December 2010/January 2011 | Vol. 4 | No. 1
VirtualizationReview.com
This combined issue brings you a virtual cornucopia of products and vendors. Can you guess who dominates the RCA awards?
By combining these two efforts, we are able to showcase both the virtualization and cloud products that you voted as your favorites.
VirtualizationReview.com | Virtualization Review | December 2010/January 2011 | 1
DECEMBER 2010/JANUARY 2011 | VIRTUALIZATION REVIEW | VOL. 4, NO. 1
VISIT VIRTUALIZATIONREVIEW.COM
contents
“I’d say virtualization is a fi rst step toward
realizing the vision of cloud
computing.”Garth Fort,
General Manager, System Center and
Virtualization Marketing Team, Microsoft
14
2 Online TOC31 Ad/Edit Index
UPFRONT6 Q&A Garth Fort Talks Cloud, Virtualization
10 Review Spoon Stirs up Application Virtualization
COLUMNS4 Hoard: BRUCE HOARD
Andres Rodriguez Plays Corporate Judo
32 Take 5: BRUCE HOARD
Storage Problems and Proposed Solutions
FEATURES14 The 2011 Ultimate
Virtualization Buyers Guide and Virtualization Review Readers Choice Awards Our readers rate products, and we reward them with the hands-down, most-informative,
must-read print guide to virtualization and cloud products.
16 Application Virtualization
18 Virtual Automation
18 Virtual Business Continuity
19 Cloud Computing
20 Desktop Virtualization/Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
6PHOTO PROVIDED BY MICROSOFT
22 Virtual Management & Optimization
24 Network Virtualization
24 Virtual PC
26 Virtualization Security
26 Server Virtualization
26 Virtualization Standards
28 Storage Virtualization
28 Thin/Zero-Client Computing
30 Virtualization Training
30 Miscellaneous Virtualization
32
READERS CHOICE AWARDS
Salesforce.com Announces Multi-platform Enterprise Cloud Database In December Salesforce.com Inc. unveiled Database.com, aimed at next-generation enterprise apps, and what the company bills as the fi rst database for the cloud.
Not yet commercially available (no date was specifi ed), the database is available now for free trials.
Read more about this off ering here: VirtualizationReview.com/Schwartz1210
USDA Buying Microsoft Cloud ServicesAccording to Chris Smith, the chief information offi cer for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 120,000 users will move to Microsoft Online Services, consolidating 21 diff erent messaging and collaboration systems into one. The USDA is aiming to save money and improve effi ciencies that build on existing infrastructure. VirtualizationReview.com/Yasin1210
2 | December 2010/January 2011 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
what’s [email protected]
VIRTUALIZATIONREVIEW.COMDECEMBER 2010/JANUARY 2011 ■ VOL. 4 ■ NO. 1
EDITORIAL STAFF
Vice President, Editorial Director Doug Barney
Editor in Chief Bruce Hoard
Managing Editor Wendy Gonchar
Associate Managing Editor Katrina Carrasco
COLUMNISTS
David Davis
Rick Vanover
ART STAFF
Creative Director Scott Shultz
Art Director Brad Zerbel
ONLINE/DIGITAL MEDIA
Editor, VirtualizationReview.com Michael Domingo
Director, Online Media Becky Nagel
Site Administrator Shane Lee
Designer Rodrigo Muñoz
President Henry Allain
Vice President, Publishing Matt N. Morollo
Director, Marketing Michele Imgrund
Online Marketing Director Tracy S. Cook
President & Chief Executive Offi cer Neal Vitale
Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Offi cer Richard Vitale
Executive Vice President Michael J. Valenti
Senior Vice President, Abraham M. Langer Audience Development & Digital Media
Vice President, Christopher M. Coates Finance & Administration
Vice President, Erik A. Lindgren Information Technology & Application Developement
Vice President, Carmel McDonagh Attendee Marketing
Vice President, Event Operations David F. Myers
Chairman of the Board Jeff rey S. Klein
Reaching the Staff
Staff may be reached via e-mail, telephone, fax, or mail.A list of editors and contact information is also available
online at VirtualizationReview.com.
E-mail: To e-mail any member of the staff , please use thefollowing form: [email protected]
Framingham Offi ce (weekdays, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET)Telephone 508-875-6644; Fax 508-875-6633
600 Worcester Road, Suite 204, Framingham, MA 01702
Irvine Offi ce (weekdays, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. PT)Telephone 949-265-1520; Fax 949-265-1528
16261 Laguna Canyon Road, Suite 130, Irvine, CA 92618
Corporate Offi ce (weekdays, 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. PT)Telephone 818-814-5200; Fax 818-734-1522
9201 Oakdale Avenue, Suite 101, Chatsworth, CA 91311
The opinions expressed within the articles and other contents herein do not necessarily express those of the publisher.
Changing the Name of the vCenter ServerChanging the name of your vCenter Server may not be the No. 1 task on your list, but there are probably plenty of reasons why it should be done. Everyday Virtualization blogger Rick Vanover put together a comprehensive list of the steps involved so you don’t have to feel so overwhelmed. Vanover recommends that you should go “through it on a test environment confi gured as similar to your production systems as possible fi rst.” Read the entire step-by-step process online. VirtualizationReview.com/Vanover1210
Read Editor in Chief Bruce Hoard’s blog at VirtualizationReview.com/ Hoard. Topics recently covered include enhancements to the F5 Data Solutions portfolio, the release of CloudSwitch Enterprise 2.0 and a year-end look at Microsoft in the cloud. Stay on top of your game—check The Hoard Facts daily for fresh insights into the evolving virtualization market.
The Hoard Facts
VirtualizationReview.com • Redmondmag.com • RCPmag.com • RedDevNews.comVisualStudioMagazine.com • MCPmag.com • CertCities.com • TCPmag.com • ENTmag.com
RedmondEvents.com • ADTmag.com • ESJ.com
1 Requires a minimum of one-year support and subscription (SaS) at the time of purchase; call your CDW account manager for details. Offer subject to CDW’s standard terms and conditions of sale, available at CDW.com. ©2010 CDW LLC
Smarter data storage starts here.
800.399.4CDW | CDW.com/infrastructure
HP StorageWorks® P2000 G3 MSA FC/iSCSI Dual Combo Controller LFF Array
CALL FOR PRICINGCDW 2006327
The thing with data: if you’re not on top of it, you’ll soon be buried under it.
VMware® vSphere™ Enterprise Plus Acceleration Kit 4.1 License for 8 processors1
CALL FOR PRICINGCDW 1753279
HP ProLiant DL380 G7 Rack-mount Server$6799.99
CDW 2090727
To help you keep pace with your ever-increasing amounts of data, CDW’s storage
specialists can help you simplify your storage systems for increased fl exibility and
optimization. We can assist you with everything from product recommendations to
designing and implementing complete storage solutions — including multi-tiered
storage components, deduplication and virtualization technology. No need to worry
about your data; we’ll keep you on top of it.
Hard drives sold separately
4 | December 2010/January 2011 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
ED NOTE
Bruce Hoard
PHO
TO B
Y TERR
Y POW
ELL/ILLUSTR
ATION
FRO
M SH
UT
TERSTO
CK
HOARD
Andres Rodriguez Plays Corporate JudoAndres Rodriguez, CEO and cofounder of Nasuni, is a man on the move. If he’s not talking on the phone to investors or keeping customers happy with his personal touch, he’s running off to some other meeting or conversing with someone else. Good luck getting his undivided attention during lunch because everybody, it seems, wants to engage him—and why not? He’s very engaging.
He may be a whirlwind, but his ceaseless pursuit of success is the reason that at the tender age of 45, he’s already compiled a resume that most people would give anything to achieve in a lifetime. Over the past few years, he was CTO of The New York Times; cofounder and CTO for Archivas, which offered an enterprise-class cloud storage system; and CTO of Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) File Services after HDS bought Archivas.
Why Nasuni? For Andres, it’s about unfi nished business. “I wanted to complete something I started 20 years ago when I began my career in physics,” he explains. “I’m interested in two things: First, solving large data problems, like what to do with it all—what I can do to make it really easy for IT to get a better handle on the incredible reams of data they have growing in datacenters. Second, I wanted something that everybody needed. My uncles used to always tell me, ‘If you’re going to do something and sell it, make sure it’s something like underwear, which everyone needs. Don’t be fancy.’”
With that sage advice in mind, he and cofounder and President Robert S. Mason Jr. developed the Nasuni Filer. Andres says it delivers unlimited fi le storage and complete protection, and leverages the cloud’s unlimited capacity to store and protect customer fi les off-site while retaining the local functionality and performance of traditional network-attached storage. It was perfect—he had wanted something
that could be used by large and small companies alike, and, Andres notes, everybody uses fi le servers. Mission accomplished? Not yet, but the charge is on.
Although things seem to be going well so far, Andres is impatient and frustrated with the lack of knowledge concerning cloud storage. As he puts it, “I fi nd it frustrating that cloud computing gets confused with cloud storage.” In his view, this lack of awareness is a serious impediment to cloud storage companies such as Nasuni. He’s especially concerned with the perception that cloud storage is insecure, saying: “Cloud storage is really way ahead of where cloud computing is because it has the security model that allows it to basically completely protect your data once it’s in the cloud.”
Andres may be rankled, but he’s been through the awareness
battles before, so he keeps pushing forward,
undeterred. In his opinion, being a start-up is akin judo. As he puts it, in judo the
trick is to fi nd a way to defeat someone who is 10 times stronger than
you—and the way to do that is to use their own strength against them, and get them off balance. “We’re playing judo all the time with partners that are 10 times, 100 times our size,” he says.
There are other frustrations with each new day—fi nding good people who take on each new challenge with a fresh outlook, reversing bad attitudes and searching out the best cloud service providers—but Andres is up for the fi ght.
“The best you can do is think very hard about how you can put yourself in the path of enormous waves that are going to hit no matter what, and hopefully, if you do everything right, you won’t drown—but you’re never going to control when or where the waves are going,” he says.
What do you think about cloud storage? Is your company ready to move its data off-site? Tell me at [email protected]. VR
Why Nasuni? For Andres, it’s about unfinished business.
NEW RELEASE!
