VMworld 2010: DataCore Showcases Why Its Storage Virtualization and Stretch High-Availability Software Eliminates Business Outages that Jeopardize Cloud Computing

At VMworld 2010 being held in San Francisco at the Moscone Center this week, DataCore is showcasing how fundamental software-based storage virtualization is to cloud computing. The Mirazon Group's Chief Technical Architect Barry Martin states: "Cloud computing platforms demand unprecedented uptime due to server and storage consolidation. DataCore's high-availability approach provides zero downtime. This is a tremendous advantage." Storage Virtualization and Stretch HA Software for Non-stop Clouds DataCore is blazing a trail by developing storage virtualization software that is a game-changer in terms of how resellers, solution providers as well as companies considering virtualization deployments manage and deploy virtualization projects and Clouds. The game-changer is that by deploying DataCore in a stretch high-availability (HA) configuration, DataCore delivers fault-tolerance that virtually eliminates storage-related outages that jeopardize business continuity and plague virtualization and consolidation initiatives. "The DataCore Software stretch high-availability solution delivers seamless, enterprise-class business continuity, data resiliency, and high performance at an affordable price tag," states Aaron Schneider, principal and co-founder, Helixstorm, Inc. "Your applications, virtual servers and virtual desktops and VM migrations continue to run non-stop despite back-end storage changes, failures or reconfigurations. Bottom-line, you get a true high-availability, shared storage solution that automatically protects your data and your virtual machines right out-of-the box just by deploying the virtual storage software in two locations." DataCore in the Cloud: Achieve the Highest Degree of Availability, Flexibility and Openness for Your Storage Host.net knows intuitively that storage virtualization software is priority one. "Any cloud computing platform, just like any virtualization deployment, needs to have portable software as its building blocks," notes Jeffrey Slapp, vice president of virtualization services, Host.net. "We chose DataCore in the core design of our virtual private data center (vPDC) platform alongside VMware and Cisco because it delivers the very best storage virtualization component." DataCore storage virtualization software is virtualizing the storage aspect of an all-virtual private data center (vPDC) platform developed by Host.net. Host.net delivers private cloud computing services for companies ranging from SMEs to large enterprises, utilizing a true software-based approach for the greatest flexibility. Check out the Case study here: Host.Net Case Study on Why Host.net Chose DataCore? Contain Costs, Avoid Risks, Boost Productivity and Extend the Life of IT Investments with DataCore Software Even though server and desktop virtualization and consolidation have garnered much of the virtualization press to date, now the real focus of concern is turning from how to virtualize and consolidate servers and desktops to how can we do more to mitigate the risk that results from consolidation. The key concerns being, "How do I insulate my business applications from storage related failures and disruptions that can severely impact virtual machine images and data that are key to running the business?" and "How good is my high-availability, disaster recovery and shared storage solutions?" DataCore addresses these concerns with proven software deployed in thousands of customer sites around the world. DataCore's software virtualizes disks across pools of tiered storage devices enabling users to provision, share, reconfigure, migrate, replicate, expand or upgrade without slowdowns or downtime. Simply put, DataCore: +Complements your storage and makes it more reliable, faster and better. +Works across unlike & incompatible storage devices. +Eliminates storage-related disruptions, bottlenecks and funding roadblocks that jeopardize virtualization and cloud deployments. Visit DataCore Customers and Partners Onsite at VMworld 2010 [Booth #1607] Numerous DataCore customers, including Host.net and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, who have deployed DataCore along with top DataCore solution providers will be onsite at DataCore's VMworld booth [#1607] and are available and standing by to answer questions, highlight best practices and explain the DataCore difference. DataCore solution providers and partners onsite include Grove Networks, HelixStorm, Red Level Networks, Sanity Solutions, The Mirazon Group and DataCore's value-add distributor Lifeboat Distribution. DataCore partner Andy Judge, founder and CEO of Miami-based Grove Networks, encapsulates the value DataCore brings as follows, "DataCore storage virtualization software gives our clients cost savings and flexibility that is not achievable with storage hardware alone. It takes hardware to a higher level - serving as a hardware and productivity 'enhancer' that pays dividends over the short and long term."

