Software News Daily » cloud computing

VMware Offers Free Online Training for a Limited Time

Kyle — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 17:57:23 +0000

Update: This promotion has ended on Thursday, September 15th, 2011.

Virtualization and cloud computing seems to be the wave of the future, and for those of us who aren’t tech experts or computer wizards, understanding the ins and outs of these systems and software can be more than a little daunting. Thankfully, VMware is -for a limited time- including free training with VMware Essentials and Essentials Plus purchases.

Until September 15th, 2011, when customers buy VMware Essentials/Essentials Plus, they will receive vSphere Fundamentals for SMBs online training for free. This training course is designed specifically to teach new users the vSphere architecture, best practices, and guide you through the installation process.

Time Frame:

Customers who purchase eligible products between March 8th and September 15th, 2011, will receive redemption tokens in April 2012, when the training course is launched.
Eligible products must be purchased between 3/8/11 and 9/15/11 and will have until November 15th to redeem their tokens.

Eligibility:

This promotion is open to all commercial, academic and U.S. Federal customers who order eligble products through a VMware authorized reseller, such as SoftwareMedia.com
This promotion is NOT open to customers ordering from EMC, or OEM partners.
Limit one (1) eligible order per customer.

SoftwareMedia is a cerified reseller of VMware Licensing.

You can also call our sales team at 1-800-474-1045 for more information.

VMware vSphere 5 – New Features

Justin — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 22:16:09 +0000

Overview

The VMware vSphere platform is the gold standard of the virtualization world. When vSphere 4 was introduced, server virtualization was an advanced tool for enterprises with large datacenters to avoid having to cram even more server hardware in for growth.

vSphere 5 comes into a world where server virtualization is the standard in most corporate data centers. vSphere 5 seeks to leverage that transfer by both improving on its top of the line feature as well as making virtualization more accessible to smaller scale operations.

“vSphere 5 provides the resource pooling, it’s what allows to take all of the server, storage and network resources and turn those into essentially a giant automated computer,”

VMware vSphere 5 Features and Benefits

Enhancements and new features in VMware vSphere 5 will deliver better application performance and availability for all business-critical applications and introduce advanced automation capabilities to free IT from manual processes and be more responsive to the needs of the business, including:

» 4X larger VMs scale to support any application.

With VMware vSphere 5, VMware will make it easier for customers to achieve 100 percent virtualization. VMware vSphere 5 will be capable of running virtual machines (VMs) that are four times more powerful than VMware vSphere 4, supporting up to 1 terabyte of memory and up to 32 virtual CPUs. These VMs will be able to process in excess of 1 million I/O operations per second, which will far surpass current requirements of even the most resource-intensive applications. For example, VMware vSphere 5 will be able to support a database that processes more than two billion transactions per day.

» vShere Storage Appliance (VSA)

Another big piece of the vSphere 5 product launch was the announcement of the new VMware vSphere Storage Appliance (or VSA). VSA is a software-based storage appliances or virtual SAN appliance. While VMware’s new option doesn’t require any hardware, it doesn’t quite work like traditional VSAs either.

The new VMware VSA is actually made up of two or three virtual machines spread across two or three ESXi 5 servers. These virtual machines work together to present the local storage on that host as NFS storage to the ESXi servers. The four things that make it unique compared to other VSAs are:

It’s fully supported by VMware for advanced features like vMotion, svMotion, VMHA, FT, and DRS.
It’s super-easy to install and use with vSphere.
The storage data that is stored locally is fully redundant and spread across other hosts such that if any single host is lost, that data is still available on other hosts.
It is fully managed from within the vSphere Client

» The most advanced hypervisor architecture in the smallest footprint.

VMware vSphere 5 is the first version of VMware vSphere built exclusively on ESXi™, the only hypervisor purpose-built for virtualization that runs independently from a general-purpose operating system. With an ultrathin architecture, ESXi delivers industry leading performance, reliability and scalability all within a footprint less than 100MB, which means streamlined deployment and configuration as well as simplified patching and updating and better security.

» Updates to vSphere High Availability (HA) offer the best protection against unplanned downtime.

VMware vSphere 5 will feature a new HA architecture that is not only easier to set up (customers can get their applications set up with HA in minutes), but is more scalable and offers superior availability guarantees.

» Storage Distributed Resource Scheduler

One of the most powerful new features of vSphere (included only in vSphere Enterprise Plus) combines the monitoring of storage latency with VMware’s popular distributed resource scheduler (DRS). With SDRS, latency of vSphere data stores is monitored and if a VM isn’t receiving the performance that it needs, that VM’s virtual disk will be svMotion’ed over to another data store where it can get better performance.

