Expert Data Labs Blog

Microsoft will drop support for Vista (without any Service Packs) on April 13 and support for XP SP2 ends July 13. (i.e. no more security updates). If you are still running these, it it time to update., (Mon, Mar 1st)

…(more)…

VMware’s Cloud Strategy Explained In 4 Sentences

At first glance, VMware’s cloud strategy can be difficult for MSPs and VARs to get their arms around. And this week’s VMware Partner Exchange conference will generate a lot of noise from scores of VMware cloud partners. But what do aspiring partners really need to know? I think I can sum-up VMware’s cloud strategy in roughly four sentences…

Here they are:

• First, VMware has signed up more than 1,000 members — including telecom, hosting and service providers — to back the company’s vCloud effort.
• Second, VMware is promoting vSphere for infrastructure as a service (IaaS).
• Third, VMware is positioning SpringSource for platform as a service (PaaS).
• And forth, VMware is gearing up to position Zimbra (the recently acquired open source email system) for software as a service (SaaS) partners.

The graphic below, from VMware CTO Steve Herrod, quickly summarizes VMware’s cloud strategy:

Next Moves

Can VMware  (and VMware partners) cash in on the cloud?

No doubt, plenty of MSPs are jumping on the VMware cloud bandwagon. Earlier today, BlueLock — an MSPmentor 100 company — announced BlueLock CloudSuite, which leverages the VMware vCloud technology. Meanwhile, nScaled (an MSP that promotes a Legal Cloud for attorneys), is working closely with VMware, Rackspace, FalconStor and Vyatta. For its part, FalconStor appears to be preparing a storage-centric partner program for MSPs.

The VMware Partner Exchange conference kicked off earlier today in Las Vegas. We’ll be tracking more news throughout the week.

Read More About This Topic

• Cloud Computing Explained In Four Paragraphs
• VMware Partner Exchange: BlueLock Launches CloudSuite
• Google Apps: Saving Schools Big Money?
• Cisco Makes Infrastructure as a Service Move
• Dell: Managed Services Partnerships Holding Steady

Super Bowl Bound Saints Mobilize With Virtualization And BladeCenter S

Who Dat? Who Dat? Who Dat virtualizin’ on BladeCenter S ?

I posted last year about the NFL’s use of virtualization at the Super Bowl, and I wrote my beloved Atlanta Falcons in case they needed help when the NFL made it’s  decision to standardize on IBM Blades for all 32 teams. This year, Kevin Houston, a fellow Softchoice employee and author of the increasingly popular bladesmadesimple.com blog, has posted on how the ‘09 NFC Champion New Orleans Saints have capitalized on these very technologies during the season.

Houston writes:

“Other than the obvious threat of having to relocate or evacuate due to the weather, the Saints’ constant travel required them to search for a portable IT solution that would make it easier to quickly set up operations in another city.  The Saints were a long-time IBM customer, so they looked at the IBM BladeCenter S for this solution, and it worked great.  (I’m going to review the BladeCenter S below, so keep reading.)  The Saints consolidated 20 physical servers onto the BladeCenter S, virtualizing the environment with VMware.   Although the specific configuration of their blade environment is not disclosed, IBM reports that the Saints are using 1 terabyte of built-in storage, which enables the Saints to go on the road with the essential files (scouting reports, financial apps, player stats, etc) and tools the coaches and the staff need.  In fact, in the IBM Case Study video, the Assistant Director of IT for the New Orleans Saints, Jody Barbier, says, “The Blade Center S definitely can make the trip with us if we go to the Super Bowl.”  I guess we’ll see.  Be looking for the IBM Marketing engine to jump on this bandwagon in the next few days.”

Be sure to read Houston’s entire post for more about the many features of IBM BladeCenter S

Maybe the S model of IBM BladeCenter stood for “Saints” all along!?