Bladewatch.com

IBM

ARMONK, NY – – 01 Sep 2009: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced Voltaire Ltd. (NASDAQ: VOLT), an infrastructure provider for data centers, has selected the company’s newest IBM iDataPlex server for a new global cloud computing resource center. The center, which will be based in Israel and available online, will offer developers, partners and IT managers an environment to integrate and fully test cloud-based solutions.

The center will be powered in-part by IBM’s newest iDataPlex dx360 M2 server, which features expanded memory from previous versions (128 GB); support for the new VMware vSphere 4^TM virtualization platform; and overall performance benchmarks recently listing the iDataPlex as the most power-efficient system among similar technology products, as compiled by SPECpower_ssj2008 benchmark¹. The new Voltaire-designed center will extend these advancements to all companies interested; for example, SaaS companies will be able to leverage the center to benchmark their applications, such as broadcasting services and gaming. Also, the new center will maintain a list of testing results and blueprints for the solutions created, providing a vital technical and marketing resource and best-practices guide for current and future cloud innovations.

Check out this article discussing Voltaire selecting IBM’s iDataPlex server for their cloud computing center, very cool, I remain a fan of their iDataPlex concept. I’m off to check out more.

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vmware.com

Submission Builds on VMware Commitment to Open Standards and Customer Choice

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., September 1, 2009 — Today at VMworld 2009, VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop through the datacenter and to the cloud, announced the submission of its vCloud API to the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) to enable consistent mobility, provisioning, management, and service assurance of applications running in internal and external clouds. The submission is part of the VMware vCloud™ Initiative – created to enable customers to work closely with VMware cloud partners who provide reliable, enterprise-ready cloud services without the lock-in associated with some cloud solutions available today. (See related press release also announced today: “World’s Leading Service Providers Build New Cloud Services on the VMware Platform.”)

As customers turn to cloud computing for its benefits – convenient, on-demand access to a shared pool of computing resources – there is often a concern about vendor lock-in and huge investments in proprietary tools, formats and infrastructure. Earlier this year, VMware released its vCloud API to partners to work with them to develop and deploy interoperable cloud services. With the availability of this API, customers can choose cloud services that will enable the on-demand flexibility that they require, and the ability to move their applications in and out of internal or external clouds with the high availability, manageability and security that customers have grown to rely on from VMware.

We need to continue developing open standards to create new opportunities for end users and vendors alike, in terms of functionality in the virtualization platform as well as system provisioning and management. We’ll need to see what product developments these bring, the more we discuss the standards, the more we can meet end user needs, and create new opportunities for products and services in and around the cloud and virtualization.

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Dell.com

Goal to Include Joint Innovation on Management, Virtualization Infrastructure and Optimization for Next-Generation Data Centers

Brocade^® (Nasdaq: BRCD) and Dell today announced a partnership to offer Dell customers end-to-end computing, networking and storage solutions through the Dell global sales organization. The two companies also intend to collaborate on future development around the management and virtualization of next-generation, efficient data centers, which will help Brocade and Dell customers better utilize IT and gain significant savings in people, time and money.

Specifically, the two companies intend to:

• Develop a dynamic infrastructure and optimization solution enabled by virtualization to allow customers to deploy and manage an efficient data center. Increasingly, customers need applications deployed rapidly to meet their performance requirements, with secure and reliable access to their mission-critical data.
• Deliver integrated toolsets to manage application delivery and deployment as business services on highly reliable compute, network and storage infrastructure. The Brocade and Dell solution will help provide capital and operational expense savings by deploying server and storage virtualization more broadly across the data center.

An interesting read, anything we can do to reduce costs and improve the possibilities or functionality of the infrastructure has to be a good thing, particularly in the next generation data center? Could we see movements to virtualization of the data center? Where the data center follows the sun, not just the application? Have London offline as the overnight workload moves to New York combined with the existing workloads thanks to flexibility of the infrastructure?

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IBM

ARMONK, N.Y. – 31 Aug 2009: Building on years of industry leadership in desktop virtualization technology, IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced the availability of the industry’s first public desktop cloud service.

Cloud computing can give end-users easy access to the critical information they need remotely, from various devices, virtually anywhere. IBM helps organizations benefit from this model with desktop services that are designed to enable end-users with network-attached PCs and certain other devices the ability to access applications and data through a centrally managed computing environment.

