Players of 'EVE Online' are expected to get faster and more reliable web-based gaming and subscriber services, thanks to the virtualization of game developer CCP's data center in London. Cisco Application Control Engine (ACE) technology will help ensure that registration, background information, access to related music and video, purchases of merchandise from EVE-Online.com, and other support services are more reliable and respond quickly even when demand is heavy.

Fortisphere announced that it has been selected to join the Microsoft Startup Accelerator Program. As a member of the program, Fortisphere will receive customized Microsoft support for its software development initiatives and increased access to internal Microsoft resources, ensuring that its policy-based virtualization management solutions are compatible with Microsoft virtualization platforms - including the upcoming release of Hyper-V.

Marathon Technologies announced that it has been named as a finalist for the 'Best of Tech:Ed 2008 IT Professional Awards' in the virtualization category by Penton Media's Windows IT Pro and SQL Server Magazine. Marathon was awarded the distinction for developing everRun VM, the first fault-tolerant, high availability software for server virtualization. everRun VM addresses one of the major factors that has limited the broader adoption of server virtualization -- a lack of simple and effective high availability technology for virtual environments.

GlassHouse Technologies announced the acquisition of independent IT consulting firm TPP Group. The move is part of GlassHouse's continued drive to expand its storage management capabilities across the UK. The agreement was completed on May 22, 2008 for an undisclosed amount, and TPP employees have already joined the GlassHouse team at the company's EMEA headquarters in Weybridge.

VMware announced that VMware Fusion for the Mac was named one of PC World's '100 Best Products of 2008.' VMware Fusion, introduced in 2007, brings the Mac and PC worlds together to let people use the hardware they want and the software that best serves their needs. With VMware Fusion, Mac users can seamlessly run Mac OS X, Windows, and other PC-based applications at the same time on the Mac. Combining a clean and innovative user interface with a virtualization platform trusted by millions of users today, VMware Fusion lets Mac users run Windows applications without rebooting and share information between Mac and Windows.

TRANGO announced it has partnered with Symbian to support the growing market for Symbian OS mobile phones, extending the benefits of virtualization to the Symbian ecosystem. Symbian develops and licenses Symbian OS, the open operating system for mobile phones. Symbian OS is licensed by handset manufacturers, and to date, over 200 million Symbian devices have shipped worldwide to over 250 major network operators.

Array Networks announced its new SPX 4800 Universal Access Controller (UAC) which uses a maximum of 122 Watts of power to support up to 12,000 concurrent users. The energy efficient SPX 4800 UAC requires only one rack unit of space and consumes 0.01 watt of power per user at maximum use. This not only reduces power consumption and space costs by an order of magnitude as compared to other solutions on the market, but it also positively impacts customers' environmental initiatives.

Red Hat announced that Channel Insider has named Red Hat Enterprise Linux the top server operating system in its 2008 Product of the Year awards. Winners exemplify attributes of high importance to the channel including value, support and profit potential. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a platform for open source computing, coupling the innovation of open source technology and the stability of a true enterprise-class platform.

Catbird announced a Virtual Infrastructure Security Assessment (VSA). Catbird's VSA helps IT administrators identify and close the potential gaps in security and compliance created in the move from 'P to V'. The 30-day assessment includes a thorough security analysis, detailed reports with actionable intelligence and a comprehensive plan to mitigate risk and protect critical virtual systems, networks, desktops and processes.

Acuo Technologies announced the integration and certification of IBM's Grid Medical Archive Solution (GMAS) as well as the addition of IBM to Acuo's Elite Partner Program. By adding the Acuo Technologies middleware software to the IBM GMAS solution, the medical imaging industry has the ability to procure a strategy that enables the customer to gain control of their data as well as manage it in a manner that provides flexibility and lower the total cost of ownership.

VMware announced that VMware Infrastructure 3, VMware ESX Server 3.0.2 and VMware VirtualCenter 2.0.2 have earned Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level 4 (EAL4+) certification under the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC) Common Criteria Evaluation and Certification Scheme (CCS), following an extensive analysis and testing process. The EAL4+ rating is the highest assurance level that is recognized by all signatories under the Common Criteria Certificates (CCRA).