FOR VMWARE AND HYPER-V
Restore maximum I/O performance to your virtual serversThe efficiency of virtual platform design also opens it up to twice the fragmentation: on the host and on the VMs. Multiple virtual servers put onto one drive causes the I/O traffic and “double” fragmentation to skyrocket. I/O bandwidth quickly bottlenecks and all productivity connected to this virtual system slows. Because VMs compete for shared resources, trying to defrag creates resource conflicts. Until now…
V-locity 2 optimizes the performance on the entire platform from the host disk to the VMs. ■ It transparently eliminates resource management
priority conflicts. ■ It eliminates accumulated fragmentation and
prevents up to 85% of new fragmentation.■ It eliminates the free space “bloat” created
on thin/dynamic (VHD compaction).
Only V-locity 2 can deliver these critical benefits:■ Optimized I/O performance on every O/S
regardless of workload.■ Consistently fast reads and writes.■ Increased server uptime and reliability.■ Maximum free space efficiency when disk is
set to dynamically grow.
See for yourselfTry V-locity FREE for 30 days: diskeeper.com/vr2Or call now for a no-obligation price quote at: 800 829-6468© 2010 Diskeeper Corporation. All Rights Reserved. The Diskeeper Corporation logo, V-locity logo and V-locity are registered trademarks owned by Diskeeper Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks and brand names are the property of their respective owners.
6 | December 2010/January 2011 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
news • trends • analysis
Q&A
Garth Fort is general managerof the System Center and Virtualization Marketing team
at Microsoft, where he’s responsible for both the System Center Suite and Forefront Client Security products. During a recent interview with Virtualization Review Editor in Chief Bruce Hoard, Fort spoke about the Microsoft migration to the cloud, the evolution of Windows Server as a vehicle for virtualization, and competition with VMware Inc., among other topics.
VR: How does Microsoft distinguish between virtualization and cloud computing? Fort: We think of virtualization as a fi rst step toward cloud computing. I think the easiest way to think about it is by visualizing a virtualized infrastructure as the fi rst step toward realizing the vision of cloud computing. Cloud computing is in some ways very closely related to a vision that we laid out around dynamic IT, where pools of resources, compute network and storage can be very dynamically allocated to applications depending on workload and need. That’s the private cloud—that’s the foundation for cloud computing. Over time, more folks like Amazon—and Microsoft in the form of Windows Azure—have started bringing out a lot of these resources with new programming and management models, so there’s a public domain with public cloud computing, and
that accelerates a lot of the conversations that our customers are having with us around the private cloud. So I’d say virtualization is a fi rst step toward realizing the vision of cloud computing.
VR: Where do we go from the virtualized datacenter? Fort: We go from there to application development on our way to the cloud. Let me frame two opposite ends of the spectrum. I think in some ways virtualization got started by taking a bunch of existing applications that were running on traditional infrastructures and wrapping them up in a virtual machine that allowed you to do a lot of very interesting things in terms of backup patching, fault tolerance, disaster recovery, etc.—but didn’t require that you actually change the underlying
architecture of the application. So if you were virtualizing SAP, Oracle or a workload like Exchange, there were a lot of benefi ts. It allowed you to consolidate to get better utilization out of your hardware, but it didn’t change the way that applications were fundamentally written.
When we look at how people are building what I’ll call “cloud-scale applications” on a platform like Windows Azure, for example, it actually presumes a change in the way you build an architecture application so it’s not tightly bound to the underlying hardware. As a result, the way you build a Windows Azure application, which is very cloud from the core, requires changes in the ways you think about accessing network computing and storage resources. It takes a lot of the middleware layer, which we call the app fabric. The system itself actually takes on a lot of responsibility for allocating those resources and the application developer can write the business logic in an abstract way that doesn’t have to be cognizant of the underlying physical resources required.
VR: Microsoft is expanding System Center so that from a single screen right from System Center Operations Manager, you can manage your apps in an on-premises virtualized environment and a hosted virtualized environment in Windows Azure. What are the implications of that?Fort: For that matter, it could be Windows Azure or another third party that’s running that application. We have a lot of partnerships with big guys that do that. My crystal ball’s not perfect, but when we look out fi ve years to see what’s happening with hardware, we think of the growth of the public cloud—so
Garth Fort Talks Cloud, VirtualizationThe Microsoft marketing meister describes a team effort in Redmond.By Bruce Hoard
Garth Fort, General Manager, System Center and Virtualization Marketing Team, Microsoft
Two virtualized IBM Power® 730 Express systems can easily handle the workload of 36 existing scale-out HP ProLiant DL360 G5 servers. Yet many organizations might not consider an 18:1 consolidation job because of the typical up-front cost associated with higher-end systems like Power. The math underlying that assumption has changed. Today, two Power Express systems can cost less than the annual software subscription and support on 36 HP ProLiant servers, while consuming up to 92% less energy and using up to 89% less rack space.1 In addition, the two Power systems may cost up to 26% less than migrating to the latest HP x86-based servers.2 Can systems be built to do more for less? On a smarter planet they can. ibm.com/power7
Smarter systems for a Smarter Planet.
The new math of consolidation.
1. Annual software maintenance costs on the 36 existing scale-out HP ProLiant DL360 G5 servers include Linux server support and WebSphere subscription and support. IBM Power 730 Express systems include the cost of the systems, operating system, virtualization and middleware subscription and support for 3 years. 2. Comparison based on consolidating 36 unvirtualized HP ProLiant DL360 G5 servers to fi ve virtualized HP ProLiant DL380 G7 systems and assumes the WebSphere licenses transfer to the HP ProLiant DL380 G7 systems. Actual performance, cost savings and energy usage referenced in this ad will vary depending on client actual implementation. Contact IBM to see what we can do for you. See www.ibm.com/power7/claims. IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, Power, Smarter Planet and the planet icon are trademarks of IBM Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml. © International Business Machines Corporation 2010.
8 | December 2010/January 2011 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
Coming next issue: Datacenter updateUpFront
services providers that are building these public cloud infrastructures and putting a lot of hardware capacity into operation there will grow faster than the overall market. This will become a bigger part of the overall server landscape, but still be less than 20 percent of the total hardware run rate. From a customer perspective, we did a survey where we talked to several thousand customers and asked them how they think about adopting the cloud. Specifi cally, we asked: “In the next three to fi ve years, do you think
you’re going to be entirely on-premises, entirely in the cloud or somewhere in between?” Of our customers, 85 percent came back and said they’d likely be in this hybrid mode where they’re going to continue to have a lot of their on-premises infrastructure, but be opportunistically taking advantage of the public cloud to move some of their workloads over there.
That infl uenced the way we thought from a System Center point of view. What you’ll see, for example, is we have a management pack for Windows Azure that’s coming out in the next quarter or so. We demonstrated that onstage in Las Vegas back in April. What we’re hearing from customers is that they want to have that single pane of glass that allows them to manage both their on-premises and their public cloud infrastructures. Today we’re going to start with the ability to do things like monitor your applications, but over time we’ll be building capabilities into System Center that will allow you to actually provision or even move applications
from on-premises to the public cloud and then back again.
VR: How is System Center, as part of Windows Server, competitively superior to VMware?Fort: It’s different than VMware. We’ve taken a couple of different points of view on this. One, we started from a very rich heritage in terms of understanding both the physical and the virtual, where I think VMware viewed everything from a purely virtualized standpoint. Getting a little more tactical, we’ve taken a view that
says, for a lot of our customers running Windows Server in their datacenters, they’re running a multi-hypervisor environment. System Center Virtual Machine Manager, for example, is cross-hypervisor. We can understand and manage guests running in ESX, as well as in Hyper-V and third parties like Xen, so we’ve taken an explicitly multi-hypervisor approach to the management tools that we’re building, which is of course very different from the way VMware has approached it.
VR: How does System Center make Hyper-V a better product?Fort: The easiest way to think about it is, we work together with customers to understand where we need to be to make platform enhancements to the underlying hypervisor and how we can expose those to the user. The team that built System Center also built a lot of the core management infrastructure that ships as part of Windows, including things like Windows Management Instrumentation and PowerShell. So,
as we think about the next generation of Windows and the work that Mike Neil’s team is doing—Mike is general manager of Windows Server and Server Virtualization—we’re providing a lot of stuff we call inbox manageability. [Inbox manageability means] that, as you buy a straight copy of Windows Server with Hyper-V and you want to stand that up without buying System Center, there’s going to be a lot of functionality in terms of how you manage and exercise the virtualization capabilities that will just ship as part of Windows. That’s going to be delivered by the same team that eventually builds a higher-end tool for Virtual Machine Manager and then System Center on top of that, so it’s a very close engineering relationship.
VR: How does Microsoft make it easy for both its large business partners and small ecosystem partners alike to move into virtualization?Fort: From a management perspective, we released in April a new product called System Center Essentials, which is specifi cally designed for companies that have up to about 50 servers and about 500 desktops. This is a product that’s really had a strong uptake in the market. It’s priced in an incredibly affordable way, and it appeals to many of these guys who have felt like virtualization was outside of their reach. So if you’re upgrading your infrastructure to Windows Server 2008 R2 and so on, we’re giving you a set of tools that allows you to manage the physical and the virtual. It allows you to manage your desktop and your datacenter, and do it all from one pane of glass in a way that’s very approachable for your average IT shop. VR
Bruce Hoard ([email protected]) is editor in chief of Virtualization Review.
Q&A
“My crystal ball’s not perfect, but when we look out five years to see what’s happening with hardware, we think of the growth of the public cloud.”
10 | December 2010/January 2011 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
Check out our CTO blogsUpFront
In addition to the usual categories of virtualization, such as hypervisors and storage
virtualization, a new category promises to bypass the OS and virtualize applications by running Windows applications without the need to install them.
Spoon Server and Spoon Studio are a package designed to make it simple and straightforward to run a Windows application from anywhere, without downloading software or installing the application on the local
system. This enables legacy applications that might require older versions of Windows to run on Windows 7, including older versions of Internet Explorer, games and custom applications.
Applications are selected through an application portal. Once the small Spoon plug-in is installed and the application is started, it seems to run on the local system, providing the same user experience as the application would if installed in the normal manner but without a lengthy download or installation process.
Spoon Server corresponds to an application server such as Tomcat, running a Java application that emulates the actual application and
the essential features of the OS necessary to run it. There’s no need for the application to access the local host OS to create registry entries or install device drivers, and it doesn’t require administrative privileges to load or run applications. Spoon Server runs on Windows 2003, Windows 2008, Windows 2008 R2, Windows Vista and Windows 7, and supports either x86 or x64 versions.