“Today more than ever, enterprises need an affordable, reliable and efficient way to deploy and manage desktop infrastructures,” says Jan Jackman, Vice President, End User Services, IBM Global Technology Services. “The public desktop cloud service is designed to help bring cost savings, flexibility, scalability and security to clients like never before.”

The new IBM Smart Business Desktop on the IBM Cloud subscription service helps clients virtualize desktop computing resources, and provide a logical, rather than a physical, method of access to data, computing power, storage capacity and other resources. This service requires no up front capital or one time expense and is designed to provide enhanced levels of security, resiliency, reliability, and quality for virtual desktops. The service offers flexible delivery models, including three standard cloud-based offerings, dedicated infrastructure, and customer premise solutions, while helping to streamline data backup and recovery, and reduce unauthorized access.

Very cool, anything we can do to extend the possibilities with the cloud or virtual desktop platforms have to be a good thing, do check it out. I’m off to read up more.

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Computer Weekly

Microsoft has confirmed that it is investigating reports of a vulnerability in the firm’s Internet Information Services (IIS) software.

The vulnerability that could allow an attacker to take over a server is reported to be in the file transfer function of versions 5.0, 5.1 and 6.0 of Microsoft’s IIS product.

Microsoft said in a security advisory that although detailed exploit code has been published for this vulnerability, the company is not aware of any active attacks.

“Microsoft is actively monitoring this situation to keep customers informed and to provide customer guidance as necessary,” the advisory said.

Microsoft said that it will take appropriate action, which may include a patch to be released in the next monthly security update or sooner if necessary.

An article to remind us the importance of applying the recommended security patches and hot fixes to protect your infrastructure and prevent unexpected behaviour or exposure to exploits.

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Zdnet

Sun’s new Xeon 5500 lineup is pretty impressive, starting with an unusual low-cost 1U server (the Sun Fire X2270) with a restricted specification for those on a budget . Higher up the scale comes a more configurable up-market 1U offering (the X4170) aimed, primarily, at HPC buyers. For this review we’re concentrating on the 2U space where Sun, again, has two models to choose from.

Actually, that’s a little misleading as the Sun Fire X4270 and X4275 are essentially the same server, with exactly the same chassis, identical motherboards, processor and memory options. The only real difference is in the storage: the X4270 has sixteen 2.5in. hot-swap drive bays, whereas the X4275 is aimed at customers looking for greater capacity, offering twelve 3.5in. drive bays and a choice of drives in capacities up to 2TB per spindle. SATA, SAS and SSD storage can be specified for both configurations (SSD is limited to just 32GB per drive), with an LSI-derived RAID controller included in the spec as standard.

An interesting article talking about Sun’s new servers using the new Intel Xeon 5500 processors, it’s always great to see what people think, both servers would be ideal for virtualization or in a hpc solution.

Check out this review of Sun’s

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Dell.com

Today at VMworld 2009, Dell and VMware jointly announced an expansion of their existing partnership where Dell will bundle VMware Viewâ„¢ as an option on select server and client platforms. This partnership establishes a “one-stop shop” for companies looking to take advantage of the benefits of virtualization that encompasses an end-to-end solution from the desktop to the datacenter as a foundation for cloud computing. The agreement pairs a world’s leading virtualization technology vendor with the world’s leading supplier of commercial desktops¹, delivering the foundation for client hypervisor-based virtualization and flexible computing solutions to a wider range of businesses.

To extend the benefits of this agreement, Dell will also offer services to help customers with the initial scoping, design, implementation, ongoing support, and management of these solutions, including monitoring and reporting performance and capacity issues in real-time. These services are designed to drive down costs and data security risks, and help customers accelerate their virtualization projects for faster time to value.

It’s great to see Dell continuing to improve it’s offering in the desktop virtualization space, anything Dell and the other vendors can to reduce the cost and improve the accessibility of the virtual desktop has to be a good thing. I’m off to read up more.