» Network

vSphere network /O Control—new per–virtual-machine controls allow more-granular SLA enforcement.

vSphere Distributed Switch—Improves visibility of virtual machine track through NetFlow and enhances monitoring and troubleshooting through Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) and Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) support

Summary

vSphere 5’s features are strong and unique in the marketplace. For large enterprises, features like storage DRS and profile-driving storage will be huge. For the SMB, the VSA and Linux-based vCenter virtual appliance are the big benefits. While the cost to use vSphere 5 may be in question due to the vRAM pooled pricing, with so many new features it may be a hard release to pass up!

Sushmita contributed to this article.

vSphere Acceleration Kit Upgrade Promo

Justin — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:58:45 +0000

There’s no getting around it: virtualization and cloud computing are the future. From a business perspective, companies reduce costs in operations, maintenance, and energy. Consumers gain flexibility and scalability to their file access. For any die-hards of the “old school” it’s a tough pill to swallow. After all, candles and torches were great for thousands of years. But once we humans figured out the whole electricity thing, well…scented candle anyone?

Many scoffed when VMware claimed that virtual machines would eventually outnumber physical machines. That happened a couple years ago. Then they toted having the first Cloud OS. Once again, skeptics dismissed it as the ravings of the village lunatic. A couple weeks ago, Amazon launched their Cloud-based system. Apple and Google are sure to follow close behind (Microsoft already joined the bandwagon with their Hyper-V). Is it just me, or are we doubters the crazy ones?

VMware is continually providing IT pros with easy—and affordable—options to get the virtual ball rolling. vSphere Acceleration Kits are one of those options. Including vCenter Standard and vSphere Standard, a vSphere Standard Acceleration Kit helps companies start on the fantastic voyage into virtualization. If you aren’t quite sure if you want to make such a jump right away, vSphere Essentials may be the choice for you. Priced at under $500, it’ll give you a sampling of VMware’s…wares. Rest assured, in no time, you’ll be craving more.

Once you’ve tried vSphere Essentials 4 and are ready to dive more fully into the wonderful world of virtualization, VMware has your back. Between now and June 16^th, users can upgrade from vSphere Essentials to a vSphere Standard Acceleration Kit and save up to $4,000 off the MSRP. What’s the gimmick, you ask? VMware wants people to embrace virtualization, and solidify itself as the go-to-company for all virtualization needs. It’s virtually a win-win all around.

Small Business Cloud Computing Guide from SoftwareMedia

Brian — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 21:53:34 +0000

Internet access is becoming widely available almost everywhere now, and so many different devices allow you to access it. The internet is now becoming an important player in how we stay organized. Cloud Computing is simplifying the way we access all our information. Services now allow you to store all your information on their servers “or in the cloud”, and let others have the ability to access them, and collaborate in real time. This is great for businesses that have multiple offices, sales reps, or frequent travelers. Now it’s easier than ever to be able to access your important documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and even large files. It’s like your own personal intranet without an expensive IT department. The cloud is already saving tons of businesses extra expenses, and unneeded time searching for information.

Many services are available that can help your business start experiencing the benefits of Cloud Computing, quickly and efficiently. Today we will jump into some of the difference and benefits of some of the most popular options available.

Continue reading to find out how you can streamline the way your business communicates.

Whether your business is a Windows environment or is already experiencing the benefits of Microsoft’s Exchange Server, you will appreciate the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite or BPOS. With Outlook Web Access you can experience all the features you depend on in Outlook on your computer in any web browser. With SharePoint Server your business can share and collaborate on documents easier than ever before. Access documents in your cloud from your desktop or remotely from any computer with internet access. Right now we are encouraging businesses to try BPOS by offering you a $25 Gift Card to SoftwareMedia.com just for signing up for a free 30 Day Trial. Watch the video below for more details, and an in depth tutorial for using BPOS for your business.

If your business is a Macintosh environment or you’ve experienced the great features of Gmail, you may want to consider Google Apps for your business. Your business will experience the benefits of Google’s great services in Gmail, Docs, Calendar, Sites, Video, and Talk. Google creates an entirely web based environment for your business to communicate in. This makes it easy to stay organized with your email, calendar, and documents from any computer or Smartphone. For iPhone users Google has created optimized sites that give you quick access to everything in your cloud. Android users will experience seamless integration, as Google’s tools are seamlessly integrated into the operating system. You can also try out Google’s services for your business free for 30 days.

Both of these options are affordable and easy to setup. You can explore pricing options for BPOS, and Google Apps, on SoftwareMedia.com If you have any more questions about bringing the cloud to your business you can contact our sales team at 1(800)474-1945.

