Next Thursday (May 19), we will be presenting a webcast with IDC and Provisdion Networks:

Server-Hosted Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) - The Future of Desktop Computing

The description of this event is:

Featuring IDC, Provision Networks and Virtual Iron.

Desktop computing makes up an increasingly large part of enterprise computing infrastructure today. As distributed end points, desktops are difficult to secure, manage and maintain. Refresh cycles, compliance, ongoing maintenance and user support are huge undertakings. These challenges put IT resources under tremendous pressure and significantly increase total cost of ownership.

Desktop virtualization is not new, but to date, it has failed to gain widespread adoption. Server-Hosted Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) hosts individual Windows desktop PCs inside virtual machines running on servers in the data center. This thin-client architecture is significantly easier to secure, maintain and support and it enables an organization's complete Windows desktop environment to be securely accessed and serviced centrally. This webcast will look at how this approach brings all the benefits of server virtualization to the desktop and changes the economics of desktop computing.

As usual, our webcasts are free. Sign-up today.

There's an interesting article in Bank Technology News, which you can find here.

The article talks about virtualization in the banking industry (naturally) and how banks are some of the early adopters of virtualization technology.

If you haven't read our latest white paper on virtual desktop infrastructure, check it out (the link is in the center of our home page, along with a bunch of other VDI information).

Here is an excerpt from the paper:

Over in the forums, JRonline asks:

This is a kind of feature request: when large numbers of Virtual Machines are used in VirtualIron, it would be nice to have a viewing possibility with only the Virtual Machines and custom-created groups in which they live, regardless of the hardware node it is on.

cbarclay notes that you can get this information by selecting a virtual data center's 'Virtual Servers' tab. Give it a try for yourself!

This Thursday, we are presenting a free webcast on Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (also known as VDI) with IDC and Provision Networks.

If you haven't yet signed up, you can register for this VDI webcast here -- again, it's free and is sure to be informative.

If you can't attend, check back because we should have a recording available shortly after.

Some recent articles and press releases of interest:

Virtualization is a priority, say U.K. CIOs

Virtually Speaking: Living in a Virtual World

Virtual Iron Software Named as Finalist for the 2007 MITX Technology Awards

Virtual Iron Achieves IBM System Storage Proven Certification

In addition to the hardware we certify and list on our hardware certification list, a few people have started noting in the forums other hardware that they are using Virtual Iron on. Let us know what your hardware profile is, too.

We're always certifying on new hardware. It's an important part of the business, making sure that we run on the hardware being used by our customers, so this kind of feedback is helpful for everyone.

Virtual Iron now supports the CentOS 4.4 operating system. If you're not familiar with CentOS, it is a completely free operating system. From the CentOS web site:

CentOS is an Enterprise-class Linux Distribution derived from sources freely provided to the public by a prominent North American Enterprise Linux vendor. CentOS conforms fully with the upstream vendors redistribution policy and aims to be 100% binary compatible. (CentOS mainly changes packages to remove upstream vendor branding and artwork.) CentOS is free.

Now, you can download free virtualization software from Virtual Iron and use a completely free operating system. Among other things, this is a great way to test out virtualization and see its advantages.

The recording from last week's webcast is now available. Click here to watch it:
Server-Hosted Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) - The Future of Desktop Computing

Thanks to John Humphreys from IDC and Paul Ghostine from Provision Networks for hosting this webcast with us and thanks to everybody who attended.

Yesterday, we announced that Meganet Communications (a network services provider) and XCalibre Communications (a hosting service provider located in the UK) were using Virtual Iron in their data centers. From the releases:

I've posted on the VMDK to VHD Converter before but wanted to re-introduce it to those who may have missed it. The question of how to convert still comes up and, for the benefit of new and old readers alike, I am re-posting it.

The original post hast screenshots and a bit more info, but converting VMDK files to VHD is incredibly easy using this converter tool. You simply need to:

1. Select your source VMware virtual hard disk image (a VMDK file).
2. Choose a location to save the converted VHD file to.
3. Click 'convert' and let the converter run.
4. Import the VHD file into Virtual Iron. You're done!

Dan Kusnetzky, the Virtual Man over at ZDNet, posted an informative article on Virtual Iron the other day.

In addition to providing an update on what's new in Virtual Iron 3.6, Dan provides a nice overview of our history.

Virtual Iron has been all over the industry news lately:

ServerWatch: Virtually Speaking: The Future Looks Bright

This positions Virtual Iron for the ISP space, Walsh said, and here it anticipates competition to be stronger from SWsoft than its traditional nemesis, VMware. Supporting Virtual Iron's debut in this space, are two customer wins: Meganet Communications and XCalibre Communications.

There's a good thread on LiveMigration going on in the forums. If this is a feature that you're interested in, check it out.

If you're not familiar with LiveMigration, it is live relocation of virtual servers. More information on LiveMigration can be found on our website.

I was reminded this morning of a free tool that will, among other things, check to see if you have Intel-VT or AMD-V chips in your servers. If you have either of those, you're ready to use Virtual Iron!

The tool is SecurAble, which quickly tells you if your processor is virtualization ready (SecurAble also tells you the name of your server, max. bit length and hardware D.E.P.).

All you need to do is download and run the executable (no installation required). It takes about 3 seconds to determine if you're virtualization ready.

Thanks to VolkerW's WebLog for the reminder.

We're up for best "Virtualization Ecosystem" in the 2007 ServerWatch Product Excellence Awards. Please take a moment and vote for us (no registration is required).

Thanks!

Virtualization.info posted an excellent 8-part guide to virtualization earlier this week. These detailed articles cover everything from fail-over to P2V migration to ROI to virtual datacenters and more.

Over on the forums, there was some brief Q&A regarding iSCSI management with Virtual Iron:

Q: Can I change the Alias name assigned to a SAN disk?
A: Yes, you can change the alias by clicking on it, typing a new alias, and hitting the commit button.

Q: Can I assign a backup adapter for my iSCSi Network? Ideally, we would like to team in a Fault tolerant config but that does not seem possible?
A: Unfortunately, we do not support NIC teaming at this time. We do have HBA multi-pathing for fibre channel, however.

Q: Do you know if iSCSI teaming supoprt is on teh roadmap? If so when this support is expected? Is there anyway to use MPIO for the iSCSI?
A: We are planning to add NIC and iSCSI teaming (and MPIO) later this year.

ComputerWorld provides five tips for getting started with virtualization:

1. Determine whether your servers are ripe for consolidation.

2. Get the administrative headaches out of the way.

3. Select your hardware and software.

4. Start moving to virtualization.

5. Monitor, assess, tweak, improve.

Click here for the full article.

Step 3 is easy, of course. Just download Virtual Iron.

Over in the forums, ablack asks, "What are people using to virtualize their Windows servers?"

If you've done any physical-to-virtual conversions, leave a reply in the forums. If you're thinking of P2V, see what other people have used.