In many ways, the IT world has gone certification happy. Nearly every job requirement lists certifications as well as length of service, however, in the realm of cloud computing and virtualization what do these certifications mean? Are they even valuable? Is there a general enough certification that covers all the hypervisors, is there a third party certification available?
TVP Category Archives
Is Hyper9 a good fit for the SMB?
I talked extensively to Hyper9 to determine if their product would be a good fit for the SMB as most of their marketing literature is geared towards helping to manage thousands of VMs not necessarily 100s of VMs. My thoughts before talking to them is yes it would be useful, but after talking to them, I discovered some key facts that would help an SMB decide on whether or not to invest in Hyper9 which is a tool to allow you to query the VMware virtual environment for issues as well as general information.
CA Buys Cloud Platform Vendor, 3Tera
The acquisition of 3Tera by Computer Associates signals an intent to move beyond traditional Systems Management, into something that may almost be viewed as Operating System: a layer of software called AppLogic that sits above the virtualization stack, and provides a consolidated abstraction against which composite applications may be built within the Cloud. Essentially the AppLogic layer deals with the nuts and bolts of configuring and connecting virtual machines, all you do is choose from a menu of virtual appliances you want, and use a visual interface to show how the appliances interconnect at a software level.
Reflex Systems vTrust Technology in Use by Third Parties
When I first interviewed Reflex System’s CEO he had a desire for the vTrustTM VMsafe-Net driver be the defacto standard for all such VMsafe-Net drivers. While others may not agree with this desire and will create their own VMsafe-Net drivers, TippingPoint is the first to integrate into Reflex’s VMC product to leverage the vTrust VMsafe-Net Driver and puts Reflex System’s on the second step of the path for vTrustTM to be the defacto standard. At the same time TippingPoint adds an Intrusion Protection System to the Reflex System VMC family of products with Tipping Point vController.
Life in IT is like a Day at the Amusement Park
One of my favorite movie lines is, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get” from the movie Forrest Gump. So for me and my observation of the day I declare that “Life in IT is like a day at the amusement park. It is a life where you hurry up and wait.
Citrix/Novell Partnership SLES and PlateSpin
In a slightly strange “didn’t they already have Xen in the kernel” kind of way, Novell has certified Suse Linux Enterprise Server as a “perfect guest” running on Citrix XenServer, allowing joint support of the combined solution. The deal is asymmetric (it wouldn’t really make sense to run XenServer on SLES) but it reflects an open approach characteristic of the way Novell operates, in embracing the reality that customers will want to use one of a number of possible hypervisors, and that Novell has to get along with everyone. In return Novell is starting to push it’s PlateSpin Recon product through the Citrix channel.