• VMware acquires desktop management company Wanova

  VMware has acquired Wanova, a developer of software used to centralize and simplify image management on physical and virtual desktops, the company said Tuesday.

• How we tested desktops-as-a-service

  We noted the customer intake procedures for each of the five DaaS vendors, focusing on what options and what type of process were used. We set a platform consisting of several Windows 7 virtual machines, as well as a Lenovo T520 running native Windows 7, another T520 running Linux Mint 2, and three MacBooks running Mac OS 5, 6, and 7 respectively, as well as an Apple iPad running iOS 5.

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  Pure Storage's next-generation flash array offers high-availability option

  Flash array start-up Pure Storage, whose marketing pitch is selling flash at the price of enterprise disk, today announced the second generation of its all-flash array that now includes a highly-availability (HA) configuration.

• New engine to power Xangati's performance monitoring product

  The latest version of Cupertino-based Xangati's virtual dashboard product will boast a new performance management engine and the ability to work with eight instances of VMware vCenter, instead of just one.

• SAP lays out cloud strategy post-SuccessFactors deal

  SAP announced a broad set of plans to become a player in cloud computing, spanning from a "loosely coupled suite" of business applications to data integration and PaaS (platform as a service) Tuesday during the Sapphire conference in Orlando.

• Burning questions: Virtualisation

  Virtualizing x86 infrastructure isn't just a one-step process -- as servers change, the whole data center must change as well. While server hypervisors such as VMware's ESX, Microsoft's Hyper-V and Xen can make IT more efficient and cost-effective, many of the virtualization advantages can be canceled out when data centers rely on technology and processes that haven't been updated for the virtualization age.

• Meet the father of Google Apps (who used to work at Microsoft)

  Three weeks into his tenure at Google, Rajen Sheth -- former Microsoft and VMware employee -- met with Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt to propose a way of turning Gmail into a business-class e-mail system. And he was soundly rejected. 

• Desktop Virtualization: Top Vendors Still Miss the Mark

  Desktop virtualization has a predicted growth curve that leaves much of the PC and IT services industries smiling: Yet none of the technologies or service providers promising to offer hosted virtual desktops are ready to step into key roles in enterprise IT infrastructures, according the same well-respected analysts who set the server virtualization market on its ear with a similar conclusion last year.

• 5 virtual desktop pitfalls

  Most CIOs have started considering virtual desktop infrastructure and other types of desktop virtualization, but only a minority has reached the deployment stage. (See related story, "As Windows 7 gains steam, VDI set to rise".) Virtual desktops can potentially provide more flexibility for users, make it easier to apply patches and reduce IT help desk calls, but there are still numerous problems that keep desktop pros up at night. Here are five pitfalls to watch out for.

• Technologies come and go, but managing networks is still about problem-solving

  Technologies come and go, but managing networks is still about problem-solving in a changing world, as these IT executives can attest.

Whitepapers about VMware

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  Oracle® Databases on VMware vSphere™ 4

  This paper provides the essential tips necessary to successfully deploy Oracle on VMware virtual infrastructure to enable database administrators (DBAs) to meet their performance and availability goals. Read on for more.