Spoon Studio is the engine that processes Windows applications, preparing them for access via the
Spoon Server. The studio uses templates that can be downloaded from the Spoon Web site to create virtual versions of standard applications; custom applications can also be packaged manually.
The process of virtualizing an application manually can be complex. Fortunately, many application templates that automate the process are available from Spoon. If there’s no template available, the process involves capturing the OS state before and after an application is installed. The Spoon Studio tracks what DLLs are installed, where application fi les are stored, what runtime environments (such as the Microsoft .NET Framework or Java)
are installed, what changes are made to the registry and more. All of these changes are stored in a sandbox, which simulates those on the client system without actually requiring that changes be made to the local fi lesystem or registry.
Easy App AccessApplications can be easily accessed through a Web portal without the need for local installs, or they can be installed locally to make them available offl ine. Because each application runs in a sandbox that provides the necessary OS components and device drivers, it’s entirely possible to run applications from older versions of Windows (Windows XP or Windows 2000, but not Windows 95 or Windows 98) on Windows Vista or Windows 7, ensuring a smooth migration path without having to buy new versions of applications and convert fi les. Spoon Studio can virtualize applications created to run on Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 2008 or Windows 7.
Applications can also be installed on a USB or fl ash drive, and run on any Windows system, enabling road warriors to access standard corporate applications. Applications can be set to expire, enabling the administrator to give a contractor access to a necessary application and then terminate it once a job is completed.
Virtual applications can be run from standard browsers, including IE, Firefox, Chrome and Safari. There’s a Spoon plug-in that’s required to access the virtualized applications, but it’s small and loads quickly (there was no measurable impact on system performance in my tests). Virtualized applications run as fast—and in some cases, faster—than standard applications installed locally.
REVIEW
Spoon Stirs up Application VirtualizationPackage makes it easy to run Windows applications from anywhere.By Logan Harbaugh
Applications can be easily accessed through a Web portal without the need for local installs, or they can be installed locally to make them available offline.
12 | December 2010/January 2011 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
Coming next issue: Storage virtualizationUpFront
When an application is virtualized, the normal installation process runs, including registration and entering the software key (if applicable). Applications that look for multiple users sharing a single key may not work correctly; this includes many Microsoft apps. You may need to switch to a site license in these cases.
During the installation of Spoon Server, two HTTP ports are specifi ed: one for the application portal and one for the administration portal. By default, port 80 is specifi ed for the app portal and port 81 is specifi ed for the admin portal. The admin portal doesn’t use HTTPS by default and doesn’t require a log-in. This is because the recommended procedure in the Spoon manuals to secure the portals is to enable a Windows fi rewall on the system hosting the server and then grant exceptions to users for one of the portals. It would be nice to see integration with Active Directory and standard Windows security.
The admin portal provides the features you’d expect, allowing for the creation of applications, the installation of additional portal servers, reporting tools and user administration. Reports depict application usage by application or user, and allow access to logs and alerts for basic troubleshooting.
Spoon recommends creating a virtualized application on a freshly installed copy of Windows in order to ensure that unnecessary DLLs or software modules aren’t inadvertently picked up along with the necessary ones. This can be done in a virtual machine environment so that reverting to a clean image is simplifi ed. It also recommends optimizing the application by removing unnecessary features before taking the second snapshot. This will speed up loading and
execution of the application, though it may also make some features unavailable. Spoon recommends
installing on the earliest version of Windows you expect to use in order to support the application; some apps may require multiple snapshots for different OSes.
PipeliningSpoon introduces a process it calls pipelining, which uses three separate OS installs—one each on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7—with the application installed on each OS, to capture a single snapshot that will have maximum compatibility. This is most useful when the applications use OS features that aren’t available in all OS versions, as the fi nal merged, virtualized app will combine the features available from all three OS versions in one application.
Apps requiring frequent software updates from the manufacturer will be more diffi cult to virtualize because each update requires a new snapshot that captures the difference between the basic application and the application after the update. Because this must be done manually after each update, applications that update frequently will introduce a lot more work for the administrator. If OS updates affect application functionality (such as a major change to the .NET runtime framework), the administrator will need to create a fresh snapshot, as well.
Spoon Server and Spoon Studio are priced separately. Spoon Studio costs $2,395 and $495 per year for
maintenance. Spoon Server 2010 Standard Edition with 10 end-user licenses is $1,595. The Spoon Server 2010 Standard Edition End User License 5-Pack is $395. The Spoon Server 2010 Standard Edition End User License 20-Pack is $1,425.
Spoon Server and Spoon Studio combine to present applications to end-users in a simple, easy-to-use way that bypasses the usual installation considerations. Many organizations will fi nd the price of $2,395 plus $495-per-year maintenance to be much less than the savings they will realize. However, a lack of integration with standard Windows security and a cumbersome process for updating applications once virtualized may put some admins off. Those willing to make the investment in working through these issues will fi nd a system that can enable a seamless transition from Windows XP or Windows Vista to Windows 7, as well as other unique advantages for admins supporting traveling workers or contractors. VR
Logan Harbaugh is a freelance reviewer and IT consultant located in Redding, Calif. He has been working in IT for almost 20 years, and has written two books on networking and many articles for IT publications. You can reach him at [email protected].
REVIEW
Spoon recommends installing on the earliest version of Windows you expect to use in order to support the application; some apps may require multiple snapshots for different OSes.
READERS CHOICE AWARDS
14 | December 2010/January 2011 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
FEATURE | The 2011 Ultimate Virtualization Buyers Guide and Virtualization Review Readers Choice Awards
VirtualizationReview.com | Virtualization Review | December 2010/January 2011 | 15
The 2011 Virtualization Review
Readers Choice Awards
Ultimate Buyers Guide
By Bruce Hoard
Our readers rate products, and we reward them with the hands-down, most-informative, must-read print guide to virtualization and cloud products.
and
16 | December 2010/January 2011 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
FEATURE | The 2011 Ultimate Virtualization Buyers Guide and Virtualization Review Readers Choice Awards
Welcome to the combined 2011
Virtualization Buyers Guide and
Virtualization Review Readers
Choice Awards. By combining
these two editorial efforts, we are able to
showcase both the virtualization and cloud
products that you voted as your favorites
and many others that will be vying for your
attention during the coming year. All told,
we amassed some 211 products from 106
vendors, and placed them in 15 categories for
both the Readers Choice Awards and Ultimate
Virtualization Buyers Guide.
Regarding the Readers Choice Awards,
VMware dominated the competition, fi nishing
fi rst in 10 of the 15 categories, and second in
another. The market leader took the top spot in
everything from Server Virtualization to Best
Virtualization Training Vendor. Can you say
juggernaut?
Turning to the Ultimate Virtualization Buyers
Guide, we extensively surveyed an industry-
wide list of vendors, capturing their most
recent products and pricing. We also combed
through submissions from last year’s guide and
culled out and updated many offerings that are
still relevant. For more detailed information,
you’ll want look at the expanded PDF version
of the guide, which features expanded
product descriptions, and is accessible at
VirtualizationReview.com/2011RCABG.
Application Virtualization
Readers Choice Award WinnerVMware ThinApp 4.5 – VMware Inc. (43.6%)$5,000 ■ vmware.com ■ 877-486-9273; 650-427-5000
Merit Award WinnerCitrix XenApp 6 – Citrix Systems Inc. (41.9%)Starts at $350 per concurrent user ■ citrix.com ■ 800-424-8749
Merit Award WinnerParallels Virtuozzo Containers — Parallels (3.8%)Call for price ■ parallels.com ■ 425-282 6400
This is a big win for VMware in a category where Citrix is extremely well-established with its XenApp product, which has been around for many years. ThinApp no doubt benefi ted from its ability to ease the migration of existing apps to Windows 7. Merit Award winner Citrix was joined by Parallels, which fi nished a distant third, but is favorably viewed as a technology trendsetter.
2X ApplicationServer 8.1.875 –2X Software$990 for one server ■ 2x.com ■ 866-970-6262
AdminStudio 9.5 – Flexera SoftwareCall for price ■ fl exerasoftware.com ■ 800-809-5659; +44 (0) 870 873 6300; +81-3-4360-8291
App-V – MicrosoftCall for price ■ microsoft.com ■ 425-882-8080
AppZero 4.5 – AppZeroStarts at $500 instance per year ■ appzero.com ■ 866-980-2770
AX Series – A10 Networks Inc.Call for Price ■ a10networks.com ■ 888-210-6363; 408-325-8616
InstallFree Bridge 2.0 – InstallFreeCall for price ■ installfree.com ■ 203-267-1460
Radware vAdapter – RadwareFree ■ radware.com ■ 877-236-9807
Radware Virtual ADC-ODS3 – RadwareStarts at $73,995 ■ radware.com ■ 877-236-9807
Specops Deploy 4.1 – Specops SoftwareCall for price ■ specopssoft.com ■ 877-773-2677; 416-849-5325
Spoon Browser Sandbox – SpoonFree ■ spoon.net ■ 877-223-3551; 206-774-8769
Spoon Server – Spoon$7,995 ■ spoon.net ■ 877-223-3551; 206-774-8769
Spoon Studio – Spoon$2,395 ■ spoon.net ■ 877-223-3551; 206-774-8769
Symantec Workspace Virtualization 6.1 – Symantec Corp.Call for price ■ symantec.com ■ 800-745-6054
18 | December 2010/January 2011 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
Virtual Automation
Readers Choice Award WinnerUC4 Rapid Automation Package for VMware – UC4 Software (40.2%)$36,000 ■ uc4.com ■ 877-284-2121; 425-644-2121
Merit Award WinnerRES Automation Manager (formerly RES Wisdom) – RES Software (21.6%)$46 per license ■ ressoftware.com ■ 800-580-0786; 610-994-0577
Merit Award WinnerUC4 Rapid Automation Package for Hyper-V – UC4 Software (18.1%)$36,000 ■ uc4.com ■ 877-284-2121; 425-644-2121
Proving the old adage that you can never go wrong aligning with VMware—in this case, vSphere and vCenter—UC4 offers an automation package that balances workloads in both physical and virtual environments. Turning to the Merit Award winners, RES Automation Manager features daily task automation and self-serving capabilities, while UC4 shows that aligning with Mircosoft via Hyper-V is also a good idea.
