The mouse was the original idea of Doug Engelbart who was the head of the Augmentation Research Center (ARC) at Stanford Research Institute. Engelbart's philosophy is best embodied, in my opinion, in the design of another device that he invented, the five-finger keyboard - with keys like a piano, used by one hand. The problem was, Engelbart's five-finger keyboard and mouse combination was very difficult to learn.

Marking the next evolution of its network-enabled Data Center 3.0 vision to transform the data center into a virtualized environment providing anytime, anywhere access to content on any device, Cisco unveiled the Cisco Nexus 5000 Series of data center-class switches, introduced interoperability via an ecosystem of application and systems partners and accelerated adoption with a data center channel partner enablement strategy.

Many software providers from large to small are in the race to offer virtualization solutions, and many enterprises are taking advantage. While this futuristic technology certainly offers many benefits, it has one critical challenge to its overall performance -- disk file fragmentation. File fragmentation -- the splitting of files into pieces (fragments) in order to better utilize disk space -- is a performance challenge in non-virtual environments, and has been for many years. But virtualization brings with it even more critical fragmentation issues, requiring solutions like never before.

Attune Systems and Mainline Information Systems announced that Service Management Group (SMG) has chosen the Attune Systems file management solution. SMG has selected the Maestro File Manager in a high-availability cluster configuration to help the company keep up with its growing data storage needs.

VMware made its Lifecycle Manager generally available. It's supposed to control the virtual environment, showing who owns a virtual machine, when it was requested, who approved it, where it's deployed, how long it's been in operation and when it's scheduled to be decommissioned. It can be used to measure and chargeback VM use to individual departments.

Patent lawyers are partying. The US Patent and Trademark Office was stopped dead in its tracks Tuesday from changing the rules by a federal judge. In the name of reducing its swelling patent filing backlog, the PTO wanted to limit the number of claims a patent could make to 25 and the number of continuation filings that could be made to three. The changes would have been retroactive. Currently there are no limits.

IBM announced two high-end Power Systems models -- the UNIX server and a water-cooled supercomputer. The new systems offer sophisticated IBM virtualization technology and energy-saving capabilities to help dramatically reduce bottom-line operating costs, such as those for energy, floor space and systems management, while improving system performance, helping customers transition to a new enterprise data center.

ScaleMP announced that it has received $8 million in new venture funding, bringing the total raised to $26 million. Participation in this up-round funding included all of the existing investors: Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, TL Ventures, and ABS Ventures. This announcement coincides with the official launch of the company and its technology.

Shavlik Technologies has added capabilities to its suite of security solutions targeted at securing virtual machines. Shavlik will soon deliver a solution that provides organizations with the ability to assess and remediate the patch levels of their physical servers, online virtual machines and offline virtual machines - in VMware and Microsoft virtual environments.

In a move to provide its AutoCAD Map 3D customers with increased data privacy, lower cost deployment, and centralized software management, Autodesk announced it has joined the Citrix Alliance Program. In addition, Autodesk announced it has completed verification testing of its AutoCAD Map 3D 2009 software with Citrix XenApp through the Citrix Ready program. The Citrix Ready designation identifies products that are compatible with a Citrix application delivery environment, thus simplifying the software selection process for Citrix users and allowing them to now deploy AutoCAD Map 3D. Since AutoCAD Map 3D users' data will now reside on Citrix servers, Autodesk customers can expect increased security, reduced hardware costs and, increased ROI up to 30 percent.

CommVault announced that the CommVault Simpana software suite also supports Windows Server 2008. CommVault and Microsoft customers will be able to better meet regulatory requirements for retention and availability of data, while leveraging the speed and performance of the Windows Server 2008 environment and applications such as Exchange Server and SharePoint that rely on Windows Server 2008.

Marathon Technologies announced that it has been selected as a 2008 Laureate by IDG's Computerworld Honors Program. Marathon was awarded the distinction for developing new software, everRun VM, which addresses one of the factors that has held back broader adoption of server virtualization - a lack of simple and effective high availability technology for virtual environments.

