Virtualizing High Performance Computing

There have been a recent set of VMware Communities questions that have got me thinking about the prospect of virtualizing high performance computing (vHPC) and whether or not this is even practical, reasonable, and would give any gains to HPC. I think there are some gains to be made but with everything there are some concerns as well. This is of interest to me as at one time I was deep into High Performance Technical Computing and marrying Virtualization to HPC/HPTC would be a very interesting option.

Cisco Uses Change and Innovation To Capture Marketshare

I’ve often written about using change and disruption as a competitive weapon in business, but John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, is the epitome of using change and disruption as a way to gain market share and outrun his competition. As stated in previous articles “change presents opportunities”. The ability to adapt to change is a key advantage in business. To survive, compete, and win, enterprises must adapt. However, because change is often disruptive and expensive, few organizations are prepared to take advantage consistently of the opportunities that change presents. This is not the case with Cisco.

VMsafe Firewalls, Are They Real Firewalls or Something More?

The biggest question I ask myself when I see VMsafe appliances is: will it replace my current virtual firewall setup? Replace my Anti-virus? or Both? I am seeing a trend that gives me pause. That is a VMsafe appliance being more than one thing. For example, Trend Micro is an Anti-Virus company that bought Third Brigade (a firewall company) and are now in the mix of merging the two technologies into one. What has happened to one tool that does one thing and does that one thing very well?

Can the SMB Afford Virtualization?

There has been quite a bit of debate about SMB virtualization and what they want. However, no one has really looked into whether or not the SMB can afford virtualization. There is quite a bit of talk that says that the SMB wants everything for free, or that they will get immediate benefits from virtualization, but can they actually afford VMware, HyperV, XenServer, or KVM?