Avastu Blog: Sustainable Global Clouds

Qumranet, the commercial sponsor of the KVM virtualization software, has begun beta-testing a desktop virtualization system aimed at geographically distributed organizations. The company's existing Solid ICE desktop virtualization system was designed to combat performance issues, which continue to be a down-side of desktop virtualization. Solid ICE Multi-Site takes Qumranet's efforts a step further, dealing with branch offices and remote sites. Under Solid ICE, the user's desktop runs in a KVM virtual machine in a data center, and the user accesses it via the SPICE remote rendering software on a thin client or repurposed PC. Unlike virtualization companies such as VMware, whose technology was generally designed with server virtualization in mind, the Solid ICE framework was designed to solve the performance problems inherent in virtualized desktops, Qumranet said. Source

VMware is pleased to announce the RC revision of ThinApp. This release includes Application Link and Application Sync, as well as many additional improvements to the user interface and the core virtualization engine. We believe that ThinApp represents technology that, when released in final form at General Availability (GA), will provide customers a fundamentally better way to package applications. With ThinApp technology, IT innovators can prepare their company to better address key application challenges including operating system migrations (to Windows XP, Vista, and others) while reducing application conflicts, deployment costs, and empowering a mobile workforce. ThinApp creates portable applications that can be leveraged across a variety of operating systems (Windows NT, XP, Vista, 2000) and plug into a variety of deployment infrastructures (SMS, LANDesk, Citrix, BMC, and others). Key Features and Enhancements The following enhancements were added for RC (Build 3.396): ...

VMware's ThinApp follows on the tails of Citrix and its own rival suite, XenApp. What — what? XenApp versus ThinApp? Isn't that a just a terribly convenient way to draw attention to the products' similarities. Why a cynic might even go so far to say it's intentional. But still, VMware's turnaround of ThinApp was relatively short. At least the company appears still somewhat light on its feet despite the swelling post-IPO. The general availability release of ThinApp 4.0 will include new toys such as dynamic linking between self-contained applications and over-the-wire app updates via HTTP/HTTPs. VMware's enterprise desktop boss Jerry Chen said that having each virtualized application isolated in a separate container is good for security and mobility — but it makes communication between two applications difficult. For instance, take Microsoft Word and PowerPoint: two programs commonly used together. In order to cooperate previously, they would have needed...

Or should I say is upgrading to Vista worth ab bargain? I have heard of official protest groups in Holland and elsewhere who want to cxontinue working on XP for another few years. Offering a fat GUI OS via VDI conenction broker is not a smart idea. It was never meant to push an elephant through a thin wire. Anyways the comparison, if its worthy the discussion actually or within the context of a typical thin computing model, is here: It's important to note that a VDA does all the work on the back-end servers where the VMs run; therefore, to accurately estimate the cost of a VDA, you'll need to take into account the server and virtualization software expenses. Estimating these costs will require walking through a series of calculations, which can be modified for a customer's specific environment. As an example, based on numbers from VMware, let's assume that a server can run six to eight virtual desktops per core, with dual-socket quad-core processors totaling eight cores...

Rome, Italy -18 Feb 2008 NoMachine, leading and award-winning provider of NX desktop virtualization software, announced it has joined the VMware Technology Alliance Partner (TAP) Program. This brings all the benefits of NoMachine NX software to the virtual suite of VMware, ensuring customers successful remote access to their virtual environments. VMware's TAP Program enables NoMachine to combine the powers of NX with VMware to provide new solutions to their mutual customers. NoMachine products are optimized for and support VMware's entire line of virtual infrastructure products. This partnership enhances the value of VMware by ensuring NoMachine's powerful NX technology is available to VMware customers for secure remote access to applications and hosted desktops deployed on virtual machines. As a partner in the VMware TAP Program, NoMachine NX provides a solution in virtual machine environments that together with VMware resources and expertise, delivers a product with enhan...

IGEL Technology launches the industry’s first 19 inch LCD integrated thin client from a major manufacturer Based on the attractive and cost competitive Samsung® 19” LCD panel, the Elegance 9319LX and 9619XP are ideal for users needing an integrated LCD thin client that provides a large screen, rich digital services, minimal cabling and small desktop footprint. Reading, England, 28th January 2008 - IGEL Technology today announced its new integrated 19 inch flat panel LCD thin clients using Samsung hardware technology. The Elegance 9319 LX and 9619 XP are ideal for point-of-sales solutions or space-constrained environments in retail, financial services and healthcare. Prices start at just €739/£499/$989 (+tax). Alongside a high quality display from one of the world’s leading flat screen vendors, the latest Elegance models contain a premium set of digital services including Citrix® ICA 10, Microsoft® RDP 6, a Leostream® VDI client for connecting to virtual PCs, terminal emulation, web bro...