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Cisco

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Sept. 1, 2009 – Cisco today announced that Tutor Perini Corp., a leading civil and building construction company, has deployed the Cisco® Unified Computing System in its new data center, which serves several business entities. Tutor Perini will consolidate five existing data centers into one newly built facility. All applications and data will be migrated to the Cisco Unified Computing System platform, which unites network, computational, storage access and virtualization into a single cohesive system. The consolidation project was motivated by the need to reduce operating costs, maximize virtualization, optimize resources and simplify management. In addition, the company is expanding its existing thin-client environment.

The Unified Computing System implementation at Tutor Perini marks the first deployment of Cisco’ s new computing platform, which was announced in March and began shipping this summer.

 

Facts:

 

• At Tutor Perini, the Cisco Unified Computing System is configured with four chassis, 22 server blades, and two Cisco 6120 Fabric Interconnects. The system connects to 83 terabytes of data in an Ethernet environment.
• The standards-based Cisco Unified Computing System integrates with an existing environment of Cisco routers and switches, third-party equipment, and VMware virtualization technology, as well as the company’s thin-client infrastructure.
• Tutor Perini has moved three of five data centers to the new data center, using VMWare technology to move servers, virtual machines and data over the network to the new site.
• With the Cisco Unified Computing System, Tutor Perini will be able to deploy four times as many virtual machines per VMware ESX host as it could in its previous environment, a key factor in helping the company to achieve its cost reduction goals.
• To account for future growth in the next three years after the migration, Tutor Perini has built in capacity to allow for 30 percent growth over the next three years. The company can add more blades as needed to the Cisco Unified Computing System, which can accommodate up to 40 chassis within a single management entity.

 

Technology and Business Benefits

• Cost Savings include:
  • Equipment consolidation: Tutor Perini’s new Cisco Unified Computing System consists of four chassis with integrated switching and integrated management, with the ability to scale to 40 chassis in a single system. The consolidation project reduced the hardware footprint by 60 percent; two data center rows now support up to 7,500 users.
  • Increased server utilization: With the Cisco Unified Computing System, Tutor Perini’s IT department anticipates it will now be able to support four times as many virtual machines per VMware ESX host than before, and expects to achieve 90 percent CPU utilization.
  • Simplified cable management: Using a Unified Fabric design, and integrated network and storage access, Cisco’s Unified Computing System requires fewer cables to be purchased and managed than other solutions. Reducing the number of cables not only provides cost savings, but also provides improved air flow for greater power and cooling efficiency.

It’s great to see this article about an organization benefiting from Cisco’s Unified Computing System, it illustrates interesting results both in terms of the hardware and software. That we can deploy new infrastructure dynamically in line with the business need transforms not only the technical but the operational possibilities, having extra capacity for that share issue deal on your web trading system, to provision new infrastructure for that new business line, to move capacity around the infrastructure.

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Sun blogs

AMES, Iowa – Srinivas Aluru recently stepped between the two rows of six tall metal racks, opened up the silver doors and showed off the 3,200 computer processor cores that power Cystorm, Iowa State University’s second supercomputer.

An article talking about how this university is using Sun technologies in a solution for their research. It’s always great to read see what technologies are being used and how they are being deployed.

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vmware.com

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – September 1, 2009 – Today at VMworld 2009, VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop through the datacenter and to the cloud, announced significant advancements in the VMware vCloud™ Initiative—designed to help customers safely tap compute capacity for internal and external clouds – how they want, when they want and as much as they want.  VMware and its more than 1,000 VMware Virtualized™ service provider partners including AT&T, SAVVIS, Terremark and Verizon Business are giving customers improved flexibility and agility to respond to business needs while saving both capital and operational costs.

VMware Virtualized™ is a new program within the VMware vCloud™ Initiative for service provider cloud solutions that are interoperable and optimized for the VMware platform, designed to assure customers that VMware Virtualized cloud services offered by partners deliver a reliable, interoperable and enterprise-class experience.  Thousands of customers run their applications internally on the VMware platform, and VMware vSphere™ allows them to run their IT in an internal cloud.  VMware Virtualized cloud services are also based on VMware vSphere™ and give customers the flexibility of choice and interoperability—independent of hardware, OS, applications or providers so that customers can feel confident about developing and deploying current and future applications in the internal or external cloud.

This is very cool and moves us further to the concept of cloud as an internal and external solution for providing virtual infrastructure on demand. Could we move towards a virtual disaster recovery solution? A virtual data center?

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