SAVVIS announced an agreement to provide fully managed hosting services to StarCompliance Software. In conjunction with its released Next Generation software, StarCompliance is expanding their relationship with SAVVIS by upgrading their IT infrastructure to SAVVIS' managed and virtualized IT utility services platform.

VMware announced a new certification program for thin client devices. Thin clients - which have small footprints and price tags because they use centralized servers for most of their processing power - provide a cost-effective alternative to standard PCs when used in conjunction with VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure.

The conference theme of the Virtualization Conference & Expo Europe, to be held in London, England, January 26-27, 2009, is 'Deploying Virtualization in the Enterprise.' The Call for Papers, which is now open, welcomes submissions from exceptional speakers with high-quality use cases not only of how virtualization maximizes the use of resources and thus saves companies money, but also of how it is fundamentally altering the way that businesses run IT.

SYS-CON Media Website (www.sys-con.com) and email servers were affected from Saturday's explosion at The Planet hosting facility together with 9,000 servers which belonged to more than 7,500 customers. SYS-CON has been hosting its image server and email servers at the facility. At the time of this report on Monday, June 2, 2008, www.sys-con.com has been rendering pages with no images. There is no word from EV1servers when their service will resume normally, after two full days which affected SYS-CON Website.

Messaging Architects announced new support for the VMWare platform with the 2008.2 release of M+Guardian. Organizations can now deploy M+Guardian either as a hardware or a virtual appliance to manage email risks more efficiently and cost-effectively. M+Guardian filters inbound and outbound emails for security threats, such as malware, confidential data leakage, and offensive or inappropriate content, and blocks them based on an organization's email policies and the roles and responsibilities of individuals.

Brian Stevens, the Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Engineering of Red Hat, delivered his Virtualization Keynote 'The Future of the Virtual Enterprise' at SYS-CON's Virtualization Conference & Expo 2007 West in San Francisco. 'Virtualization is the hottest subject today,' said Stevens, an industry luminary, who is credited with having pioneered new technologies that contributed to the rise of Linux as an industry-standard operating platform.

2008 will be the year of Virtualization with many companies offering their products and services, including: 3 Leaf, Acronis, Agilysys, Akorri, AMD, APC, Appistry, AppStream, Attune Systems, Avanade, BEA Systems, Blue Lane, Brocade, CA, Cassatt, Certeon, CiRBA, Citrix, ClearCube, Coraid, Crosswalk, DataDirect, DataSynapse, Digipede Technologies, Double-Take Software, Dynamic Network Factory, Ecora Software, Egenera, Embotics, EMC, Enigmatic, Enomaly, EqualLogic, Evault, eXludus Technologies, F5Networks, FalconStor, FastScale Technology, Fortisphere, GlobalFluency, Grid Dynamics, Hitachi, HP, IBM, InovaWave, Intel, KACE, Kidaro, Layeredtech, LeftHand Networks, Leostream, Mainline, ManageIQ, Marathon Technologies, Mellanox Technologies, Microsoft, Mid-Atlantic Computers, Mindbridge Software, Ncomputing, NeoPath Networks, Neoware, Network Appliance, Neverfail, Novell, Opalis Software, OPNET Technologies, Opsware / HP, Oracle, Panologic, Parallels, PlateSpin, Platform Computing, PolyServe, Provision Networks, Raxco Software, Red Hat, Reflex Security, rPath, Sagent Solutions, SAP, Scalent Systems, ScienceLogic, Seanodes, Splunk, Stoneware, StorageNetworking.org, Supermicro Computer, Surgient, SWsoft, Symantec, Tangosol, Thinstall, Tideway Systems, TOA Solutions, TRANGO Virtual Processors, Trigence, United Devices, VeeAm Software, Virtual Iron, VirtualLogix, Virtugo Software, Vizioncore, VMLogix, vmSight, Vmware, vThere, Sentillion, Wyse Technology, XDS, XenSource, Xsigo Systems, and ZenithOptimedia.

How can virtualization help transform your IT environment into a dynamic datacenter? In this Virtualization Keynote, Dr Stephen Herrod will explore how a virtualized IT infrastructure gives any organization a sustainable competitive advantage. We have reached a point in time, Herrod believes, when the industry is shifting and the true power of virtualization is being unleashed, allowing for reduced costs, more efficient use of resources, increased availability of applications and faster responsiveness to business needs.