Refl ex vProfi le 1.0 – Refl ex SystemsCall for price ■ refl exsystems.com ■ 888-696-5725; 404-924-2400
Virtualization Adaptive Device VAD 2.1 – Apco$5,500 ■ apco.com ■ 877-586-6500
Virtual Business Continuity
Readers Choice Award WinnerVeeam Backup & Replication 5.0 – Veeam Software (33.6%)Starts at $599 - $899 per socket ■ veeam.com ■ 877-389-0140; 614-339-8200
Merit Award WinnerVMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager (SRM) 4.0 – VMware Inc. (28.9%)$13,613 for 25 VM pack, includes one year support ■ vmware.com ■ 877-486-9273; 650-427-5000
Merit Award WinnerQuest Software/Vizioncore vRanger Pro 5.0 – Quest Software/Vizioncore (7.9%)Call for price ■ quest.com ■ 866-260-2483; 847-589-2222
The hardworking team at Veeam delivered VMware its only defeat with a product that provides two-in-one backup and replication for VMs running in VMware ESX(i) environments. Even in defeat, Merit Award winner VMware gets a favorable mention, along with third-place fi nisher and arch Veeam competitor Quest/Vizioncore vRanger Pro.
Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 Advanced Server Virtual Edition 3.0 – Acronis, Inc.$1,999 per server ■ acronis.com ■ 877-669-9749; 781-782-9000
BEX 3.2 – SyncsortCall for price ■ syncsort.com ■ 201-930-9700
Continuity Cloud 1.0 – ilandCall for price ■ iland.com ■ 800-697-7088
InMage Scout 5.1 – InMage SystemsCall for price ■ inmage.com ■ 800-646-3617; 408-200-3840
LifeKeeper for Linux – SIOS Technology Corp. (formerly Steeleye Technology)Call for price ■ steeleye.com ■ 800-769-4242; 650-843-0655
LinkFixerPlus – LinkTek CorporationCall for price ■ linkfi xer.com ■ 727-442-1822
NetApp – Syncsort Integrated Backup – NetApp – SyncsortCall for price ■ NetApp.com ■ 408-822-8000
Replay 4.4 – AppAssure Software$899 per host server, unlimited guests ■ AppAssure.com ■ 703-547-8686
StorageCraft ShadowProtect Desktop 4.0 – StorageCraft Technology Corporation$89.95, volume discounts available ■ storagecraft.com ■ 888-455-5041; 801-545-4700
StorageCraft ShadowProtect Server 4.0 – StorageCraft Technology Corporation$995 MSRP, volume discounts available ■ storagecraft.com ■ 888-455-5041; 801-545-4700
SunGard Secure2Disk Backup and Recovery Solutions – SunGard Availability ServicesCall for price ■ sungardas.com ■ 800-468-7483
Symantec Backup Exec 2010 – Symantec Corporation$1,174 for a media server license and basic maintenance ■ symantec.com ■ 800-745-6054
Symantec Workspace Streaming 6.1 – Symantec CorporationCall for price ■ symantec.com ■ 800-745-6054
vConverter 5.0 – Quest Software / VizioncoreCall for price ■ quest.com/virtualization/server.aspx ■ 866-260-2483; 847-589-2222
vReplicator 4.0 – Quest Software / VizioncoreCall for price ■ quest.com/virtualization/server.aspx ■ 866-260-2483; 847-589-2222
vSRM – Quest Software / VizioncoreCall for price ■ quest.com/virtualization/server.aspx ■ 866-260-2483; 847-589-2222
FEATURE | The 2011 Ultimate Virtualization Buyers Guide and Virtualization Review Readers Choice Awards
AVAILABILITY SERVICES
Cloud by Van Gogh, 1890 Cloud by SunGard, 2010
Building a better cloud takes a revolutionary approach to virtualization that goes far beyond conventional solutions. With a resilient infrastructure and robust security, SunGard provides maximum protection and a fully managed solution that virtually eliminates the risk of failure. Navigate the cloud with confi dence as it dynamically scales to meet your needs. With leading-edge technology and a staff of accomplished professionals, SunGard can help make your next cloud computing project a work of art.
© 2010 SunGard. SunGard and the SunGard logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of SunGard Data Systems Inc. or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries. All other trade names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
Download the white paper “Building a Better Cloud” at: sungardas.com/cloud7
A work of art in secure computing.
20 | December 2010/January 2011 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
Cloud Computing
Readers Choice Award WinnerVMware vCloud Director 1.0 – VMware Inc. (33.0%)Starts at $150 per VM ■ vmware.com ■ 877-486-9273; 650-427-5000
Merit Award WinnerCloudStack 2.0 – Cloud.com (19.5%)Free to $10,000 per year, depending on edition ■ cloud.com ■ 888-384-0962; 408-916-1761
Merit Award WinnerAmazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) – Amazon Web Services (10.2%)Call for price ■ aws.amazon.com ■ 206-266-1000
VMware gets the nod here for vCloud Director, which is paving the way to the cloud-based infrastructure VMware hopes will solidify its role as market leader. Merit Award winners Cloud.com and Amazon EC2 are known for transforming datacenters into multifarious cloud environments and resizing compute capacity in the cloud, respectively.
Citrix Cloud Solution for On-Demand Desktops – Citrix Systems Inc.Call for price ■ citrix.com ■ Citrix Service Provider CSC at csc.com/outsourcing
IT.Shavlik.com 1.5 – Shavlik Technologies$250 for 250 machines ■ shavlik.com ■ 800-690-6911; 612-331-6737
LISA DCM-Virtual Development Cloud Manager 5.0 – iTKOCall for price ■ itko.com ■ 877-289-4856
Microsoft Windows Azure Platform – MicrosoftCall for price ■ microsoft.com ■ 800-386-5550; 425-882-8080
Novell Cloud Manager 1.0 – NovellCall for price ■ novell.com ■ 800-529-3400
Parallels Automation 5.0 – ParallelsCall for price ■ parallels.com ■ 425-282 6400
Quest Cloud Automation Platform 7.0 – Quest SoftwareCall for price ■ quest.com/virtualization/server.aspx ■ 866-260-2483; 847-589-2222
Quest Cloud Express 7.5 – Quest SoftwareCall for price ■ quest.com/virtualization/server.aspx ■ 866-260-2483; 847-589-2222
Skytap Cloud 18.0 – Skytap Inc.Call for price ■ skytap.com ■ 888-759-827
The xStream Platform 1.0 – VirtustreamPrice: e-mail [email protected] ■ virtustream.com ■ 240-252-1007
UniCloud 2.1 – Univa Inc.Call for price ■ univaud.com ■ 800-370-5320; 630-563-8625
vSMP Foundation for Cloud 3.0 – ScaleMP$650 per node ■ scalemp.com ■ 408-342-0330
Zetta Enterprise Storage On-demand 2.0 – Zetta$0.25 per GB per month ■ zetta.net ■ 877-469-3882; 650-590-0950
Desktop Virtualization / Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
Readers Choice Award WinnerVMware View 4.5 – VMware Inc. (28.8%)$150 - $250 per concurrent connection ■ vmware.com ■ 877-486-9273; 650-427-5000
Merit Award WinnerCitrix XenDesktop 5.0 with Citrix XenClient – Citrix Systems Inc. (17.0%)$95 - $350 per user or device ■ citrix.com ■ 800-424-8749
Merit Award WinnerKaviza VDI-in-a-box 3.0 – Kaviza (9.7%)$260 - $410 ■ kaviza.com ■ 888-350-5801
This is a battleground category where Citrix XenDesktop 5 with its new XenClient addition was viewed as a serious threat, if not outright favorite over VMware View 4.5, which had been delayed due to alleged technical diffi culties. It wasn’t to be. Looks like VMware still rules the virtual desktop domain. Citrix can’t be happy about being a Merit Award winner here, but the company is only getting stronger. The second Merit Award winner, Kaviza, is generating a healthy industry buzz.
2X VirtualDesktopServer 8.1.875 – 2X Software$1,190 for one server ■ 2x.com ■ 866-970-6262
AppSense Environment Manager 8.0 – AppSense$75 per user ■ appsense.com ■ 212-597-5501; +44 845 839 9075
Aqua Connect Terminal Server 3.5 – Aqua Connect Inc.Call for price ■ aquaconnect.net ■ 866-543-2782; 310-694-5043
Check Point Abra R65 – Check Point Software TechnologiesStarts at $140 for a 4GB stick, $210 for an 8GB stick ■ checkpoint.com ■ 866-488-6691
eG VDI Monitor 5.0 – eG Innovations Inc.$2,000 per physical server ■ eginnovations.com ■ 866-526-6700
Ericom Blaze 1.4 – Ericom SoftwareCall for price ■ ericom.com ■ 888-769-7876; 201-767-2210
Ericom PowerTerm WebConnect 5.7.0 – Ericom SoftwareCall for price ■ ericom.com ■ 888-769-7876; 201-767-2210
NEC Virtual PC Center – NECCall for price ■ necam.com/vpcc/Advantage.cfm ■ 631-755-0727
NetWrix VMware Reporter 3.0 – NetWrix Corporation$80/socket for 10 sockets, volume discounts ■ netwrix.com ■ 888-638-9749; 201-490-8840
Oracle Virtual Desktop Infrastructure – Oracle Corp.Call for price ■ oracle.com ■ 650-506-9914
Pano Express 1.0 – Pano Logic$24,450 or $489 per user ■ panologic.com ■ 877-677-7266
Pano System 3.0 – Pano Logic$319-$329 per user ■ panologic.com ■ 877-677-7266
FEATURE | The 2011 Ultimate Virtualization Buyers Guide and Virtualization Review Readers Choice Awards
22 | December 2010/January 2011 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops 2.2 – Red Hat Inc.Call for price ■ redhat.com ■ 888–733-4281
RES Workspace Manager (formerly RES Powerfuse) – RES SoftwareStarts at $45 per concurrent user ■ ressoftware.com ■ 800-580-0786; 610-994-0577
RingCube vDesk 3.1 – RingCube TechnologiesStarts at $250 per user ■ ringcube.com ■ 866-323-4278; 650-605-6900
Symantec Workspace Corporate 6.2 – Symantec Corp.Call for price ■ symantec.com ■ 800-745-6054
SysTrack 5.0 – Lakeside SoftwareCall for price ■ lakesidesoftware.com ■ 800-969-7717; 248-686-1700
The Leostream Connection Broker 7.0 – Leostream Corporation$75 per user ■ leostream.com ■ 800-503-0133; 781-890-2019
Unidesk 1.1 – UnideskStarts at $150 per named user, volume discounts ■ unidesk.com ■ 508-573-7800
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure-VDI Standard Suite – MicrosoftCall for price ■ microsoft.com ■ 800-386-5550; 425-882-8080
vWorkSpace 7.1 – Quest SoftwareCall for price ■ quest.com ■ 866-260-2483; 847-589-2222
Wanova Mirage 1.5 – Wanova$200 per seat with volume discounts ■ wanova.com ■ 408-236-7440
Workforce Cloud 1.0 – ilandCall for price ■ iland.com ■ 800-697-7088
Xangati for ESX 1.0 – Xangati Inc.Free for up to 10 IP identities (including VMs) ■ xangati.com ■ [email protected]
Virtual Management & Optimization
Readers Choice Award WinnerVMware vCenter Suite 4.0 – VMware Inc. (18.8%)Call for price ■ vmware.com ■ 877-486-9273; 650-427-5000
Merit Award WinnerVeeam ONE Solution – Veeam Software (12.8%)Starts at $550 per socket ■ veeam.com ■ 877-389-0140; 614-339-8200
Merit Award WinnerWyse Virtual Desktop Accelerator (VDA) – Wyse Technology (10.3%)$59 per seat ■ wyse.com ■ 800-438-9973; 408-473-1200
More hand-to-hand combat here between Veeam and VMware, but vCenter has been around too long, does too much and is too entrenched to allow another management-related defeat at
the hands of Veeam, its upstart ecosystem partner and Merit Award winner here. Wyse Virtual Desktop Accelerator is a Merit Award winner that’s been fl ying under the radar while amassing a loyal following for its software-only product that minimizes network latency and errors.