This just came in! Today VMware announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Thinstall, a privately-held application virtualization software company headquartered in San Francisco. VMware is acquiring Thinstall to expand its desktop virtualization capabilities which help customers better provision, deploy and update desktop environments. The terms of the acquisition, which is expected to be completed in the current fiscal quarter, subject to customary closing conditions, were not disclosed. VMware also disclosed its acquisition of services-related assets from Foedus, a Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based provider of virtualization technologies and services and a former North America Premier Partner. The goal of this acquisition is to accelerate the services intellectual property (IP) development release to our VIP and VAC partner community.

With the introduction of the Leostream® VDI client in its new Windows XPe image, IGEL® Technology now offers virtualisation support across its entire thin client product range of 20 different models spanning 3 operating systems. Reading, England, 21st November 2007 - IGEL Technology today announced its latest Windows® XP Embedded firmware upgrade enhancing the broadest and most powerful range of thin clients on the market. The firmware allows full virtual desktop access via the Leostream Connection Broker. Any organisation using virtual PC’s based on VMware’s Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) standard can now use any Windows XPe model from IGEL’s award-winning product line. Windows XPe gives users a very broad range of digital services and full Microsoft compatibility to compliment their virtual desktop. The image contains Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, Microsoft Media Player, PDF readers and Java on most models, allowing users to deliver certain server-based applications outside th...

Wyse Technology, the global leader in thin computing, today announced that its recently announced Wyse TCX Multimedia software has received the coveted Citrix Ready(tm) designation. This verification process confirms that Wyse TCX Multimedia has successfully met stringent testing and criteria set by Citrix. Wyse TCX Multimedia delivers multimedia capabilities across Citrix's Application Delivery Infrastructure products, including Citrix Presentation Server(tm) and Citrix XenDesktop(tm), for Wyse thin clients. Wyse TCX Multimedia is the first software product that extends Citrix ICA's powerful functionality to include rich full screen, full frame rate multimedia display on select thin clients, making this environment suitable for a whole new class of knowledge workers with more demanding needs for their application delivery model. "Our partnership with Wyse continues to extend what's technically possible at a desktop level," said David Jones, corporate vice preside...

El Reg is carrying the article: We're pretty sure we've heard this one before. And before any of you ask, yes, they did bring up the idea of utility computing. It'll be down to the the telcos to sort out, though. We'll not mention it again, promise. The numbers are compelling, however. Swap 1,000 PCs for a bunch of servers and the same number of thin clients, and you'll divide your electricity consumption by ten. Sod the environment, that's real money. "Companies have an obligation to get the best value for their shareholders, so showing the value proposition is the best way of persuading people to go green," notes Wyse's Euro marketing chief, David Angwin. Angwin reckons you certainly start seeing savings when swapping 20-30 PCs for thin clients, adding: "I'd like to run the numbers for fewer, I have a gut feel you could make it pay even with five." Link

Teradici Corporation, an innovator in network delivered computing, and Ericom Software, a leader in Server Based Computing and virtualization solutions, today announce a technology partnership that enables users to benefit from a true PC experience within a consolidated desktop environment. Teradici's PC-over-IP technology is an innovative new platform that delivers a true, uncompromised PC or workstation user experience, including multimedia and 3D graphics, over standard corporate networks. Teradici's platform is generating widespread adoption in many market segments with compute-intensive requirements, efficient IT management and extensive security needs. Examples include the banking and financial sectors, such as securities traders; media and entertainment, such as movie animation; government, including military intelligence and national security; the healthcare sector; Computer-aided Design (CAD); and Computer-aided Manufacturing (CAM). Link

The VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solution is a result of the collaboration between vendors and VMware to make the Thin Client OS aware of key VMware VDI technologies. The end result, Thin OS-VDI Edition, is designed to enhance the user experience and functionality. Arun Rao, Business Manager – Client Virtualization, Personal Systems Group, Hewlett-Packard India says, “Delivering all the qualities associated with VMware VDI in a single ‘push the power button to work’ device, the solution incorporates the new Thin OS-VDI edition software and is delivered on the thin client appliance.” According to a NEC official the major driving factors VDI in thin clients are security, manageability, reliability, availability and, last but not the least, a reduction in overall TCO. With NEC Sigma System Centre (SSC) featuring system provisioning and deployment manager, it is easy to manage the IT infrastructure more efficiently. Enterprise Desktop Virt...

