, Dan Kusnetzky

I’m still on my way back from the FustionStorm Datacenter Summit that was held in Las Vegas.  Delta flight 1090 had some engine problems somewhere over Arizona and the flight had to return to Las Vegas.  The crew were helpful and informative. That being said, it was a bit of a pain to have 5 additional hours added to the flight. I, of course, missed my connecting flight. I guess that I have to hold onto to the fact that the crew’s actions kept all of us safe.  A problem that could have been life threatening was just a mild irritant.  Good job Delta!

The flight landed in Atlanta at about 3:30 AM ET. I needed coffee in the worst way and discovered that just about nothing was open in the Atlanta airport. The tram wasn’t running and so, seeking coffee meant walking from concourse to concourse. When I couldn’t find a single thing open,

While contemplating about the folks who manage this very large, very busy, international airport, I couldn’t help but wonder why there were no support services available when flights are still arriving at 3:30 AM ET.

November 13th, 2009

Service Corporation International - Akorri Customer Profile

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 3:00 am

Categories: Consumer use of Virtualization, Managing virtualized environments

Tags: Service Corporation International, Database, Data Center, Performance, Sanmina-SCI Corp., Tool, Akorri BalancePoint, Data Centers, Storage, Productivity

In the post “Examining datacenter operations with Akorri BalancePoint“, I had a chance to examine Akorri’s BalancePoint and asked the company to provide a customer reference. Shortly thereafter, I had a chance to communicate with Kevin Brown,  Infrastructure Manager with Service Corporation International. Here are his comments.

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November 12th, 2009

FusionStorm Datacenter Summit

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 3:00 am

Categories: Cloud computing/SAAS/ISP Issues, Consumer use of Virtualization, Virtualization

Tags: Cloud Computing, Virtualization, Data Centers, Storage Management, Utility Computing, Hardware, Storage, Data Management, Dan Kusnetzky

Vince Conroy, Chief Technology Officer, of FusionStorm, invited me to speak at their Datacenter Summit in Las Vegas. After speaking with him, I’m looking forward to meeting.  I’ve discovered that many Datacenter executives are well versed in facilities issues, including power, cooling and the like, but are not quite as familiar with what’s going on inside of their many computers.

My plans are to speak to them about virtualization and what it means to them, how the increasing adoption of various virtualization technologies combined with the desire many organizations have to cut costs at almost any cost leads to the consideration of cloud computing.  I’m also hoping to get quite a bit of feedback from them on the use of both virtualization and cloud computing in their organizational IT infrastructure.

The attendees and I are also going to visit Switch Communications’ SuperNAP in Las Vegas.

I’ll let you know what I learn.

November 11th, 2009

Parallels launches Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 3:00 am

Categories: Desktop virtualization, Virtual machine software, Virtual processing software, Virtualization

Tags: Apple Macintosh, Parallels, Desktops, Microsoft Windows, Hardware, Operating Systems, Software, Dan Kusnetzky

Parallels recently launched an update to its popular Parallels Desktop for Mac. It appears that the company has done its best to make Windows and Mac OS X live in harmony on the same machine. The person using the system can make it appear as if the system is just another Windows system rather than a Mac or that Windows and Mac applications are running side by side on a Mac system.

My discussions with executives at various conference leads me to believe that Macs are increasingly popular with business executives for a number of reasons including the look of the systems, the performance of Mac OS X and the overall reliability of the systems. The sticking point, however, is that their organization has standardized on one or more Windows applications. Parallels appears to have spoken with many of the same people and is offering a product that directly addresses their concerns.

Parallels, however, is not alone in understanding the requirements of this market segment. VMware and Citrix both want to play here as well. The open source project, VirtualBox, also can address many of the same issues.

After having used both VMware’s Fusion and Parallels Desktop for Mac, I have to say that both products would be useful additions to an organization’s technology portfolio. VMware’s product seems to be more focused on supporting a Windows user finding him/herself in Mac land. Parallels seems to be more focused on Mac users wanting high performance Windows application support without having to learn a great deal about Windows. Parallels also offers tools to help Windows users become familar with Mac OS X.

November 10th, 2009

VMware's desktop moves

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 3:00 am

Categories: Access virtualization, Cloud computing/SAAS/ISP Issues, Desktop virtualization, Managing virtualized environments, Professional Services, Virtual machine software, Virtual processing software, Virtualization

Tags: Desktop, Desktop Virtualization, VMware Inc., VMware View 4, Ecosystem Press Release, Virtualization, Hardware, Dan Kusnetzky

VMware made a “cluster announcement” of a number of products and services related to desktop virtualization including VMware View 4, PCoIP Support, a partnership with Affiliated Computer Services and the availability of a set of new reference architectures. It is clear that VMware wants to make adoption of their version of desktop virtualization, whether supported locally or via cloud computing, easy.

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