3Tera AppLogic 2.9 – CA TechnologiesCall for price ■ ca.com/cloud ■ 800-225-5224
AccelOps Software-as-a-Service – AccelOpsCall for price ■ accelops.net ■ 408-490-0903
AccelOps Virtual Appliance – AccelOpsCall for price ■ accelops.com ■ 408-490-0903
BalancePoint 3.5 – AkorriCall for price ■ akorri.com ■ 978-431-1200
Brocade Application Resource Broker 1.0 – Brocade Communications Systems Inc.Available with ServerIron ADX service contract ■ brocade.com ■ 877-272-3232; 408-333-8000
Capacity Management Suite 2.0 – VKernel$299 per application per socket ■ vkernel.com ■ 866-370-2733; 978-289-6300
CiRBA 6.0 – CiRBACall for price ■ cirba.com ■ 866-731-0090; 905-731-0090
Dynamic Ops Cloud Automation Center – Dynamic OpsCall for price ■ dynamicops.com ■ 781-328-9222
eG Enterprise Suite 5.0 – eG Innovations Inc.$2,000 per physical server ■ eginnovations.com ■ 866-526-6700
eG VM Monitor 5.0 – eG Innovations Inc.$2,000 per physical server ■ eginnovations.com ■ 866-526-6700
Hyper9 3.0 – Hyper9Call for price ■ hyper9.com ■ 800-622-9405; 877-949-7379
MokaFive Suite – MokaFiveCall for price ■ mokafi ve.com ■ 650-980-0960
NetApp SANscreen 6.0 – NetAppCall for price ■ netapp.com ■ 877-263-8277
NetIQ AppManager for VMware – NetIQ CorporationCall for price ■ netiq.com ■ 888-323-6768; 713-548-1700
Netuitive 5.0 – NetuitiveCall for price ■ netuitive.com ■ 703-464 1500; +44 (0) 844 546 5001
NetWrix VMware Change Reporter 3.0 – NetWrix Corp.$80/socket for 10 sockets, volume discounts ■ netwrix.com ■ 888-638-9749; 201-490-8840
Novell PlateSpin Migrate 9.0 – NovellStarts at $295 per protected workload, includes one year support ■ novell.com ■ 800-529-3400
Novell PlateSpin Orchestrate 2.0 – NovellStarts at $750 for 2 CPU server, includes one year support ■ novell.com ■ 800-529-3400
Novell PlateSpin Protect 10.0 – NovellStarts at $1,495 per protected workload, includes one year support ■ novell.com ■ 800-529-3400
FEATURE | The 2011 Ultimate Virtualization Buyers Guide and Virtualization Review Readers Choice Awards
On a virtual platform, fragmentation on top of fragmentation (host and VMs) rapidly creates I/O bottlenecks. The elimination of fragmentation is imperative, but the way a virtual platform shares resources between the VMs can make it diffi cult to defrag
without creating other performance bottlenecks.
Effectively shared resources are of critical importance in a virtual environment but are severely impacted by three key barriers:1. I/O bandwidth is a vital hardware resource for
virtual platform performance. Fragmented fi les and fragmented free space create more I/O activity than is needed to directly get a job done. This excess use of a virtual platform’s limited bandwidth occurs in both host platforms and the virtual machines.
2. Virtual machines compete for shared I/O resources. Excess and unnecessary use of disk I/O channels from any VM will impede performance across all other systems running on the host.
3. Virtual disks set to dynamically grow don’t shrink when users or applications remove data. This wastes space that could be allocated to other virtual systems. Manually trying to determine which VMs to shrink is time-consuming and endless.
V-locity® 2 virtual platform disk optimizer by Diskeeper Corporation contains the only feature set that eliminates the most important virtual platform performance issues without also creating resource confl icts.
V-locity 2 optimizes the per-formance on the virtual platform from host disk to VMs. It eliminates resource management priority confl icts, operates transparently in the background, maximizes I/O bandwidth effi ciency and eliminates “bloated” free space on thin/dynamic disks.
1. Eliminating Resource Confl icts. Using InvisiTasking® technology, the V-locity component on the host virtualization operating system is able to effectively coordinate I/O optimization routines across all guest systems using only truly idle system resources. This allows robust real-time defragmentation with zero confl icts across the platform.
2. Getting Maximum I/O Bandwidth Effi ciency. V-locity 2 also includes proprietary IntelliWrite™ fragmentation prevention technology. This highly adaptive application prevents up to 85% of all fragmentation by writing fi les intelligently to the disk. The recovery of I/Os that would have been wasted produces a signifi cant boost in system speed.
3. Recovering Wasted Free Space. V-locity includes a virtual disk compaction feature, the fi rst of its kind, that provides a window on how much a thin/dynamic virtual disk can be shrunk. A system admin can, with a single click, compact any of those selected virtual disks. As a result, better allocation of storage resources is easily achieved.
V-locity 2 not only opens up the full potential of virtualization and its hardware economy, it actually “completes” virtualization’s functionality and creates previously unattainable performance and cost effi ciencies.
© 2010 Diskeeper Corporation. All Rights Reserved. V-locity, IntelliWrite and InvisiTasking are registered trademarks owned by Diskeeper Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks and brand names are the property of their respective owners.
Solving the 3 Barriers to Virtual Platform Performance Recent innovations that unlock virtualization potentials
See the difference V-locity can makeThe best way to understand the impact of V-locity 2 on your Hyper-V™ or VMware® platform is to see for yourself. Download a FREE 30-DAY TRIAL now.www.diskeeper.com/VROr call us for a customized, no-obligation quote: 800-829-6468
InvisiTasking resource usage graph in V-locity (on Hyper-V Host)
Idle resources Idle resources used by InvisiTasking
Resources used by system
24 | December 2010/January 2011 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
Novell PlateSpin Recon 3.7 – NovellStarts at $119 for one processor core, includes one year support ■ novell.com ■ 800-529-3400
Parallels Virtual Automation – ParallelsCall for price ■ parallels.com ■ 425-282 6400
PerfectDisk 11 Hyper-V Bundle – Raxco Software Inc.$499 single-host license ■ raxco.com ■ 800-546-9728; 301-527-0803
PerfectDisk 11 VMware Workstation Bundle – Raxco Software Inc.$199 single license ■ raxco.com ■ 800-546-9728; 301-527-0803
PerfectDisk 11 vSphere Bundle – Raxco Software Inc.$499 single-host license ■ raxco.com ■ 800-546-9728; 301-527-0803
Quest Management Pack for VMware 1.0 – Quest Software/VizioncoreCall for price ■ quest.com ■ 866-260-2483; 847-589-2222
Quest vEcoShell 1.2.6 – Quest Software/VizioncoreFree ■ quest.com ■ 866-260-2483; 847-589-2222
Quest vFoglight 6.5 – Quest Software/VizioncoreCall for price ■ quest.com ■ 866-260-2483; 847-589-2222
Quest vFoglight Storage 1.0 – Quest Software/VizioncoreCall for price ■ quest.com ■ 866-260-2483; 847-589-2222
Quest vOptimizer Pro 3.0 – Quest Software/Vizioncore$299 per socket ■ quest.com ■ 866-260-2483; 847-589-2222
Refl ex Virtualization Management Center – Refl ex SystemsCall for price ■ refl exsystems.com ■ 888-696-5725; 404-924-2400
Refl ex vWatch 2.0 – Refl ex SystemsCall for price ■ refl exsystems.com ■ 888-696-5725; 404-924-2400
Shavlik NetChk Protect 7.6 – Shavlik Technologies$40 per workstation ■ shavlik.com ■ 800-690-6911; 612-331-6737
System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 (includes Hyper-V) – MicrosoftCall for price ■ microsoft.com ■ 800-386-5550; 425-882-8080
SysTrack Enterprise/Site Visualizer 5.0 – Lakeside SoftwareCall for price ■ lakesidesoftware.com ■ 800-969-7717; 248-686-1700
The xStream Advisor 1.0 – VirtustreamE-mail [email protected] ■ virtustream.com ■ 240-252-1007
ThinPrint .print Desktop Engine – ThinPrint AGCall for price ■ thinprint.com ■ 49-30-39 49 31 66
ThinPrint .print Engine for VMware View – ThinPrint AGCall for price ■ thinprint.com ■ 440-331-8446
up.time 5.3 – uptime software Inc.$395 - $695 per physical server ■ uptimesoftware.com ■ 866-735-4304
V-Commander 3.6 – Embotics Corp.Starts at $398 per socket per year ■ embotics.com ■ 877-599-0494; 613-599-0494
VirtualWisdom 2.0 – Virtual InstrumentsStarts at $15,000 ■ virtualinstruments.com ■ 831-439-4080
VM6 VMex 2.1 – VM6 Software$995 per server node for a single server ■ vm6software.com ■ 866-990-1221; 514-990-1221
VMLogix LabManager – VMLogixCall for price ■ vmlogix.com ■ 650-451-5555
Zenoss Enterprise 3.0 – ZenossSubscriptions start at $100 per managed resource per year ■ zenoss.com ■ 888-936-6770
Network Virtualization
Readers Choice Award WinnerCitrix NetScaler VPX — Citrix Systems Inc. (65.9%)Free to $2,000, depending on level ■ citrix.com ■ 800-424-8749
Merit Award WinnerBrocade ServerIron ADX 1008-1 — Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (21.7%)$12,995 ■ brocade.com ■ 877-272-3232; 408-333-8000
Merit Award WinnerVirtensys VIO-4004 I/O Virtualization Switch 1.0 — Virtensys (12.4%)Call for price ■ virtensys.com ■ 503-210-5190
This is a solid win for NetScaler, the Citrix application delivery platform for Web apps and clouds, which snagged the company’s only fi rst-place award, and produces some $300 million a year in revenues. Merit Award winners include Brocade ServerIron ADX 1000-1 and the Virtensys VIO-4004 I/O Virtualization Switch.