HP's latest answer to scale-out, which it interprets as clouds, grids, compute farms, Web 2.0 and HPC, is the BL2x220c G5, which it says is the world's first two-in-one server, offering the highest compute density in the industry or more than three times the density of traditional 1U rack-mounts. HP doesn't want to rent out its cloud; it wants to be the equipment under other people's clouds.

StackSafe announced the external infrastructure connectivity upgrade to its staging and testing solution, StackSafe Test Center. The solution creates a virtual copy of the software infrastructure stack and enables IT Operations teams to better test the impact of changes before releasing them to the production environment, reducing the uncertainty and downtime related to IT changes. With this upgrade, the virtualized Test Center environment can be extended to interact with non-virtualized system components that reside outside of the Test Center environment - enabling test scenarios across the entire end-to-end IT service.

Double-Take Software will host the next stop of its Latin America-area disaster recovery seminar on June 11, 2008, in Santiago, Chile. The educational series focuses on the importance of protecting business critical data and applications, and ensuring the highest levels of recoverability for organizations by implementing Double-Take Software solutions and services.

HP is racing to the rescue of those threatening to drown in their own data, but that Web 2.0 lot had better be able to hold on until the fourth quarter when HP can deliver what it calls 'Extreme' storage, the NAS-style ExDS9100. It's a 10U BladeSystem that can hold 820TB of SATA-based data and through the wonders of HP's PolyServe clustering can be strung together into a multi-petabyte system - along the lines of what EMC is promising to do with Hulk and Maui widgetry - that can be managed by a single administrator.

Founded in 1982, Green Hills Software is a highly successful software company specializing in virtualization and security. Green Hills Software's INTEGRITY is the first operating system or virtualization technology to be accepted for EAL 6+ Common Criteria IT Security evaluation; the level required to protect assets from hostile and well-funded attacks. Green Hills' INTEGRITY PC technology, using the unique Padded Cell virtualization architecture, enables IT organizations and equipment manufacturers the ability to deploy completely secure systems while supporting environments such as Windows and Linux.

Reminding people of how its backing was the making of Linux, IBM, to no one's surprise, has thrown its support behind cloud computing, that delicious nexus of every chi-chi buzzword technology currently in vogue: Web 2.0, rich Internet applications, software-as-a-service, SOA, grid computing, Web Services, virtualization and utility computing. IBM calls its initiative Blue Cloud - like it could have another name - and claims it's a 'game-changing model for Internet-scale computing,' providing customer with just the right size computer power while at one and the same time being 'green' as well as 'self-healing and self-managing' based on open standards and Linux. Lordy, if this thing was a cute guy with money, it would be every mother's dream.

IBM intends to set up a Cloud Computing Center in Wuxi, China so dozens of emerging Chinese software companies can tap into a virtual computing environment to support their development. It appears to be a three-way deal between IBM, Wuxi Tai Lake Industry Investment and Development Company Ltd and the Wuxi municipal government.

To achieve the full potential of 'cloud computing' we need a broader definition of virtualization, and that is the complete de-coupling of the logical components of an application (represented by the software stack) and the physical resources. In the case of middleware, whether it is data access, messaging or the business logic, the physical location of the resources should not matter to the developer and to the end user. This is not a trivial thing to do, especially when it comes to data-intensive, stateful (transactional or otherwise) applications and services. In this session we will explore the challenges and propose a solution, including a live demo.

To achieve the full potential of 'cloud computing' we need a broader definition of virtualization, and that is the complete de-coupling of the logical components of an application (represented by the software stack) and the physical resources. In the case of middleware, whether it is data access, messaging or the business logic, the physical location of the resources should not matter to the developer and to the end user. This is not a trivial thing to do, especially when it comes to data-intensive, stateful (transactional or otherwise) applications and services. In this session we will explore the challenges and propose a solution, including a live demo.

IBM claims to have created new species of custom-built, industry-standard, Linux-based rack server for Web 2.0 and Cloud Computing companies with massive data centers and tens of thousands of servers, like online gaming, social networks, search and Internet firms. A relatively limited marketplace of maybe a thousand companies with fat wallets capable of shelling out tens of millions for such system. IBM means to replace the white boxes they use now or build themselves like Google does.