View original story : elastic+cloud+computing Feed : DataCore - In the News

Using OneSaas to integrate with Basecamp, Freshbooks and more

Do you manage your business across multiple web apps? Wish they could all talk together? Just as the Babel fish from 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' served as a universal language translator between alien races, OneSaas is an online service for transferring contacts and financial data between multiple web apps. That's right, by acting as a bridge between APIs, it can push new and existing contacts from say, Highrise and Google Contacts, to a Campaign Monitor subscriber list. And you don't even have to stick it in your ear to use it. Which web apps can you sync with OneSaas? It's not uncommon for folks to have customer details scattered across multiple web apps. For instance, you might have paying customers in Highrise that you want to invoice in Freshbooks. Additionally, you want to add these same customers to a Campaign Monitor subscriber list, so you can send them post-purchase email newsletters and updates. Exporting and re-importing new and existing contacts/subscribers across two or more services can be a real chore, so OneSaas has done the legwork for you. With OneSaas, you can automatically push new and existing contacts from one or more of the following apps to a Campaign Monitor subscriber list: Basecamp Business Catalyst Freshbooks Google Contacts Highrise Saasu EventBrite (Coming soon!) SalesForce (Coming soon!) WordPress (Coming soon!) In addition, OneSaas' Financial Management accounts can be used to migrate and synchronize orders and transactions between apps like Business Catalyst, FreshBooks, OneSaas, and Saasu. We'll focus simply on managing your contacts for now. Getting started Setting up OneSaas to push contacts from the web app of your choice to a Campaign Monitor subscriber list is fairly simple. And don't worry, it's all documented within OneSaas itself. In this example, we'll race through getting an existing 37signals' Highrise account to integrate with Campaign Monitor, so buckle up. Say you have an existing Highrise account and list of contacts: The first thing you'll need is your Highrise account's API token. Now, lets say you already have a OneSaas account. In the 'My Cloud' tab, create a 'new connection' by selecting 'Highrise HQ' and adding your API token and domain name when prompted: So far, so good. Now, lets do the same for Campaign Monitor. There's no need to get your API key in advance - OneSaas displays your Campaign Monitor account page in the app, so you can get your key on the fly. You'll also be given the option to select which Campaign Monitor subscriber list you want to push new Highrise contacts to. If everything has gone to plan, your 'My Cloud' tab in OneSaas should look like this: All up, this process takes no more than 5-10 minutes and only needs to be done once. Pushing contacts to a subscriber list The neat thing about One Saas is that you can set-and-forget. Either you can wait for OneSaas to push new contacts to your Campaign Monitor subscriber list on an hourly/daily basis (depending on your plan), or you can click 'Synchronize' under 'Active connections' to manually push your Highrise contacts to Campaign Monitor. You probably want to do this on your first run. And well, the bottom line is that it simply works. After clicking 'Synchronize', our Highrise contacts were automatically added to our Campaign Monitor subscriber list of choice: Note that at this point, it's possible to transfer names and email addresses via OneSaas, but not custom fields. We'll put this one on our wish list to the developer. Our verdict The skinny is that OneSaas does as labelled on the tin. It's also fairly easy to setup, thanks to a fair amount of in-app documentation. Plus this setup process only needs to be performed once for as long as your account details remain the same, as OneSaas will push contacts indefinitely until told to do otherwise. OneSaas has a range of simple pricing plans, based on the number of contacts you wish to synchronize, how often you want synchronization to happen and the number of applications you want to connect. There's even a free plan to help you kick the tyres at absolutely no cost. Included is in-app email support, as well as support channels via Skype and Twitter (@OneSaas). Perhaps most endearingly, OneSaas are Australian-made. And as we know, all the best web apps find their roots in the surf and sun Down Under! On the downside, it's only possible to synchronize your contacts with one Campaign Monitor subscriber list. Also, the transfer of custom fields is not yet supported, so you can't segment your single subscriber list by whatever contact details you have stored in Highrise, or elsewhere. OneSaas plan to support custom fields sometime in the future, but if multiple list or custom field support is something you're specifically after, please feel free to let us and the developers know in the comments. We've been in touch with the friendly folks at OneSaas for a few months now, so its been great to watch this service move out of beta and onto the public stage. Now it's in the wild, it seems that they're not planning to rest on their laurels any time soon. Alongside further improvements to their service, integrations with WordPress, SalesForce and EventBrite also in the works. So, if you're after an automated way to push your contacts from apps like Freshbooks and Highrise to a Campaign Monitor list, then give OneSaas a go. It's a simple, affordable solution to what has long been a tricky problem... And you don't have to like fish to use it.

