Parallels news about containers and server support beta product

Parallels is offering a few different forms of virtualization to the market. Specifically in the server market, they have a container-based solution (from SWsoft) as well as a hypervisor/server virtualization solution that is currently in Beta.

Making a big move to get its product into the hands of end users, the company recently announced that it has signed an exclusive deal with Tech Data Corporation to distribute its Parallels Virtuozzo Containers offering in the United States. The agreement strengthens Parallels' channel program by offering value-added resellers (VARs) easy access to the company's container-based server virtualization software.

"Parallels Virtuozzo Containers takes a different approach to server virtualization than many of the other solutions available in the channel, and by doing, so offers enterprises large and small a unique set of advantages, such as better per-server density and superior performance," said Bill Portin, vice president of North American sales and operations, Parallels.

"This makes Parallels Virtuozzo Containers an ideal solution for VARs deploying data center-scale virtualization or for those deploying virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solutions. Working with Tech Data's AIS Division, Parallels will ensure our VAR partners have access to the support, expertise and information they need to profitably deploy Parallels Virtuozzo Containers."

At the same time, the company is also moving fast to get their server virtualization solution from Beta to GA. Things must be heading in the right direction for Parallels' latest product. InfoWorld's Randall Kennedy recently put the Beta product through and said it looks promising. Kennedy said:

"I did find Parallels Server to be quite responsive, allowing me to install Windows Server 2003 into a new VM at a very competitive pace. I also found the various performance and resource utilization counters to be both helpful and informative, with everything arranged neatly in a series of tabbed panes within the VM console window.

One feature I found most welcome was support for multiple virtual CPUs. Many server applications are tuned to behave differently on a single-CPU system, limiting scalability in non-SMP VM environments. Parallels Server multi-CPU support should give these applications a healthy performance boost."

source: http://weblog.infoworld.com/virtualization/archives/2008/03/parallels_news.html

New Intel Energy-Efficient Server support Processors

Two new processors are making their way to server and workstations. The new 45nm runs at 50 watts or 12.5 watts per core, and these apply even to those with 2.50GHz frequencies. Despite being 25 percent faster and even having a larger cache size by 50 percent, the new processors only consume as much energy as their lower voltage predecessors with lower specs.

“Using Intel’s hafnium-infused high-k metal gate transistors has allowed our quad-core 45nm low-voltage server chips to attain new heights in power-efficient performance,” said Kirk Skaugen, vice president and general manager of Intel’s Server Platforms Group. “These chips deliver the speed needed while using meager amounts of energy.”

To make the low power consumption possible, Intel reinvented its transistor formula. Together with the 45nm chip capabilities, performance boost and reduced power consumption were achieved. The first two chips released are the quad-core L5420 (with a 2.50 GHz frequency) and quad-core L5410 (with a 2.33 GHz frequency). Higher specs mean faster systems while consuming less electricity. I’m not the only one who thinks that’s cool though–a number of vendors already expressed their support for the new Intel processors. Aside from these two discussed, next quarter, Intel is also releasing a new low-voltage dual core processor running at 40 watts with up to 3 GHz frequency.

source: gadgetspy.co.uk/2008/03/25/new-intel-energy-efficient-server-processors

Dell Inks OEM Deal with Egenera for Server Management Software

Seeking to get any advantage it can over


and storage rivals , and a somewhat resurgent announced that it would be certifying the PAN Manager systems and virtualization management software created by egenera on Dell's PowerEdge server line.

The announcement did not come as a big surprise, of course. back in oct 2007 , when Egenera announced that it was going to make its Processor Area Network Manager infrastructure virtualization and management software available on an OEM basis to the makers of other server gear, it was pretty obvious that Dell would very likely be the first vendor to make use of PAN Manager because its management tools are not as robust as those from IBM and HP. Both IBM and HP are far more interested in taking the tools from their high-end servers and extending them down into the X64 space for Windows and Linux servers than they are letting someone else get in on the action, and they have bought companies or developed tools to keep this lucrative business in house. The mystery really is why Dell, which has been a bit acquisitive, didn't just acquire Egenera last year and pitch the BladeFrame machines and their PAN Manager software as the alternative to big iron Unix, mainframe, and i5/OS boxes. That may yet happen, of course. Particularly if the economy heads south in a big way or the financial services companies where Egenera has had a lot of its business lock up their IT budgets.

The PAN Manager software is what makes the BladeFrame a platform and not just a bunch of servers sitting in a rack. The collection of software is used to provision, monitor, and manage virtualized blade servers, their related networks, and storage area networks that feed data to the blades. The software also has built in high availability clustering for workloads. Back in December 2001, the BladeFrames only supported Linux, but Windows Server 2003 was supported in May 2003, and in December 2005 the company added support for Solaris 10 to the BladeFrame iron and its related systems software.

Last fall, Mike Thompson, president and chief executive officer at Egenera, said that the company had no plans of abandoning its BladeFrame hardware business, and that remains true to this day. But now that the first big OEM deal is signed, Thompson today conceded that there could be some impact on hardware sales now that PAN Manager will be available on Dell's PowerEdge line. "We think there could be some cannibalization of BladeFrame sales, but we also think that there will be tremendous pull as well for PAN Manager from Dell." Thompson says that given the newness of the OEM business, he is not building cannibalization into the current revenue plan for BladeFrame sales. He also says that even if Dell does sell a lot of iron with PAN Manager software on it, Egenera can still continue to pitch the BladeFrame as a high-end, integrated offering. The main thing is that Dell has thousands of salespeople pushing gear in data centers compared to the dozens that Egenera can put into the field.

So what about other server makers? Are they lining up to resell PAN Manager? Thompson is not saying. "Our focus right now is on Dell and making this partnership highly successful," he says. "This is the first global OEM partner for us, and we love the fact that we are getting PAN Manager on low-cost, industry standard servers," says Thompson. "We believe that that PAN Manager will allow Dell to leapfrog IBM and HP, in fact. While IBM and HP have good management tools, and they have enhanced virtualization, they have not done full infrastructure, data center virtualization, including the network.

Dell is expected to support PAN Manager among its customers in the United States first and then roll the software out to the rest of its customers gradually. Pricing for the software will be based on the number of sockets in the server that are being managed by the Egenera code, and it is expected to be generally available at the end of June or so. (Exact pricing will be announced then and was not available today.) Dell is also engaging its infrastructure consulting services people to push PAN Manager as a server consolidation and infrastructure virtualization offering. Dell currently supports Windows, Linux, and Solaris on its PowerEdge servers, and it is expected that PAN Manager will be able to manage all three of these platforms. By putting Solaris into the mix, Dell can take a run on the Sparc/Solaris installed base and make as credible a sales pitch as Sun itself can make with its "Galaxy" X64 server line running Solaris 10. All the more reason to think that Sun might swoop in and buy Egenera if Dell's OEM deal gets it traction in the Sun customer base.

source: itjungle.com/two/two032608-story04.html