Aimed at smaller enterprises, it packages and delivers common storage services such as virtualisation, thin provisioning and business continuity across heterogeneous storage assets, the company says. HDS introduced a rack-mounted storage services platform with heterogeneous storage services, including Hitachi Dynamic Provisioning software, Hitachi Universal Volume Manager (with support for up to 96 petabytes of virtualised storage), large logical storage pools and a new, enhanced massively parallel crossbar switch architecture. This will use 4Gbps fibre channel "end-to-end" and a switched fibre channel architecture on the back-end. Other features include Dynamic Provisioning software, with support for both internal and externally virtualised storage. Support for external storage will come in the autumn Read the rest...

When is a thin client computer too thin? According to Wyse, never. In fact, the company envisions a future where thin clients get thinner and thinner to a point where they are free and disposable. Madness, you say? Well, they certainly seem to be headed that way. But let's step back a moment. For those unfamiliar with the term "thin client," it's a device that doesn't store applications or configuration settings inside it. Sounds like a lot of things, yes? But what separates this device from — say, a brick or a shoe — is that it can use a server for processing activities, making the thin client primarily an agent of sending and retrieving information between the user and the remote server . It follows that such a device uses less circuitry, and thus costs less and uses a lot less power than a PC. Link

When is a thin client computer too thin? According to Wyse, never. In fact, the company envisions a future where thin clients get thinner and thinner to a point where they are free and disposable. Madness, you say? Well, they certainly seem to be headed that way. But let's step back a moment. For those unfamiliar with the term "thin client," it's a device that doesn't store applications or configuration settings inside it. Sounds like a lot of things, yes? But what separates this device from — say, a brick or a shoe — is that it can use a server for processing activities, making the thin client primarily an agent of sending and retrieving information between the user and the remote server . It follows that such a device uses less circuitry, and thus costs less and uses a lot less power than a PC. Link

Another multi-part series coming up here: Phil Osborne has been with Citrix in Australia for the last ten years, and he's watched the market for thinness growing. "So I really came in at the start of the whole concept of thin client computing. I think even the word thin client, which I guess we're stuck with now because it's the start of the whole revolution, is a little bit of a misnomer because today thin client really refers to the thinness of the connection between the end point and the data centre," says Osborne. "So that's what thin client today really means as opposed to the actual hardware that many people use." Indeed, you don't have to have thin client hardware to run a thin client model. "In fact many people are using fat PCs in what we call a hybrid mode," says Osborne. "I have a laptop because I travel a lot and I use that both as a fully functional fat PC but I also use it in conjunction with, if you like, a thinnes...

This just came in. Neoware does mention VDI but they mean Virtual desktop Initiative here. According to Neoware, the VDI Edition products -- dubbed c50 VDI, e140 VDI, and m100 VDI -- are equipped with "fully compatible" support for the "leading" virtualization technologies in the PC market. These include VMware's Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), IBM's Virtual Client solution (VCS), and Citrix's Dynamic Desktop Initiative (DDI). Additionally, the VDI Editions include support for Microsoft RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) and the latest version of Citrix ICA; are compatible with connection brokers from Leostream and Propero; are certified as Citrix Ready; and are compatible with the Citrix Dynamic Desktop Initiative, the company said. Read on ...

Mike Reports... It’s something we might see more of in the next year or two, as computer manufacturers are eager to give IT managers easier ways of implementing Windows Vista across a large number of workstations. When it’s time to upgrade to Vista, models like the new HP Compaq t5135 (specs here ), which will sell for $199, may look good to managers facing the prospect of replacing hundreds of machines at once. I think the thin computing at work place ought to be totally OS independent. All the organizations need to really evaluate the needs of their staff and in the end I won't be surprised if all of them are replaced with those thin clients from Sun (which we also tried at our place, I loved the idea though!). With all the applications becoming web-enabled, how would anyone care what OS a Thin Apparatus is facilitating? And as you can see, that stuff is cheap too! They will be shipping these thinnies by Feb 2007. Read more...