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Citrix Xen challenges VMware

Kirsten Doyle
By Kirsten Doyle, ITWeb contributor.
Johannesburg, 24 Oct 2007

Citrix Xen challenges VMware

The old Citrix Systems is familiar to IT managers in Windows shops as a stalwart of thin client computing and for being a close partner of Microsoft, says Techtarget.

In the first half of 2008, Citrix will release of XenDesktop, a platform that gives customers a one-stop shop for desktop virtualisation using the Citrix ICA delivery protocol. XenDesktop will ship with the Xen hypervisor, but customers can still use VMware virtual machines if they wish.

The technology joins the newly rebranded server virtualisation platform, Citrix XenServer, formerly known as just XenServer, and Citrix Presentation Server, the company`s application virtualisation platform.

Microsoft touts convergence

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has announced Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 for enterprise mobile IT management, reports Xchangemag.

"Phones keep getting smarter and running more powerful software. Mobile phones are the first real capital good that everyone expects to own." It`s an amazing opportunity, he added, for telecom operators, developers, software companies, content and applications providers and users themselves.

He added that ubiquity creates a "fundamentally new model of computing". With the mobile phone so entrenched in people`s lives, the four main computing models are coming together into one: desktop computing, enterprise server-based computing, the online world of social networking and advertising-based models, and the world of devices, including phones and set-top boxes, he said.

Alternative expands virtualisation

Alternative Technology, a leading specialty distributor of thin-client/server-based computing, edge infrastructure, virtualisation, and government-approved security solutions, has signed a value-added distribution agreement with LeftHand Networks, the leader in open iSCSI SANs, reports TMC Net.

Under the agreement, Alternative Technology will promote and distribute LeftHand Networks` Open iSCSI SAN technology to its network of 3 000 resellers in the United States and Canada. Channel sales, training and pre-sales support will commence immediately, with general availability on 7 November.

"This agreement represents a major expansion of Alternative Technology`s virtual infrastructure solution strategy, broadening and complementing our current portfolio of VMware virtualisation and Citrix-based infrastructure solutions with open iSCSI SANs for x86 server platforms," said Tom Zorn, executive VP of Alternative Technology.

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