Kerio Technologies has announced the availability of Kerio MailServer Virtual Appliance for Parallels' server and desktop virtualization software for the Mac platform. Parallels, a global leader in virtualization and automation technology, was the first to market with a server virtualization solution for the Mac platform. With this partnership, customers will benefit by having the ability to utilize shared CPU, hardware, memory, network, and have lower cost of maintenance.

The Kerio MailServer Virtual Appliance uses a preconfigured version of CentOS 5.3 Linux as the core OS. It is packaged specifically for Parallels for easy and fast evaluation or deployment on Parallels Desktop and Server for Mac software. Parallels Server for Mac is a server virtualization solution that provides added value for organizations that need to optimize their IT infrastructures. Together with Kerio MailServer, the systems can run on any Intel-powered Apple hardware, including the Xserve and Mac Pro, using Mac OS X Leopard Server.

"Kerio MailServer Virtual Appliance for Parallels is an innovative groupware product for organizations under demands to reduce cost and optimize existing infrastructure," said Bryan Goode, vice president of Business Development for Parallels. "Parallels Server for Mac has been a vehicle in driving Mac server adoption in several markets. With the new availability with Kerio MailServer on Parallels, IT professionals and developers in the SMB market can capitalize on the power of Mac OS X Server."

"With the powerful hardware options available on the Mac platform, we believe it is ideally suited for organizations to realize the benefits of virtualization," said James Gudeli, vice president of Business Development for Kerio. "Parallels Server for Mac allows Kerio MailServer to run alongside other applications, each with their dedicated system resources, providing greater stability and value."

With the new Kerio MailServer Virtual Appliance for Parallels, organizations will have faster deployments, additional system backup and a built-in disaster recovery for increased business continuity.

Kerio MailServer works with multiple desktop groupware clients including Microsoft Entourage and Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail, Apple Address Book, and iCal. It also provides mobile email on smartphones such as the iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm, Windows Mobile, or Symbian. Kerio integrates resource scheduling, anti-virus and anti-spam protection, automatic backup and archiving and can be administered remotely from Windows, Mac OS X and Linux platforms.