Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
9/23/2008
IBM has unveiled a new storage solution designed to help organizations take advantage of cloud computing technology in order to significantly reduce their virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) storage needs.
IBM's Virtual Storage Optimizer (VSO) is designed to help organizations reduce their VDI storage overhead by up to 80 percent, based on current results. The VSO is available now as a part of IBM's Virtual Infrastructure Access (VIA) services and is based on an IBM Research-developed algorithm that not only decreases the physical storage needs of virtual desktops, but also provides for faster, more efficient creation of new desktop images, as well as reduced overall energy consumption, according to IBM.
"VSO helps businesses more efficiently manage physical storage requirements and improve utilization rates, energy efficiency, availability, and scalability of critical applications," said Jan Jackman, vice president, End-User Services, IBM Global Technology Services, in a prepared statement. "VSO further extends our ability to help businesses and schools embrace cloud computing models that accommodate employee mobility and enhance end-user productivity."
In addition to the new VDI offerings, IBM has also developed technology and business partnerships with VMware and Desktone. The partnerships are intended to result in a set of solutions for a range of organizations, including government and educational institutions.
About the author: Chris Riedel is a freelance writer based in Illinois. He can be reached here.
copy text (above) for proper citation
The Georgia Tech College of Computing, working in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has developed a Web-based tool for tracking blood safety. The program is expected to help developing countries improve the adequacy and safety of their national blood supplies through better monitoring and evaluation.
Mississippi State University has implemented Reflex VMC (Virtual Management Center) from Reflex Systems. The application allows IT administrators to monitor a virtual infrastructure and enforce business and IT policies.
The Law, Science & Technology Program at Stanford Law School has launched the Intellectual Property Litigation Clearinghouse (IPLC), an online database that offers comprehensive information about intellectual property (IP) disputes within the United States.
The Texas A&M Health Science Center has selected the Banner Unified Digital Campus (UDC) from Sungard Higher Education to help unify its geographically-dispersed community and to enhance and expand services and communications to its growing student enrollment.
Community colleges are in a good spot in some ways during the economic downturn, as tight family budgets drive up the appeal of the community college option. But along with the rest of higher education, most community colleges also face shrinking IT budgets and tighter resources. That makes it that much harder to handle the growing enrollment numbers that some community colleges are seeing.
Security vendor Finjan predicts that the current economic downturn could herald a sharp rise in cybercrime during 2009--driven by the rise in the number of IT people being laid off. According to a report from the company's Malicious Code Research Center (MCRC), more unemployed IT personnel will be tempted to seek "new and easy income by purchasing and using crimeware toolkits that are sold by professional hackers."