HP and Dell Keep Bidding, But 3PAR Is Not the Only Cloud Storage Option
By Tony Bradley, PC World | August 30, 2010 5:54 AM
Two weeks ago most of the world had never heard of 3PAR. Now, it has been the center of tech headlines and doubled in value thanks to a bidding frenzy between Dell and HP. HP appears to have the edge right now, but the good news for whichever tech giant ultimately loses the battle for 3PAR is that there are other virtualized storage providers out there.
The leapfrogging bids, and billion dollar spike in value make it seem that the very future of Dell and HP are at stake in the struggle to acquire 3PAR. 3PAR would expand the services offerings for either company–enabling more diversification from the waning server and desktop hardware sales revenue, and providing a cloud-based storage offering that is appealing to many business customers.
VMware Outlines Vision for Next Decade of Information Technology
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Aug 30, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — This week at VMworld 2010, VMware, Inc., the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, will announce a broad strategy and set of new and emerging products to help businesses and governments move beyond “IT as a Cost Center” to a more business-centric “IT as a Service” model. This new model of IT creates improved approaches at each critical layer of a modern IT architecture: infrastructure, applications and end-user access.
“Two years ago VMware set out a vision to modernize the datacenter and transform IT — this week we are taking significant steps forward to bring this new world of IT as a Service and hybrid cloud computing to reality,” said Paul Maritz, president and CEO of VMware.
IT as a Service is the transformation of IT to a more business-centric approach, focusing on outcomes such as operational efficiency, competitiveness and rapid response. This means IT shifts from producing IT services to optimizing production and consumption of those services in ways consistent with business requirements. This changes the role of IT from a cost center to a center of strategic value.
“VMware’s work in cloud computing will help us reach our strategic vision of using virtualization to improve economics by using resources more efficiently and delivering our products to our customers faster,” said Glenn Harper, vice president and chief infrastructure architect, Sabre Holdings. “VMware’s cloud infrastructure solutions will help us focus on the features our customers need — rather than technologies needed to support IT. We are very excited about the direction VMware is taking with its cloud infrastructure portfolio, making cloud computing a reality for the enterprise and for Sabre.”
Aug. 30, 2010 | MarketWatch | Ken Montgomery
Quest Launches vFoglight Storage for Optimal Virtual Performance
ALISO VIEJO, Calif., Aug 30, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Quest Software, Inc., today launched vFoglight(R) Storage, a physical storage monitoring solution that enables administrators to optimize their virtual infrastructures by gaining greater control and visibility over the physical layer. By providing superior insight beyond the datastore, vFoglight Storage enables users to pinpoint performance, capacity and topology issues; meet SLAs; and achieve performance levels. Quest will formally unveil its virtualization strategy and roadmap Aug. 31, at an invitation-only event for media and analysts during VMworld. Those interested in attending should contact Daphne Kent at daphne.kent@quest.com or Ken Montgomery at ken.montgomery@quest.com
Featuring an explorer-based interface, vFoglight Storage allows users to quickly view end-to-end mapping, from the virtual to physical layer, showing how virtual environments are configured at specific points in time. This extended view provides the information and insight necessary to optimize storage paths, reorganize physical storage and, where appropriate, look to augment total storage capacity.