Virtualization Round Up 20100307

I know that it has been rather quite here at the Labs for the past few months.  Not only has 2010 started off with a bang of activity, but I have also been preparing for my new long term project (details at my photography blog).  So lots of exciting stuff for 2010, just need more hours in the day.  Below is an abbreviated list of virtualization links that have come out over the past 2 months that caught my attention:

VMware Specific Links

• Recent Releases
  • VMware Labs was recently launched, a place for VMware engineers to share the cool internal tools they build with the rest of the world as technology previews.
  • VMware View 4.0.1 was released mid-February with some issues being addressed and enhancements to the PCoIP protocol
  • Site Recovery Manager 4.0.1 was released mid-February addressing a number of issues.
  • vCenter CapacityIQ 1.0.2 was released mid-February addressing a number of report related issues.
  • vCenter Update Manager 4.0 Update 1 was released end of February addressing an issue related to the upgrade of Cisco VSM modules
  • Fusion 3.0.2 was released mid-February addressing an issue so that Mac OS X 10.6 Server can run as a guest.
  • Technology Preview – VMware Guest Console (VGC) an application to manage the Guest Operating Systems installed on VMs. Eric has the links on the latest leaks around VGC.
• One of the biggest desktop related announcements recently was the VMware Acquiring RTO Software. A deeper analysis of this acquisition (including why some parts of RTO Software was not acquired) by Brian Madden.
• Another big VMW announcement recently was that VMware to Acquire Several Management Products from EMC Ionix.  (Interesting thought experiments abound on the future of management tools within VMware and an Insider’s Perspective from Virtual Geek.)
• VMware’s Mike Colman describes The Art and Science of Remote Display Protocols after the release of a recent desktop virtualization report funded by Citrix which posted some confusing and questionable statistics.
• VMware recently released a white paper discussing Anti-Virus Deployment for VMware View, a key issue with anyone considering virtual desktops.  Many of my clients looking at View are also looking at VMsafe based Anti-virus solutions to overcome per desktop anti-virus performance issues.

General Virtualization & Cloud Links

• Gartner had a number of recent posts that talk about Windows kernel-level vulnerability, which also affect Hyper-V and shed light on the value of a dedicate hypervisor versus one that is extended from the Operating System.
• Steve Kaplan has a few months old but pertinent comparison of Cisco UCS vs. HP Matrix: strategic vs. tactical approach to virtualization. Both an interesting analysis/comparison of virtualization computing platforms as well as a between the lines look at the future of our enterprise computing market.  Make sure to browse thru the comments as well.