Microsoft BPOS: How To Guide and Free 30 Day Trial with Gift Card

Brian — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:52:53 +0000

The Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite also known as BPOS, is an awesome resource for small businesses with no IT department who want to upgrade the way their employees communicate. BPOS is a cloud computing similar to Google Apps or Offices New Web Apps. However BPOS features tools specifically designed to help small businesses succeed, and communicate efficiently without a large IT department. BPOS gives business tools for organizing the information they share over the internet. It’s like having a comprehensive company intranet without the need for expensive servers, and networking.

In the video below we dive into all the great features of BPOS, as well as how to set it up with a custom domain, create SharePoint sites, and access Exchange online. We also simulate how BPOS can help any business as well as explain how to sign up for a free 30 Day Trial.

If you want to try out BPOS for yourself we are offering a Free 30 Day Trial, and as a bonus if you sign up we will send you a $25 Gift Card to SoftwareMedia.com.

Microsft BPOS – Free Trial With Free $25 Gift Card to SoftwareMedia.com For Signing Up

Kevin — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:45:43 +0000

As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, SoftwareMedia is now able to offer a free 30-day trial for the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). Along with this free trial, SoftwareMedia.com is offering a free $25 gift card with every completed trial sign-up (more details below).

Microsoft BPOS is a bundle of popular messaging and collaboration software that is hosted in the cloud, and is available to your company as a pay as you go service. Microsoft BPOS includes Exchange Online, Sharepoint Online, Office Communications Online, and Office Live Meeting.

So why consider a hosted solution from Microsoft for your messaging and communication software? The reasons are different for every business, but most every company can benefit from lower costs, more uptime, less complex management, and disaster recovery. A hosted solution allows companies to free up their IT staff from having to deal with the burden of managing email and collaboration servers. It also reduces up-front hardware and software licensing costs. With BPOS you pay as you go, for as many users as you need, instead of buying software up-front and having to manage CALs for all of your employees. The software included in BPOS is constantly updated to the latest version, with no need to upgrade every 3-4 years or having to stay on top of critical patches and updates. All of this is taken care of by Microsoft in the cloud. Your IT staff is now free to focus on more important tasks than keeping your email up and running.

With over 2 million users currently subscribed to BPOS all over the world, this hosted solution from Microsoft is gaining more and more support every day. Microsoft guarantees its Online Services to deliver 99.9 percent uptime through its global network of redundant data centers. You will never have to worry about having access to your business-critical data or emails, and you can be assured your data is safe with constant back-ups. BPOS is also gaining the support of companies with high-level security concerns and government agencies. It also complies with numerous international standards for security, like SAS No. 70 Type II and ISO 27001.

By far, the most popular part of BPOS is Exchange Online. This service gives your employees access to their email from anywhere, on most any device. It come with 25GB of storage per user, as well as anti-spam and anti-virus security. You can also boost your productivity through shared tasks, calendars, and contacts that again, can be accessed from anywhere.

Now you are probably wondering, “What is all of this going to cost me?” BPOS pricing tops out at $10 per user, per month, with a 12-month contract. If you have more than 250 users, the price goes down because of volume discounts. This is truly a great deal when you consider Exchange Server software begins at $655 per server and $67 per User CAL (these are the prices currently found on SoftwareMedia.com). And this is only for Exchange! SharePoint Server will run you another $4000 (at least) with $87 per CAL. Factor in software upgrade costs every 3-5 years as well as hardware costs, and BPOS looks more and more attractive.

If you are interested in learning more about BPOS, check out the Microsoft BPOS page on SoftwareMedia.

For a limited time, you will also receive a $25 Gift Card to SoftwareMedia.com just for signing up for a FREE 30-day trial of Business Productivity Online Suite. This gift card can be used for any future purchase on SoftwareMedia.com. Simply provide your email address and contact information in the Free Trial Sign-Up section, and SoftwareMedia will email you a $25 gift card, as well as a link to begin your BPOS 30-day trial.

What are you waiting for? Check out this FREE 30-day trial now…you don’t even have to provide credit card information to sign up!

Security Threats and Predictions for Year 2010

Lansia — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:57:46 +0000

Did you know that over 20 threats emerge every minute? Actually, there is a new one every 2.5 seconds. Most of these threats are from the web. According to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive, the average adult Internet user spends an average of 13 hours a week online — a trend that has been increasing over the years. Hence, more cause for concern in our technological future?

Cloud-computing and virtualization are becoming increasingly popular. At cheaper costs, the ease of work mobility, increased reliability, lighter installations and improved efficiency, it’s hard not to progress with this trend. But with the ups must come the downs, I suppose. The Trend Micro 2010 Future Threat Report (released December 2009) predicts the grounds on which cyber-criminals prey are also expanded due to the expansion of cloud-computing and virtualization.

