Big news from VMware & Cisco yesterday as the Cisco Unified Compute System has earned the highest VMmark score ever!
The new record represents a 42 percent improvement over the previous highest two-socket published result.
Cisco Breaks VMmark Score Record
March 19, 2010Citrix Licensing Simplified
March 18, 2010Citrix and Microsoft announced a strengthening of the partnership today and will now include the VECD license with Software Assurance.
Security Intelligence Operations
March 17, 2010Protecting the IT infrastructure from the latest threats and vulnerabilities has become increasingly difficult. This is because IT security personnel face:
- Too much data—New threats may be reported by numerous public services and private organizations, thousands of times each year.
- Too many formats—New threat alerts may be published by dozens of different sources, each in a different format, and each using a different process to identify, characterize, confirm, and report the problem.
- Difficulty determining the importance of a new threat—With so many independent bodies publishing alerts, security personnel may have a difficult time finding objective information about the credibility, urgency, and severity of a new threat report.
- Difficulty tracking remediation status and progress—Even when a security team has timely, reliable information about a new threat and the action that must be taken to address it, few organizations have systems in place to effectively track the status of remediation efforts.
Here are some scary facts:
- Spam accounts for more than 100 billion messages each day — approximately 85 percent of the email sent worldwide. Eighty percent of spam is from infected clients.
- The number of disclosed vulnerabilities grew by 6.77 percent from 2007 to 2008.
- Vulnerabilities in virtualization products tripled to 103 in 2008 from 35 in 2007.
- Approximately 50 percent of attacks are committed by serial offenders. Approximately 70 percent of botnets use dynamic IP addresses to evade blacklists.
- Over the course of 2008, there was a 90 percent growth rate in threats originating from legitimate domains; nearly twice the amount of 2007.
- Organizations that experienced a data breach in 2008 paid an average of $6.6 million to rebuild their brand image and retain customers.
With these challenges, the process of gaining reliable, relevant security intelligence becomes a labor-intensive, costly drain on an organization’s IT security staff. Security Intelligence Operations (SIO) by Cisco delivers a comprehensive, cost-effective solution for delivering the security intelligence organizations need to prevent, mitigate, and quickly remediate potential IT attacks.
Cisco devices act as the enforcement and update points in the SIO ecosystem. Firstly, they use the Cisco SIO filters to block traffic. They also contribute threat intelligence and data back into Cisco SIO, so they get rules and reputation data at the same time they’re making contributions to it. Just by making reputation queries, customers are contributing to the volume data in SIO. When one device in the network detects an event or a rule fires, that device may be able to inform other Cisco devices in that network. An IPS sending an ACL to a firewall is an example of this. When new threats are detected in one customer network, that data is shared with Cisco SIO, and then, indirectly, with other Cisco customers around the globe.
Cisco SIO is already the world’s largest global security ecosystem. The near-real-time, bidirectional cooperation of these networks means that Cisco customers help protect each other.
How SIO works: http://bit.ly/bmYyS6
Cisco SIO homepage: http://bit.ly/5XrNE
Free 90-Day SIO Trial: http://bit.ly/9Ry048
Email & Web Security: http://www.ironport.com/
Cisco Security Blog: http://blogs.cisco.com/security
Citrix XenApp 6
March 11, 2010The best application delivery solution just got better.
Mobility
March 9, 2010During these challenging economic times it is interesting to see which tech companies are struggling and which are flourishing. “Microsoft and Oracle are about 30% lower than where they were trading on March 10, 2000, the day the Nasdaq hit its all-time high. Cisco Systems and Intel each trade more than 60% below their March 2000 prices, while Texas Instruments is down about 70%. Yahoo and Motorola are down 80% and 85%, respectively.”
“Apple has skyrocketed more than 650% in the past 10 years for obvious reasons. Smartphone rival Research in Motion has gained more than 200% with the success of the BlackBerry.”
http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/08/markets/thebuzz/
Mobile devices are the devices of choice for all types of corporate end-users, so IT organizations must have a strategy to ensure security and access of your network follows your policies. Here are some ways our partners are helping IT manage and deliver applications to the iPhone. I have picked the iPhone to focus on because it has the most applications today, so let’s take a look at them. All of these Apps will be ported to the iPad in the near future, but today detailed information is still limited)
Citrix Reciever for iPhone
If you have Citrix in your environment, you can now deliver any of the virtualized applications you package with Citrix to the iPhone with the free Citrix Received for iPhone. Very cool way to access Windows 7 on an iPhone using a XenDesktop environment! This App comes with a free demo account with access to cloud applications hosted by Citrix. (Includes Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, AutoDesk, etc.)
Cisco WebEx Meeting Center for iPhone
Take your WebEx meetings with you anywhere you go. Watch presentations, share documents, chat, “pass the ball,” schedule/join meetings, etc.
Cisco Mobile Client for iPhone
This App enables organizations with Cisco Unified Mobility Advantage to access your office phone system. You can access new corporate voicemail, see presence information of your colleagues and join meeting place meetings.
Cisco SIO to Go for iPhone
Security Intelligence Operations informs, protects and enables you to respond to alerts and real-time threats to your network.