Virtual PC
Readers Choice Award WinnerVMware Workstation 7 — VMware Inc. (75.5%)$189 for a new license; $99 for an upgrade ■ vmware.com ■ 877-486-9273; 650-427-5000
Merit Award WinnerWyse PocketCloud 2.0.4 — Wyse Technology (24.5%)$14.99 ■ wyse.com ■ 800-438-9973; 408-473-1200
VMware simply describes VMware Workstation as “the most advanced virtualization software for desktop and laptop computers,” and who can argue with a product that has been successfully deployed since 1999? Merit Award winner Wyse PocketCloud is a toddler by comparison, but a very slick machine nonetheless.
VirtualPC – MicrosoftCall for price ■ microsoft.com ■ 425-882-8080
FEATURE | The 2011 Ultimate Virtualization Buyers Guide and Virtualization Review Readers Choice Awards
800-754-3310www.aberdeeninc.com/vm006
STORAGE WITHOUT BOUNDARIES
Imagine what you can achieve with Aberdeen.
Aberdeen’s AberSAN Z-Series scalable storage platform brings the simplicity ofnetwork attached storage (NAS) to the SAN environment, by utilizing the innovativeZFS file system.
Featuring the high performance of the Intel Xeon processor 5600 series, theAberSAN Z-Series offers enterprise level benefits at entry level pricing, deliveringthe best bang for the buck.
Who gives you the best bang for the buck?
NetAppFAS 2050
EMCNS120
AberdeenAberSAN Z20
Deduplication ✓ ✓ ✓
Thin Provisioning ✓ ✓ ✓
VMware® Ready Certified ✓ ✓ ✓
Citrix® StorageLink™ Support ✓ ✓ ✓
Optional HA Clustering ✓ ✓ ✓
Optional Virtualized SAN ✓ ✓ ✓
Optional Synchronous Replication ✓ ✓ ✓
Optional Fibre Channel Target ✓ ✓ ✓
Unified Storage: NFS, CiFS, iSCSI ✓ ✓ ✓
Unlimited Snapshots x x ✓
Unlimited Array Size x x ✓
Hybrid Storage Pooling x x ✓
Integrated Search x x ✓
File System WAFL 64-bit UxFS 64-bit ZFS 128-bitRAID Level Support 4 and DP 5 and 6 5, 6 and Z
Maximum Storage Capacity 104TB 240TB Over 1,000TBWarranty 3 Years 3 Years 5 Years
Published Starting MSRP Not Available Not Available $8,995Above specific configurations obtained from the respective websites on Sept. 13, 2010. Intel, Intel Logo, Intel Inside, Intel Inside Logo, Pentium, Xeon, and Xeon Inside
are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. All trademarks are the property of their respectiveowners. All rights reserved. For terms and conditions, please see www.aberdeeninc.com/abpoly/abterms.htm. vm006
26 | December 2010/January 2011 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
Virtualization Security
Readers Choice Award WinnerVMware vShield Suite 1.0 – VMware Inc. (56.9%)Call for price ■ vmware.com ■ 877-486-9273; 650-427-5000
Merit Award WinnerTripwire Enterprise – Tripwire (13.0%)Call for price ■ tripwire.com ■ 800-874-7947; +44 (0) 2073 82 5420
Merit Award WinnerSecurity Gateway Virtual Edition (VE) R71 – Check Point Software Technologies (11.7%)Starts at $2,000 ■ checkpoint.com ■ 866-488-6691
A company with solid bona fi des in security is in a particularly good position when it provides virtualization and cloud computing customers with the peace of mind that comes from knowing their data is secure, which is where vShield Suite excels. Tripwire, which won this category last year, is a Merit Award winner this time with its Tripwire Enterprise product, while Check Point is the other Merit Award winner with its Check Point Security Gateway Virtual Edition offering.
Altor 4.0 – Altor NetworksStarts at $1,500 per CPU Socket ■ altornetworks.com ■ 888-734-6555
Refl ex vTrust 2.0 – Refl ex SystemsCall for price ■ refl exsystems.com ■ 888-696-5725; 404-924-2400
Tripwire Log Center – TripwireCall for price ■ tripwire.com ■ +44 (0) 2073 82 5420
vSecurity 2.0 Catbird$1,295 per socket ■ catbird.com ■ 866-682-0080; 831-440-8164
Server Virtualization
Readers Choice Award WinnerVMware vSphere 4.1 – VMware Inc. (66.4%)Starts at $83 - $3,495 per processor ■ vmware.com ■ 877-486-9273; 650-427-5000
Merit Award WinnerCitrix XenServer 5.6 – Citrix Systems Inc. (13.7%)Free to $5,000 per server, depending on edition ■ citrix.com ■ 800-424-8749
Merit Award WinnerWindows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (includes Hyper-V) – Microsoft (9.1%)Call for price ■ microsoft.com ■ 800-386-5550; 425-882-8080
Here’s a virtual certainty: VMware vSphere 4.1 is No. 1 in server virtualization. After all, VMware basically invented it (OK, they emulated IBM mid-60s mainframe technology), and have cashed in on it like no other vendor. Merit Award winners Citrix with XenServer, and Microsoft with Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (including Hyper-V) are destined to play catchup.
NEC Express5800 Server Series – NECCall for price ■ nec.com ■ 866-632-3226
NetWrix Virtual Machine Sprawl Tracker 2.0 – NetWrix Corp.$1,000 for up to 1,000 VMs ■ netwrix.com ■ 888-638-9749; 201-490-8840
Oracle VM – Oracle Corp.Call for price ■ oracle.com ■ 650-506-9914
Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal – ParallelsCall for price ■ parallels.com ■ 425-282 6400
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Servers 2.2 – Red Hat Inc.$2,994 subscription for six sockets ■ redhat.com ■ 888–733-4281
Resource Cloud 1.0 – ilandCall for price ■ iland.com ■ 800-697-7088
Scale Computing N05 Starter Cluster – Scale Computing$7,500 for a 1.5TB cluster of 3 nodes ■ scalecomputing.com ■ 877-722-5359; 317-202-7832
Scale Computing S line of storage clusters with ICS 2.0 – Scale Computing$12,000 for a 3TB cluster of 3 nodes ■ scalecomputing.com ■ 877-722-5359; 317-202-7832
Stirling 267 – Aberdeen LLC$3,395 ■ aberdeeninc.com ■ 800-500-9526; 562-699-6998
Virtualization Standards
Readers Choice Award WinnerVMware Open Virtualization Format (OVF) – VMware Inc. (81.3%)Price: N/A ■ vmware.com ■ 877-486-9273; 650-427-5000
Merit Award WinnerDistributed Management Task Force Inc. (18.7%)Price: N/A ■ dmtf.org ■ 503-619-0563
In the spirit of egalitarian competition, VMware acknowledges that it and “other leaders” came together to form OVF, which comprises an open, platform-independent distribution format for virtual machines that enables a host of benefi ts such as streamlined installations and more easily created, pre-confi gured, multitiered services. This year’s Merit Award winner—and last year’s No. 1 choice—Distributed Management Task Force, retains its popularity.
FEATURE | The 2011 Ultimate Virtualization Buyers Guide and Virtualization Review Readers Choice Awards
echnology is always providing new ways to improve the way we work. A new and powerful technological innovation is desktop virtualization.
The virtualized desktop approach simplifi es IT management overhead and centralizes resources that can now be repurposed at a moment’s notice for any workload—server, client, infrastructure, whatever is in demand. And that, coupled with streamlined operations and centralized security and confi guration management, results in lower desktop costs. Learn more about desktop virtualization in our new white paper.Download it today for FREE at VirtualizationReview.com/VMware1210.
Simplify IT Managementwith Desktop Virtualization
ADVERTISEMENT
FREE WHITE PAPER
1210vrm_VMware_final.indd 1 11/17/10 8:51 AM
28 | December 2010/January 2011 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
Storage Virtualization
Readers Choice Award WinnerNetApp V6000 Series/V3100 Series – NetApp (19.3%)Call for price ■ netapp.com/us/ ■ 877-263-8277
Merit Award WinnerNetApp Data ONTAP 8.0 – NetApp (11.1%)Call for price ■ netapp.com/us/ ■ 877-263-8277
Merit Award WinnerFalconStor Software Network Storage Server (NSS) 6.0 – FalconStor Software (10.7%)Starts at $19,000 ■ falconstor.com ■ 866-669-3252; 631-773-5859
Given the slowdowns and roadblocks associated with storage in virtualization environments, the ability of NetApp V-Series appliances to help users virtualize competitors’ back-end storage arrays while introducing NetApp functionality to them sounded good to Virtualization Review readers, who voted it numero uno. NetApp also copped the Merit Award for its NetApp Data ONTAP 8, which extends virtualized workloads with a low storage total cost of operation. The second Merit Award winner was FalconStor Network Storage Server.
