This post was written by Denise Ross
Sun Microsystems’ VirtualBox desktop virtualization software is a surprisingly full-featured, no-cost alternative to VMware Workstation and Parallels Desktop that’s well worth the consideration of software developers looking to test on multiple platforms and of IT managers who are evaluating the strategic value of desktop virtualization. From running business productivity applications to playing downloaded videos, VirtualBox performed without error on reviewer’s test systems. All in all, VirtualBox proved an able hypervisor for running guest OSes with a minimum of fuss and even less money.
IBM is taking on VMware’s virtual desktop infrastructure with its own Linux and Lotus-based virtual desktop. VMware’s VDI, recently re-launched as View, ships a virtual Windows or Linux desktop to desktops, notebooks and thin client devices, and is built from a golden master file and linked clones, stored on a VMware ESX server’s disks. IBM is working with Virtual Bridges and its VERDE (Virtual Enterprise Remote Desktop Environment) product to ship a virtual Canonical Ubuntu Linux desktop, with Lotus email, unified communication, and social networking software included, to a variety of end-point devices.
HCL Technologies has signed a Global System Integration contract with VMware. This relationship combines VMware virtualization products and services with HCL’s proven experience and globally benchmarked capabilities in enterprise IT infrastructure operations and transformation, thereby providing best-of-breed virtualization lifecycle services to global enterprises. The relationship with VMware will further strengthen HCL’s expertise in information lifecycle management as well as desktop and datacenter virtualization and transformation services to help enterprises reduce risk, cut costs and improve IT efficiency.
VMware has released VMware View 3, new software aimed at providing desktop virtualization, application virtualization and management of virtual desktops in one product. VMware View is a reworking of the company’s VMware Desktop Infrastructure product that adds other components to solve the problem of managing virtualized desktop environments, said Raj Mallempati, a group product manager of desktop products for VMware. VMware View is part of an initiative that VMware is calling vClient, which it unveiled at its VMworld conference in September.
Citrix Systems Inc. has announced the first solution in the industry designed to provide highly scalable secure access to virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environments. The newest release of the company’s popular Citrix Access Gateway™ appliance now includes integration with Citrix XenDesktop™, allowing companies to deliver virtual desktops securely to thousands of end users based on their unique identity, location and security status. Unlike traditional virtual private network (VPN) and network access control (NAC) solutions which control access solely to the network, Citrix Access Gateway provides intelligent access directly to approved applications and desktops through its innovative SmartAccess technology, an increasingly important requirement as datacenter resources become more virtualized and physically separated from end users.
VMware has upgraded its application virtualization software, which aims to reduce the cost of deploying new desktop programs to end users. The software allows IT departments to package a desktop application into a single executable file, which can then be deployed and run by the end user without altering the host machine’s operating system, such as its file system or registry files. This would avoid the software conflicts that can “break” existing desktop applications, and reduce the amount of testing IT departments have to do before they deploy a new application.
Hewlett-Packard is getting into the network-based storage virtualization game with the news that it is set to ship the HP StorageWorks SAN Virtualization Services Platform (SVSP). This platform is a new system that can migrate and manage data between midrange arrays in heterogeneous SAN environments. The SVSP is a network-based platform that pools capacity across heterogeneous storage hardware from HP and other vendors. It provides users storage services such as online data migration, thin provisioning, and replication. This also includes clones, snapshots, synchronous local mirroring and asynchronous remote mirroring for disaster recovery.
Qumranet, the commercial sponsor of KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine), will display its Solid ICE desktop virtualization solution at the upcoming IBM System X & BladeCenter Technical Conference in San Diego. Solid ICE provides enterprises with the benefits of centralized desktops while delivering a superior end-user experience including the ability to run multiple monitors, high-quality video streaming, VoIP and video-conferencing. The virtualization software can reduce desktop cost of ownership by more than 50%.
Denali Software Inc., a world- leading provider of electronic design automation (EDA) software and intellectual property (IP), has announced that its PureSpec(TM) PCI Express verification intellectual property (VIP) product, would now support the complete PCI-SIG I/O Virtualization (IOV) specifications, including Multi-Root IOV(MR-IOV). The PCI-SIG IOV suite of specifications minimizes system hardware and software requirements, allowing the simultaneous sharing of peripherals across multiple microprocessors and operating systems, increasing the performance of virtualized systems and enabling significant power savings.
Virtual Iron, a smaller upstart player in virtualization on the XenSource hypervisor side, is making noises about the addition of power management capability in its virtual infrastructure management product.