Cisco Mobile Supervisor for iPhone
Mobile Supervisor is a special App for contact center supervisors to receive real-time performance metrics on the iPhone. With this App contact center supervisors can change agent states, monitor the team from the mobile device and view Contact Service Queue reports.
Wyse PocketCloud for iPhone
Wyse PocketCloud accesses any physical or virtualized infrastructure that supports the Microsoft RDP protocol. In addition, Wyse PocketCloud is VMware View 4.0 Certified and supports the VMware View 4.0 connection broker in direct and tunneling modes. This App supports SSL today & experiemental support for RSA two-factor authentication.
Windows 7 Coming Soon To A Desktop Near You
March 4, 2010Windows 7 is Microsoft’s most important Operating System since the October 2001 release of Windows XP. Many think this is the best PC operating system Microsoft has developed, others think it is just an update to Windows Vista. Whatever you think Windows 7 is, you cannot ignore this OS because Windows XP is now in the Extended Support Phase and all support will be terminated on April 8th, 2014. Gartner Research VP and Distinguished Analyst Michael Silver recommends that you get XP out by the end of 2012 because around that time many applications will no longer support Windows XP. You can find a great deal of useful information from Gartner about Windows 7 here:
http://www.gartner.com/technology/research/reports/windows-7-report.jsp
In the video I heard Michael talk about three things you should consider when upgrading to Windows 7, which are:
- Timeline requirements
- Windows 7 deployment strategy
- Improve PC manageability
Although these sound like three separate issues, we have found a way to address all of these issues with one tool called Citrix XenDesktop 4.
From Citrix: “By Centralizing desktop and application delivery, a Windows 7 desktop can be deployed to any device on demand.”
Think about this statement quickly and about how you currently deliver your desktop operating system and applications to your end users. When a new employee joins your organization, what do you do? Do you use Symantec Ghost? Maybe you use Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager to update the device? Are you still using SMS? What do you do when a PC breaks? How much time do you spend fixing a broken PC? How often do you have to fix someone’s PC? How long does it take to find the root cause of the issue? How are you going to restore documents that were saved locally? Why do these desktops have so much spyware? Shouldn’t you be working on more important projects? What about the hardware requirements for the new operating system, how much is that new Windows 7 hardware going to cost? The executives are talking about Mac’s again!
We might laugh at some of these, but many of these are real scenario’s, right?
There is a better way using Citrix XenDesktop. XenDesktop simplifies the maintenance of your user environment because it is centrally managed, device independent, secure, optimized for remote users and flexible. The main value of Citrix XenDesktop is that it improves the productivity of the IT department and delivers the end user the experience they are asking for.
Citrix Dazzle – Free Apps! Virtualized! Did I mention, free?
Are you faster than a football player? – A little cheesy, but we have all felt Jason Taylor’s pain
XenApp Trade UP Program – Save up to 80%
XenDesktop ROI Calculator – Take a moment to check out the videos at the bottom of this page!
Brian Madden – Selling desktop virtualization to ‘traditional’ desktop admins
Windows 7: the Apple iPad Killer App?
Lewan VDI Workshop – A few seats are left in March to see Citrix and VMware’s VDI strategies side-by-side.
We can help you with demonstrations of the products, option analysis, assessments of your current desktop workload, proof-of-concepts, pilots, etc. This is not a cookie cutter solution, so let’s discuss how this might fit into your Windows 7 strategy.
DoubleTake to the Cloud
February 23, 2010DoubleTake has an interesting new product which will enable you to backup your servers to the cloud, using Amazon’s EC2 infrastrucutre.
http://www.doubletake.com/english/products/double-take-cloud/Pages/default.aspx
Cisco challenges HP
February 22, 2010Last Friday, Cisco announced a plan to break ties from Hewlett Packard as a certified business partner. Cisco’s official video statement can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeB1Y-Wadgo&feature=player_embedded
As a partner of both companies I am excited to watch these two technology giants square off and drive innovation forward, but is this a good development for current customers? Let’s also not ignore that Dell has also been terminated as a partner for future development with Cisco. What will that lead to? In order to help you, I would like to share my opinions on the strategies of Cisco and HP in an attempt to show you where they are headed. (At this time I am leaving out Dell because Dell’s overall strategy is different than HP and Cisco)
Cisco Data Center 3.0
Tutor Perini Corporation Video
Cisco has developed a new data center platform, purpose-built, to host virtual machines and provide IT with some of the most robust tools to manage the virtualization of Information Services. With a portfolio of server hardware, network hardware and management software, (NX-OS, VN-Link and UCS Manager) Cisco’s first foray into the server market is a valiant attempt to change the conversation of how to address physical infrastructure. Cisco’s technology includes Virtualization, Unified Fabric, Nexus and Unified Computing System and partnering with companies like NetApp, Compellent or EMC for storage.
HP Converged Infrastructure
HP’s strategy to provide flexible resources for on demand computing makes sense. The main components of HP’s Converged Infrastructure are BladeSystem Matrix, Virtual Connect, ProCurve Networking and StorageWorks solutions. These components along with Insight Control, Insight Dynamics and Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager bring the ultimate control capabilities available today.