Amazon is now offering two premium support levels for application developers using its cloud computing services, to wit its S3 storage service, its EC2 computing service and SQS application messaging service. It's got Silver support, priced at $100 a month or 10 cent for every dollar of total Amazon Web Services (AWS) usage fees a month - whichever is greater - and Gold support, which runs $400 a month or 10 cents-20 cents et cetera et cetera.

Stoneware is a privately held corporation providing innovative software that delivers 'Universal Web Access' to all of an organization's web, Windows, and hosted applications through a 'Virtualized Web Desktop' interface. Based on Web 2.0 technology, Stoneware's webOS is an offering in the virtualization market, focusing on the growth of web applications and the shift from client/server to cloud computing. The company services various sectors including education, manufacturing, medical, and legal industries.

VIA is making a move up the outside rail trying to join the other two ponies in the mainstream PC market with a new x86 Nano processor while it counters the dust from Intel's sexy new Atom chip. VIA says the 65nm dingus, based on its Isaiah architecture, offers four times the performance of its existing pin-compatible low-power C7 chip with no increase in the power envelope, meaning it's good for 1.0GHz-1.8GHz at 5W-25W while idling at 100mW (0.1W).

The European Commission's spokesman Jonathan Todd called a story by the Financial Times Deutschland - claiming that the EC had reached a provisional antitrust decision against Intel - 'irresponsible journalism.' Todd said 'no provisional or internal decision' had been made and that the EC?s investigation was still ongoing.

Novell made $5.87 million, or two cents a share, in its second fiscal quarter ended April 30 on flat revenues of $235.7 million, up only ~$3 million. A year ago it lost $2.9 million, down a penny. Legal and R&D cost it $4.5 million. On a non-GAAP basis, income from operations for the second fiscal quarter 2008 was $16 million versus $9 million last year.

Intel is supposed to unveil its second Atom chip, the one for low-cost PCs and so-called netbooks - along with the Atom-optimized Diamondville chipset that'll make the thing a netbook platform - at Computex Taipei, which starts Tuesday June 3. Atom-bearing MIDs that use the Silverthorne chipset are also expected to debut; the Atom the MIDs are based on has been shipping for over a month now.

The closing bell in New York had barely sounded when Dell's results moved across the wire, it was that excited to let everybody know that it had done better than anybody expected. Dell increased its revenues and earnings, lowered its operating expenses (thanks to 7,000 labor cuts the past year), and claimed gains in share across all major product categories and regions in its first quarter.

The latest headlines say that the earth's climate is rapidly changing. Numerous think tank studies, along with recent reports of collapsing ice shelves in Antarctica, provide proof that the earth is getting warmer. Regardless of your opinion about why the earth's climate is changing, it makes good sense as both a global citizen and a corporate citizen to take actions that will help reverse this potentially catastrophic trend.

DataCore announced that it will team with Egenera to jointly verify their solutions running in tandem on virtualization platforms such as Citrix XenServer. The companies have complementary solutions that together deliver the next generation of virtualization. The Egenera BladeFrame system and its Processing Area Network architecture enable enterprise datacenters to rapidly install, deploy and manage pools of network, storage and processing resources. DataCore SANmelody and SANsymphony virtual storage solutions are some of the first SAN solutions to be certified for XenServer in the Citrix Ready program and make it easy to provision, manage, optimize and protect storage resources infrastructure-wide.

Sun Microsystems announced that Sun xVM VirtualBox, a high performance, free and open source desktop virtualization software, has surpassed five million downloads in just 18 months. With xVM VirtualBox software, end users can access their favorite software using any operating system and developers can build, test and run cross-platform, multi-tier applications on a single laptop or desktop computer. xVM VirtualBox 1.6 software is a free hypervisor to support all major host operating systems (OS), including Mac OS X, Linux, Windows, Solaris and OpenSolaris.

DataCore announced today that SoftBank Telecom has deployed DataCore SANmelody as the storage virtualization platform to build, verify and test its disaster recovery process over a wide-area virtual infrastructure. For the deployment and verification test, SoftBank Telecom established a connection between its data centers in Tokyo and Osaka (approximately 500 kilometers apart) via Infiniband, and configured wide-area virtual systems through the virtualization of servers, storage, and I/O.