AberSAN Z20 – Aberdeen LLC$7,495 ■ aberdeeninc.com ■ 800-500-9526; 562-699-6998
Compellent Storage Center 5.0 – Compellent TechnologiesStarts at $21,100 to $38,100 ■ compellent.com ■ 866-397-8673; 800-923-1450
Eternus Storage Products – FujitsuCall for price ■ fujitsu.com ■ +44 (0) 20 7861 1627
F5 Networks ARX Series – F5 NetworksCall for price ■ f5.com ■ 888-882-4447
F5 Networks Data Manager – F5 NetworksCall for price ■ f5.com ■ 888-882-4447
GB-X Series – GreenBytes Inc.Call for price ■ getgreenbytes.com ■ 877-476-2983; 401-315-5580
Gluster VMStor for VMware 1.0 – GlusterCall for price ■ gluster.com ■ 800-805-5215; 408-770-1890
Hitachi Command Suite – Hitachi Data SystemsCall for price ■ hds.com ■ 781-782-5873
Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform – Hitachi Data SystemsCall for price ■ hds.com ■ 781-782-5873
Nasuni Filer 2.0 – NasuniCall for price ■ nasuni.com ■ 818-884-8282
NEC D Series – NECCall for price ■ necam.com ■ 866-632-3226
NETGEAR ReadyNAS 3100 – NETGEAR Inc.$3,699 for 4TB preconfi gured ■ netgear.com ■ 408-907-8000
NETGEAR ReadyNAS 4200 – NETGEAR Inc.$7,950 for 12TB preconfi gured ■ netgear.com ■ 408-907-8000
Pivot3 Unifi ed Virtual System 2.0 – Pivot3Call for price ■ pivot3.com ■ 281-516-6000
PROMISE SmartStor ZERO NS2600 – PROMISE TechnologyStarts at $279 ■ promise.com ■ 408-228-1400
PROMISE Vtrak S3000 – PROMISE TechnologyStarts at $36,000 for a 32TB, single node confi guration ■ promise.com ■ 408-228-1400
SANmelody 3.0.3 – DataCore SoftwareStarts at $1,000; $10,000 for high-availability pair ■ datacore.com ■ 877-780-5111; 954-377-6000
SANsymphony 7.0.3 – DataCore SoftwareStarts at $30,000 ■ datacore.com ■ 877-780-5111; 954-377-6000
Virsto One 1.2 – VirstoStarting at $1,250 for a two-socket server ■ virsto.com ■ 408-899-5694
Xiotech ICON Manager – Xiotech Corp.Call for price ■ xiotech.com ■ 866-472-6764; 952-983-2338
Xiotech ISE Analyzer – Xiotech Corp.Call for price ■ xiotech.com ■ 866-472-6764; 952-983-2338
Xiotech ISE Manager – Xiotech Cor p.Call for price ■ xiotech.com ■ 866-472-6764; 952-983-2338
Thin/Zero-Client Computing
Readers Choice Award WinnerWyse Xenith 1.0 – Wyse Technology (50.7%)$329 per unit ■ wyse.com ■ 800-438-9973; 408-473-1200
Merit Award WinnerPano System 3.0 – Pano Logic (14.0%)$319 per seat ■ panologic.com ■ 877-677-7266; 650-454-8940
Merit Award Winner2X ThinClientServer 6.2.7412 – 2X Software (9.6%)$595 for 25 clients ■ 2x.com ■ 866-970-6262
Wyse has impeccable thin-client credentials, and Wyse Xenith is the latest example. The company has dubbed Xenith a zero client because it’s completely confi gurable and requires no management software. Merit Award winner Pano Logic says it offers the only true zero client, while Merit Award winner 2X hangs its hat on converting existing PCs to thin clients.
IGEL Universal Desktop Series UD2 – IGELCall for price ■ igel.com ■ 877-438-4435
IGEL Universal Desktop Series UD3 – I GELCall for price ■ igel.com ■ 877-438-4435
IGEL Universal Desktop Series UD5 – IGELCall for price ■ igel.com ■ 877-438-4435
FEATURE | The 2011 Ultimate Virtualization Buyers Guide and Virtualization Review Readers Choice Awards
www.techxtend.com1-800-330-9611 x7704
™
ShadowProtectvCenter Server
SERV
ER &
WOR
KSTA
TION
ADMI
NIST
RATIO
N
BUSI
NESS
CON
TINUI
TY
& DI
SAST
ER R
ECOV
ERY
SECURITY
PERFORMANCEMONITORING & MANAGEMENT
STORAGE MANAGEMENT
SOFTWARE
DEVELOPMENT & TESTVIRTUALIZATION
PLATFORM
vCenter Lab ManagerWorkstation/Fusion
Disk Director SuiteDisk Director Server
DataDomain Appliance Series
StarWindEnterprise
PerfectDisk
SANsymphonySANmelody
vReplicator
vRanger
vConverter
Backup &Recovery Server Snap Deploy
XOsoft HA
ARCserveBackup
Veeam Backup
WebSphere
Virtual Enterprise
Desktop Authority
Virtual Appliance Suite vCenter Server
FoglightvFoglight
Veeam ConfiguratorVeeam Reporter
Veeam Monitor
Veeam nWorks Management Pack
AdminStudio
by Flexera
Orion NetworkPerformance Monitor
ShadowProtect
Vantage
2X LoadBalancer
2X ApplicationServer
ACE
ThinApp
View
vCenter Lifecycle Manager
vCenter Lab Manager
vCenter Server
vWorkspacevFoglight
Virtual BackupH O M E O F B A C K U P 2 . 0
Replay AppImage
VMware VirtualAppliance
vCenter Site Recovery Manager
Real Selection, Real Service, Real ValueBest of Breed Software & Services for Your Virtual World Needs
Contact us for a FREE on-site or web-meeting introduction to the business and technical implications of virtualization and cloud computing.
techxtend.com/VirtualWorldView
REGISTER TODAY! TechXtend.com/WebinarsView other virtualization webinars on-demand: techxtend.com/cloud
FREE VIRTUALIZATION WEBINAR SERIES: Build on VMware ESXi and vSphere for Centralized Management, Continuous Application Availability, and Maximum Operational Efficiency in Your Virtualized Datacenter.This webinar series is focused on the implementation and optimization of VMware-based virtualized server, storage,desktop and application environments. VMware’s next generation ESXi hypervisor enables single-server partitioning and forms the foundation for a virtualized datacenter. You can build upon this base virtualization layer with third party applications to obtain centralized management, continuous application availability, and maximum operational efficiency.
30 | December 2010/January 2011 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
IGEL Universal Desktop Series UD9 – IGELCall for price ■ igel.com ■ 877-438-4435
NEC Virtual PC Center – NECCall for price ■ nec.com ■ 866-632-3226
Tadpole Ultra-thin Clients – General Dynamics ItronixCall for price ■ gd-itronix.com ■ 800-441-1309
Virtualization Training
Readers Choice Award WinnerVMware Certifi ed Professional Program – VMware Inc. (51.3%)Call for price ■ vmware.com ■ 877-486-9273; 650-427-5000
Merit Award WinnerVMware vSphere Training – Train Signal (22.8%)Call for price ■ trainsignal.com ■ 888-229-5055; 847-776-8800
Merit Award WinnerGlobal Knowledge (14.4%)Call for price ■ globalknowledge.com ■ 800-268-7737
The VMware Certifi ed Professional Program is critical to the knowledge base of anyone who wants to make a living in VMware tech environments because it teaches participants how to successfully install, manage and deploy VMware vSphere 4.1, which is critical to the company’s success as it charges ahead to its vision of cloud computing. Merit Award winners Train Signal and Global Knowledge specialize in computer-based training courses and IT and business training, respectively.
iPhone 4.0 – Apple$200 ■ apple.com ■ 408-996-1010
Intense SchoolCall for price ■ intenseschool.com ■ 877-290-9507
NetCom IT Training and Certifi cation Solutions — NetComCall for price ■ netcominfo.com ■ 888-563-8266
Miscellaneous Virtualization
Readers Choice Award WinnerVMware Zimbra Collaboration Suite Appliance 1.0 – VMware Inc. (50.0%)$ 625 per 25 mailboxes for a perpetual license ■ vmware.com ■ 877-486-9273; 650-427-5000
Merit Award WinnerNovell PlateSpin Forge 3.0 – Novell (13.7%)Starts at $39,395 for up to 10 workloads, includes one year priority ■ novell.com ■ 800-529-3400
Merit Award Winner2X LoadBalancer 8.1.875 – 2X Software (9.7%)$449 for two load-balanced servers ■ 2x.com ■ 866-970-6262
The VMware Zimbra Collaboration Suite Appliance is an e-mail and calendar groupware solution for cloud deployments that features contact management, and sharing and document capabilities. Novell PlateSpin Forge won a Merit Award for its disaster recovery expertise, while the 2X LoadBalancer was given a Merit Award for providing load balancing, increased security and redundancy for terminal servers.
Change Reporter for System Center Virtual Machine Manager 1.2 – NetWrix Corp.$80/socket for 10 sockets, volume discounts ■ netwrix.com ■ 888-638-9749; 201-490-8840
LISA Virtualize 5.0 – iTKOCall for price ■ itko.com ■ 877-289-4856
Netronome Network Flow Acceleration Cards (NFE-3240) – Netronome$2,500 for large volume orders of 1,000+ ■ netronome.com ■ 877-638-7629; 724-778-3290
Netronome Network Flow Processor (NFP-3240) – Netronome$275 for large volume orders of 25,000+ ■ netronome.com ■ 877-638-7629; 724-778-3290
Veeam FastSCP 3.0.3 – Veeam SoftwareFree ■ veeam.com ■ 877-389-0140; 614-339-8200
VLX MH4.0 – Red Bend SoftwareCall for price ■ redbend.com ■ 781-890-2090
vSMP Foundation for Cluster 3.0 – ScaleMP$1,750 per node ■ scalemp.com ■ 408-342-0330
vSMP Foundation for SMP 3.0 – ScaleMP$2,500 per node ■ scalemp.com ■ 408-342-0330
FEATURE | The 2011 Ultimate Virtualization Buyers Guide and Virtualization Review Readers Choice Awards
Be sure to log on to VirtualizationReview.com and download the expanded Ultimate Virtualization Buyers Guide, which includes descriptions for every product listed here. You can access the PDF directly from VirtualizationReview.com/2011RCABG.