Both are robust, feature-rich, platforms to ensure that the IT department will have the tools required to get the job done. So what are some of the differences?
- One of the Cisco blade models (B250 M1 Extended Memory Blade Server) can accommodate a maximum of 384GB of RAM per physical server giving it the industries best consolidation ratios.
- HP’s Virtual Connect enables both pass-through and switching capabilities on a single platform, reducing the management headache and giving the application the connectivity it needs to perform.
- Cisco’s Nexus OS enables a single operating system across network, storage, and compute infrastructure.
- ProCurve Networking products include a lifetime warranty and maintenance policy.
- HP storage products are part of the portfolio and therefore integrated nicely into the management tools. Both server/network platforms can integrate with almost any networked storage technologies.
- Cisco’s Unified Communications 8.0 will be certified to run in VMware on Cisco UCS.
- Lot’s more. What is important to you?
There are reasons to go either direction, but what really should matter to you is that it works for your business. Luckily these technologies are still built on industry standard protocols and will not require forklift upgrades today, but this marks an age where Cisco has decided to dive into the deep end of the data center. Lewan engineers are certified on both platforms and we can help you understand the ROI and compatibility of any strategy that will work for you.
SaaSy : Software as a Service
February 18, 2010This week VMware announced the acquisition of the messaging /collaboration application Zimbra, which is an interesting development at a time when many of the world’s largest software companies are looking to the cloud to host business productivity applications. (CNNMoney.com Article) Many of our business partners have begun this transformation, so I have put together an overview of a few that are headed to the SaaS space for business productivity apps. For this post I am going to focus on the solutions from VMware, Microsoft & Cisco. Obviously Google, Amazon, and others have a competitive offering, but we think it is important to work with a company that comes from a business solutions environment, rather than a consumer services environment until these solutions mature.
VMware – Zimbra – Demo Video
Zimbra aims to “simplify your life and improve productivity” by integrating email, instant messaging and document authoring into a single, intuitive open source software interface that is federated with other messaging services and enables collaboration with other members of your business. This solution can be access by any device, anywhere & works with many of the standard clients, like Microsoft Outlook, that we have come to know and love. Zimbra can be hosted in a private cloud within your network or with a managed service provider.
Microsoft – Online Services – Interactive Demo Video
This suite of Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Office Live Meeting and Office Communications delivers the user interaction we all have come to know from a Microsoft environment. Microsoft has been spending billions of dollars to build flexible data centers in order to provide these services and have yet to log downtime on any of these Online Services. (http://cnettv.cnet.com/2001-1_53-50077986.html) Microsoft Online Services will make the transition to the cloud for end-users the least painful as the end-user community already knows many of these tools. (If you are a Microsoft shop that is)
Cisco – Collaboration Solutions – John Chambers Demonstration - Collaboration Interactive Flash
Driven by the goal of enabling more effective communications through video, Cisco’s portfolio appears to be the most robust. Integration of Web Conferencing, Customer Contact Center, Enterprise Social Software, voice, video, WebEx Email, Show and Share, Instant Messaging and mobile device support are all components of Cisco’s portfolio. These can be hosted by your organization or by a service provider in the cloud, providing a unique opportunity for a hybrid environment.
For many IT organizations utilizing the cloud is an opportunity to remove application support issues that keep us from innovating and provide the end-users the mobility and choice they want.
What is your cloud strategy? If it’s still a little foggy, Lewan can help.
Security Benefits of VDI
February 8, 2010This weekend I was surprised to read about a product, called the Stealth iBot PC Monitor, which is available from SkyMall.com. (The shopping magazine you find on airplanes) They are selling a USB root kit device that “Covertly Record(s) Everything A Person Does On A Computer” for $149.95. You can see it here:
From a business information security & compliance perspective, this is a very scary product. Think of all the sensitive data someone could gather about your organization with one of these affordable, easy to use devices. So, what can we do to protect our businesses?
Lewan is helping address this problem with desktop virtualization. When the desktop is virtualized, the IT department gains control and can ensure the desktop environment adheres to the same security policies that the data center does. Here are some links to come information from the leader in this space, Citrix Systems.
Video – What is Citrix XenDesktop?
Here is a simple video overview of the benefits of a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). This video includes the basics of VDI, FlexCast, HDX, blade PC’s, desktop streaming, virtual applications and local VM-desktops.
http://www.citrix.com/tv/#videos/724
Podcast – Virtual Desktop Security Podcast with Kurt Roemer, Chief Security Strategist for Citrix Systems
- Reduce the over-distribution of data and streamline compliance
- Deliver applications and data with greater security
- Increase control over access and user privileges
http://74.205.123.199/ctx_landing/pc_sec/
Sale! – Citrix Desktop Virtualization Trade Up Program – Save up to 80%
Do you already have Citrix Presentation Server (XenApp) in your environment? Are you planning an upgrade? If so, right now is a great time to look into a special pricing promotion from Citrix to upgrade to full XenDesktop and enjoy the benefits of VDI. Act now because this program ends on June 30th!
http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/feature.asp?contentID=1858556