Curious about other warnings in the new year? The 2010 Future Threat Report also gives heed to look-alike domains (for phishing attacks), social media and social networks (for identity theft and the alike), growth of localized target attacks, drive-by infections (“one Web visit is enough to get infected”) and the ever-weary bots. Click here for a full threat report.

Worried about cloud-computing now? No fear. Trend Micro proudly boasts a strategy to stop threats in the cloud before they reach endpoints. Maybe this video will convince you… Find out why your endpoints are exposed.

Trend Micro is a global leader in endpoint, messaging and Web security. With over 20 years of expertise, they have been ranked #1 in real-world online testing through independent tests conducted by NSS Labs. Yep, I’d say their predictions are definitely credible.

50% Off Panda AntiVirus 2010

Lisa — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:08:47 +0000

A computer virus may be acquired by downloading infected files and can corrupt a computer’s memory or cause it to operate incorrectly. To protect your computer you should always make sure that your operating system is up-to-date and that you have the latest security software.

For a limited time, you can purchase the latest version of Panda AntiVirus for half the price. This deal is available for the instant download version only.

Panda AntiVirus protects against viruses, spyware, rootkits, hackers, online fraud and identity theft. New features include: protection against USB drive infection, generic signatures, and remote heuristic scanning from the cloud. There are many improved features such as: 80% reduced memory consumption, improved scanning of instant messaging traffic, and better shielding from hackers on the web, to name a few. For more information about Panda AntiVirus, check out this article by Computer Security Review.

City of L.A. to Move Into the Cloud

emily — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:23:01 +0000

Adding to our last post about customers switching to Google Apps, CNET News has just reported that Los Angeles is ready to make the switch. The city, like many government agencies, has had security concerns over making the switch. The concerns were brought to light “after the poor e-mail practices of an employee at Twitter and an easy password reset mechanism at Yahoo gave a hacker access to sensitive Twitter documents stored on Google Apps.” While this has nothing to do with the security of Google Apps, it did raise questions about cloud computing in general.

Despite concerns, L.A. appears to be moving forward with the 5-year, $2 million contract. The main driver appears to be cost. Meanwhile, the city will keep Microsoft Office on PCs that already have it, and future additions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

What do you think of the country’s second largest city making the switch to Google Apps?

3,000 Companies Switch to Google Apps Every Day

Kevin — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:16:11 +0000

You read that right. Over 1.75 million companies have moved their email, scheduling, and document creation software into the cloud with Google Apps. Every day, more and more IT departments decide to leave email hosting and software upgrade cycles behind in favor of “Going Google”.

Google Apps is a web-based collection of email, communication, and collaboration applications designed to help business work more efficiently. The core of Google Apps is Gmail. With Google Apps Premiere Edition, Gmail is customized to your company and seamlessly integrates with your contact lists. Tools like message grouping (to keep replies to the same email in the same place) and message tagging let you keep on top of your inbox and never lose important emails. Also included in Google Apps is Google Calendar (for easy task management and scheduling that integrates with your email), Google Voice and IM chat from your inbox (with chat logging), and Google Docs (for creating and sharing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations).

So why are so many companies switching to a hosted software solution like Google Apps? One of the main reasons is cost. Google Apps Premiere Edition for business only runs $50 per user, per year. Compared to expensive Microsoft Office Suites and email hosting servers like Microsoft Exchange, Google Apps is a true bargain. There is no hardware to buy up front, because Google hosts all of the services. And, all software updates are integrated without any input from your IT department or users. And, there is no cost associated with upgrading to newer versions of Google Apps. It just happens automatically as new features are added.

Google Apps has other advantages like access to all of your emails, chats, documents, and calendars from anywhere, on any device. There is no extra cost for terminal services or BlackBerry integration. Almost any device with an internet connection will work with Google Apps, right out of the box.

Many companies are hesitant to trust all of their important emails and documents to a hosted solution based on remote servers. However, many secure government agencies have dissected Google Apps and found its backup and security capabilities to be more than sufficient.

I have a feeling we are only seeing the beginning of cloud-based software solutions like Google Apps. As high-speed internet and wireless broadband access becomes the standard, and users begin to trust hosted software more and more, we will see even more companies moving from the standard software license and hardware solution. It is just too cost effective to pay a yearly service fee to take care of all your software and hosting requirements. Google Apps even has a calculator to determine how much you could save by Going Google.

SoftwareMedia.com is working on Google Apps to our customers as an alternative to traditional software licensing. Stay tuned for further details.

For more information on Google Apps, check out the official site.