VirtualizationReview.com | Virtualization Review | December 2010/January 2011 | 31
ADVERTISING SALESINDEX
ID STATEMENTVirtualization Review magazine (ISSN 1941-2843) is published bi-monthly by 1105 Media, Inc., 9201 Oakdale Avenue, Ste. 101, Chatsworth, CA 91311. Complimentary subscriptions are sent to qualifying subscribers. Annual subscription rates payable in U.S. funds for non-qualifi ed subscribers are: U.S. $39.95, International $64.95.
SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES, BACK ISSUE REQUESTS, AND ADDRESS CHANGES: Mail to: Virtualization Review magazine, 9201 Oakdale Avenue, Suite 101, Chatsworth, CA 91311, Email [email protected] or call (818) 814-5353, fax number (818) 936-0267.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Virtualization Review magazine, 9201 Oakdale Avenue, Suite 101, Chatsworth, CA 91311. Canada Publications Mail Agreement No: 40612608. Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to 9121 Oakdale Avenue, Suite 101, Chatsworth, CA 91311.
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT© Copyright 2010 by 1105 Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. Reproductions in whole or part prohibited except by written permission. Mail requests to “Permissions Editor,” c/o Virtualization Review magazine, 2600 El Camino Real, Ste 300, San Mateo, CA 94403.
LEGAL DISCLAIMERThe information in this magazine has not undergone any formal testing by 1105 Media, Inc. and is distributed
without any warranty expressed or implied. Implementation or use of any information contained herein is the reader’s sole responsibility. While the information has been reviewed for accuracy, there is no guarantee that the same or similar results may be achieved in all environments. Technical inaccuracies may result from printing errors and/or new developments in the industry.
CORPORATE ADDRESSCorporate Headquarters: 1105 Media9201 Oakdale Ave. Ste 101, Chatsworth, CA 91311www.1105media.com
MEDIA KITSMedia Kits: Direct your Media Kit requests to Matt Morollo, VP Publishing, 508-532-1418 (phone), 508-875-6622 (fax), [email protected]
REPRINTSReprints: For single article reprints (in minimum quantities of 250-500), e-prints, plaques and posters contact:PARS InternationalPhone: 212-221-9595E-mail: [email protected]/QuickQuote.asp
LIST RENTALThis publication’s subscriber list, as well as other lists from 1105 Media, Inc., is available for rental. For more information, please contact our list manager, Merit Direct. Phone: 914-368-1000; E-mail: [email protected]; Web: www.meritdirect.com.
Matt M orollo VP, Publishing508-532-1418 phone508-875-6622 [email protected]
Al TianoNational Sales Manager818-814-5227 phone818-734-1529 [email protected]
Danna VedderMicrosoft Account Manager253-514-8015 phone775-514-0350 [email protected]
SALES STAFF
Tanya EgenolfAdvertising Sales Associate760-722-5494 phone760-722-5495 [email protected]
PRODUCTION
Jenny Hernandez-AsandasDirector, Print Production
Teresa AntonioProduction [email protected] phone818-734-1528 fax
Advertising IndexAdvertiser Page URLAberdeen 25 www.aberdeeninc.comCDW Corp. 3 www.cdw.comCitrix Systems, Inc. C4 www.citrix.comDiskeeper Corporation 5 www.diskeeper.comDiskeeper Corporation 23 www.diskeeper.comF5 Networks, Inc. 11 www.f5.comIBM Corporation 7 www.ibm.comIBM Corporation C3 www.ibm.comMicrosoft Corporation C2 www.microsoft.comQuest Software 17 www.quest.comQuest Software 13 www.quest.comSunGard 19 www.sungard.comSymantec Corporation 21 www.symantec.comTechXtend 29 www.techxtend.comVmware Inc. 27 www.vmware.com
Veeam Software 9 www.veeam.com
Editorial IndexCompany Page URLAmazon.com Inc. 6 amazon.comApple Inc. 10 apple.comAsigra Inc. 32 asigra.comCitrix Systems Inc. 32 citrix.comF5 Networks Inc. 32 f5.comGluster Inc. 32 gluster.comGoogle Inc. 10 google.comMicrosoft Corp. 6, 8, 10, 12, 32 microsoft.comMozilla Foundation 10 mozilla.orgOracle Corp. 6 oracle.comSAP AG 6 sap.comSpoon 10, 12 spoon.netVirsto Software 32 virsto.comVMware Inc. 6, 8 vmware.com
SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES, BACK ISSUE REQUESTS, AND ADDRESS CHANGES: Mail to: Virtualization Review magazine, 9201 Oakdale Avenue, Suite 101, Chatsworth, CA 91311, e-mail [email protected], call 818-814-5353 or fax to 818-936-0267.
32 | December 2010/January 2011 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
IMA
GE FRO
M SH
UT
TERSTO
CK
TAKE FIVE 5 TIPS AND TRICKS TO TAKE WITH YOU : : BY BRUCE HOARD, EDITOR IN CHIEF
Storage Problems and Proposed Solutions
Where do you think virtualized storage is lacking or improving? Tell me at [email protected].
As Citrix notes, datacenter-based,
dynamically provisioned desktops create a
great deal of disk activity, which bogs
down performance and greatly increases
the use of expensive network storage.
Some 80 percent of these writes to disk in
environments with shared image
desktops include temporary or non-
persistent data that need not be saved in
a storage-attached network (SAN) or
network-attached storage (NAS) system.
The Citrix answer to this dilemma is its
new IntelliCache technology, which picks
out this traffi c and caches it to local,
server-side disks, enhancing performance
and slashing Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
(VDI) costs. IntelliCache is included in the
free version of XenServer, and will also be
supported in a future release of reference
architecture for XenDesktop 5.
TAKE
1Asigra Cloud Backup is moving away from the use of agents with
backup and recovery solutions, which typically require that agents
installed on host servers be backed up by systems administrators.
However, agent management can become extremely complex
when the admin must work with diff erent OSes and revision
levels. Asigra doesn’t require agents to be installed for each
machine or app that needs to be protected. Instead, it reaches out
over the network to back up OSes, fi le systems and applications,
using industry programming interfaces.
TAKE
5
According to Virsto Software, without an effective storage strategy, the benefi ts of server virtualization can be offset by performance degradation, storage sprawl and increased complexity. Previously, the only way to deal with these issues was by over-provisioning storage. Virsto One, which
installs in seconds on every Hyper-V physical server and integrates with the Hyper-V and Microsoft System Center solutions, manages I/O requests for each virtual machine (VM) on each physical host, dynamically and effi ciently controlling how storage is allocated to each VM instance, as well as where it’s placed on physical hard drives.
4TAKE
Storage presents a lot of problems. It’s expensive, it accumulates in all kinds of places where you can’t fi nd it, it’s a hassle to move from point A to point B and it isn’t always compatible from one vendor to the next. A lot of bright minds are working on a variety of virtualized storage schemes, but the pain points remain real. Here’s a look at some diffi culties and alleged remedies.
Gluster tackles the problem of locating data in the data
pool. The company says other storage vendors
use a dedicated centralized metadata server to
store all data-location information. This prevents
metadata access from being parallelized and
typically results in a bottleneck that reduces and
prevents linear scalability. The metadata server is also a single
point of failure that must be confi gured for high availability,
because if it goes down, data cannot be accessed. Gluster
bypasses these problems via a “no-metadata server” architecture that
doesn’t require an index of information to locate data in the data pool.
F5 Networks is a big fan of virtualized storage, which it says removes a lot of complexity by creating a layer of abstraction that eliminates the links between users or apps and physical storage. However, a storage virtualization solution that only provides a virtualized storage layer isn’t very effective. In order to really help IT
contain increasing storage expenses, the solution must work across multiple OSes, storage platforms and fi le systems. In so doing, it must also offer an intelligent virtualized storage layer, so it can monitor client capacity, resource capacity and network conditions, as well as identify changes in real time. The fi nal step, says F5, is facilitating and automating tasks such as storage tiering, which identifi es the data’s
business value and matches it up with the right storage class.
TAKE
2
TAKE
3
Building the engines of a Smarter Planet:
How midsize businesses can collaborate better on a global scale.As a midsize company, you can now collaborate in new ways to drive innovation, with IBM LotusLive™. It’s an integrated collaboration tool that allows you to focus on growing your business rather than on managing your applications. No additional hardware or software. Just a browser. It’s a cloud-based service that delivers e-mail, plus online meetings, social networking and more, in one security-rich environment for internal and external collaboration. A powerful tool for midsize companies, leading to better decisions and smarter businesses. Consider the benefits:
1 Prices subject to change and valid in the U.S. only. Actual costs will vary depending on individual customer confi gurations and environment. IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, LotusLive, Smarter Planet and the planet icon are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml. © International Business Machines Corporation 2010.
IBM LotusLive is priced with midsize companies in mind. Collaboration offerings starting at
$3per user per month.1
View the IBM LotusLive demonstration at ibm.com/engines/lotuslive
1 Save time and money. The power of the cloud means there are no upfront deployment costs. IBM does the work. You focus on your business.
2 Improve productivity. With all the collaboration tools rolled into one, millions of users can see improvements in their businesses.
3 Keep your exchanges more secure. Security-rich infrastructure from IBM helpsprotect your data.
To learn more about services like LotusLive, connect with a Business Partner orget set up now, call 1-877-IBM-ACCESS or visit ibm.com/engines/lotuslive
Midsize businesses are the engines of a Smarter Planet.
© 2010 Citrix Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Simplicity is Power and its stylized treatment, XenDesktop and FlexCast are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. or one of its subsidiaries. iPad and Mac are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Apple, Inc. Droid is a trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd.
Virtual desktops. Adapt to any device. In any environment.
An iPad™ or a Droid™. A smartphone or a tablet. A Mac® or a PC.
Now you can deliver virtual desktops that will adapt easily to
any device in any combination. Seamlessly. Simply. Securely.
That’s the power of
virtual computing, delivered
by Citrix® XenDesktop®
with FlexCast™
technology.
As computing
evolves, say
yes to the demands of your workforce
and your business. All with complete confidence and
complete control. Virtual computing solutions from Citrix.
Simplicity is power. Citrix.
Citrix.com/SimplicityIsPower
Top Related