View original story : elastic+cloud+computing Feed : Campaign Monitor Blog & Gallery

Things I liked and didn't like from the Apple presentation

Things I liked: new iPod Nano -- A see commenters on other blogs already slagging the Nano as too small or ugly. I disagree. If all you care about is music, but you want easier access to your playlists than the screenless Shuffle provides, the touch screen Nano is the perfect device. The $149 price does seem a bit high -- $129 or, better yet, $99 would have been ideal -- but I think this will be a very hot product. ------------------------------------------------ I wonder what you can do with that USB port. Apple TV -- More accurately, I like the concept of the Apple TV, but I'm not sure the business model is correct, yet. The device seems slim and efficient, although at its heart the Apple TV is basically just a hardware version of the online widgets that TV makers like Samsung are starting to build into their sets. But I suspect Apple didn't want its product to be lumped in a list with the likes of Blockbuster On Demand and TV Guide. So instead of Apple TV being an app built into a television, it's a standalone box you plug into your television. I do like the 99-cent rentals, but the selection of broadcasters (just ABC and Fox, initially) has to grow, and the pricing on movie rentals (starting at $3.99) is too high. If shows are 99 cents, movies should be $1.99. Also, since all this content is just streamed from the cloud, you should also be able to buy shows and movies for a dollar more than the rental versions, and have access to that content for as long as you want. In fact, I suspect purchases are coming eventually, but the studios probably nixed it at launch. ------------------------------------------------ new iPod Touch -- Thinner than the iPhone 4, but with the retina display high-res screen and with rear and front-facing cameras, the iPod Touch is the perfect mobile media player. I half-expected Steve Jobs to announce a pay-as-you go 3G data plan for the Touch, similar to the iPad, when he made a brief crack about the Touch being like an iPhone without a contract. That would have been awesome, but it would also have killed a lot of demand for the iPhone, since many people would be tempted to install VoiP software on the Touch and just make it their primary cellphone. Still, the new Touch looks great, and I'm eager to check it out. ------------------------------------------------ shout out to Steve Wozniak -- I've had the impression over the last few years that the two Steves don't really talk much, and there might actually be bad blood of some sort between the two industry legends. Maybe that's incorrect, but it was still a bit touching to see Jobs begin his presentation with a nod to his old "partner in crime" who was sitting in the audience. ------------------------------------------------ Things I didn't like:

View original story : elastic+cloud+computing Feed : TECHNOLOGY

Dell throws in the towel on bidding war with HP for 3Par

Late last week I put together a post that outlined the ongoing saga between Dell and HP and their battle to acquire 3Par, a leading provider of utility storage, a category of highly virtualized and dynamically tiered storage arrays built for public and private cloud computing. Well, it looks as if [...]

View original story : elastic+cloud+computing Feed : Techvibes Global Blog

VMware grows cloud stack with two acquisitions

VMware buys Integrien, TriCipher to grow cloud offering In order to expand its stack of cloud enabling software, VMware is acquiring two software companies, the virtualisation software vendor announced Tuesday.

View original story : elastic+cloud+computing Feed : CIO Grid Computing

MSI IPC Attends Equipmag 2010 and Enada Roma 2010

Taipei, Taiwan - Micro-Star international (MSI) Industrial Platform Computing (IPC) has announced that they will participate in two exhibitions, Equipmag2010 in France and Enada Rome 2010 in Italy, to…

View original story : elastic+cloud+computing Feed : TweakTown Press Release RSS

Hurricane 'My Name Is Earl' puts cloud over Twitter-land

By Elizabeth Chuck, msnbc.com The mood on Twitter matches the weather today: Stormy.

View original story : elastic+cloud+computing Feed : First Read - First Read's Column - Articles and Seeds

Samsung Galaxy Tab launches with HTML5 and Flash

Samsung is entering the mobile computing market with the Galaxy Tab, an Android-based tablet that supports HTML5 and Adobe Flash.

View original story : elastic+cloud+computing Feed : Web User | News

Apple TV a first step for more ambitious plans?

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Critics hoping for more from Apple Inc's Web-to-TV plans -- a device, say, that would revolutionize living room entertainment the way the iPad changed tablet computing -- may just need to wait a bit longer.

View original story : elastic+cloud+computing Feed : Reuters: Internet News

white smoke from exhaust under heavy acceleration

the past couple days i've been noticing a cloud of white smoke in my rear view mirror under heavy acceleration. searching around, a lot of people...

View original story : elastic+cloud+computing Feed : V6Power Messageboard