November 23rd, 2009

Microsoft Windows Azure and SQL Azure

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 3:00 am

Categories: Cloud computing/SAAS/ISP Issues

Tags: Developer, Microsoft Windows Server, SQL, Microsoft Corp., Tool, Windows Server AppFabric Beta 1, ASP.NET MVC2 Beta, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Productivity

Microsoft launched Windows Azure, its cloud-based services offering at the recent Professional Developers Conference (PDC). Ray Ozzie, chief software architect at Microsoft, described Windows Azure and SQL Azure as core elements of the company’s cloud services strategy.

Now that the dust has settled a bit, it’s time to look at this announcement a bit more closely.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

November 5th, 2009

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Servers

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 3:00 am

Categories: Virtual machine software, Virtualization

Tags: Hypervisor, Red Hat Inc., Server, Virtualization, Open Source, Cloud Computing, Storage Management, Utility Computing, Hardware, Storage

Red Hat launched Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Servers on November 3rd. Although KVM isn’t currently in a leading position in the market, it offers a number of features, including performance, that many find attractive.

What Red Hat had to say about its new products

In September 2009, Red Hat delivered the foundation of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4, which offers next-generation Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) virtualization technology.

Today (November 3rd), Red Hat delivers the next phase of the portfolio with the availability of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Servers, which includes the following components:

Read the rest of this entry »

November 4th, 2009

Cisco, EMC and VMware Announce Alliance

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 2:00 am

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

Tags: Alliance, Environment, Industry Standard, VMware Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., EMC Corp., Intel Corp., Vblock Infrastructure Packages, Acadia, Virtualization

Cisco, EMC and VMware announced an alliance/coalition/joint venture with the hopes of pushing forward the use of virtualized environments in general and cloud computing in specific. If nothing else, this move is likely to recast partnerships and alliances throughout the IT industry. It is a bold move that changes the environment in a major way. This move is not without risk for these partners. Now that they’re offering complete system solutions, it may be more difficult for them individually or as a group to play well with others.

Read the rest of this entry »