* VMware aims at server consolidation; PlateSpin announces PowerConvert 5.1
Virtualization is red hot as VMware, IBM and PlateSpin announce new products that carve up physical servers into separate logical, virtual machines.
VMware last week announced a series of services around server consolidation and capacity planning that help customers identify where opportunities for consolidation exist.
VMware’s server consolidation assessment services use the VMware Capacity Planner – a hosted IT analysis and planning tool that estimates capacity planning and server consolidation. The services are based on the VMware Virtual Infrastructure Methodology, which produces, validates and improves the use of VMware’s virtualization products. The services include capacity assessment and a virtualization assessment.
PlateSpin announced PowerConvert 5.1, the latest version of its software that enables the migration of operating systems, applications, data and settings among virtual or physical machines. PowerConvert allows consolidation, de-virtualization and fast recovery of data. Among the new features of PowerConvert are support for Windows Dynamic Disk, incremental third-party images and integrated job scheduling. PlateSpin initially announced PowerConvert back in July.
Windows Dynamic Disk enables PlateSpin to convert physical Windows servers with dynamic disks to virtual machines, other physical servers or to image archives. Support for third-party images includes images captured by Acronis TrueImage or Symantec LiveState.
In addition, PowerConvert 5.1 includes integrated job scheduling, which lets customers schedule conversions, and a Conversion Analyzer Tool that provides inventory reports.
Finally, IBM and VMware announced that they would launch a hosted infrastructure for IBM’s xSeries and BladeCenter servers. The infrastructure is client-based and will use Citrix’s terminal server capabilities.