BlueArc Corporation announced that its Titan family of storage systems has been certified for interoperability with the VMware server virtualization software platform. Coupled with VMware solutions, BlueArc storage virtualization supports a holistic approach to consolidation, helping enterprises use the combined offering as a strategic element in a comprehensive plan to further reduce total cost of operation.

VirtualLogix announced that it has joined The Multicore Association, a non- profit consortium focused on developing standards that help speed time to market for products that involve multicore implementations. As a member of the consortium, VirtualLogix joins organizations such as National Instruments, Nokia Siemens Networks, Intel, Freescale Semiconductor and Texas Instruments (TI), to help drive virtualization standards for multicore processors.

IBM has said that their researchers are working on a new technology named Phantom project which is designed to prevent attacks on their virtualization products. This project is being worked on by their X-Force threat analysis team and the research division. A company representative spoke about IBM Phantom:'What we're doing through Phantom is we?re implementing an IPS - an IPS that sits at the hypervisor layer.'

Configuresoft announced that it has enhanced its continuous compliance and security capabilities for VMware environments with support for the Center for Internet Security (CIS) VMware ESX Server Benchmark. Support for this Benchmark enables IT Operations to easily measure compliance with best practices for hardening virtual environments from a broad consensus of industry experts.

VKernel announced a partnership with Qirx, an Australian VMware Authorized Consultant (VAC) specializing in IT Virtualization. Under the agreement, Qirx is a premier partner that will resell VKernel's Suite of Virtual Appliances for analyzing capacity bottlenecks, implementing chargeback, and gaining cost visibility in VMware ESX environments to customers throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Gemalto and Alternative Technology are allowing small and medium enterprises to achieve the high levels of security in network access and identity management. Alternative Technology will now be offering Gemalto's new on-demand Device Administration Service (DAS) through its network of 3,000 resellers in the United States and Canada. Developed and hosted by Gemalto and supported by Alternative Technology, the subscription-based DAS is a comprehensive online service for issuing and administering authentication devices. Following the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, DAS eliminates the need to purchase a server or software.

Solera Networks announced the availability of its beta version of the free Solera V2P Tap, expanding the company's initiative toward enabling complete network visibility. Using the Solera V2P Tap, organizations deploying virtual machines can now leverage their existing investments in network management and security tools by regenerating virtual network traffic, including intra-server virtual machine network traffic, to their existing physical security infrastructure to monitor and protect virtual network activity.

Apani announced the launch of EpiForce VM, the single-platform security solution for protecting both virtual and physical machines. Enterprises are deploying server virtualization to realize benefits associated with increased operational flexibility, improved utilization, avoidance of unplanned downtime and a reduced carbon footprint. The rush to virtualize has caused many to overlook security best-practices common in a physical environment. According to Gartner, through 2009, 60 percent of virtual machines used in production will be less secure than their physical counterparts. While the benefits of server virtualization are clear, security challenges force enterprises to make trade-offs between broad deployment and security that is robust enough to protect their business. By offering robust virtual and physical machine security, EpiForce VM enables enterprises to fully deploy server virtualization and realize the benefits it offers.

IBM announced a software to safeguard virtual server environments and introduced new software to help businesses better manage risk. The company said the advances can provide businesses with substantial improvements in securing information, applications, and information technology (IT) infrastructures around the globe.

Parallels announced that Cobweb will use Parallels Automation with hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, a fully integrated customer relationship management (CRM) system. Cobweb has purchased the Parallels Automation solution to automate the delivery of several new hosting offerings and service bundles.

Introducing the next generation of its management analytics software, XTS announced the availability of XTS Introspect for the advanced planning and management of Citrix XenApp virtualization and application delivery environments.Previously, XTS analytics solutions provided intelligence that eased capacity planning, security audits, implementation of charge-back systems and analyzing software license requirements. With Introspect, IT organizations can now enjoy these benefits along with newly available advanced configuration analytics that enable system administrators and architects to easily gather information.

If high-performance server virtualization means taking a physical server and basically chopping it up into lots of little servers, what do you call it when multiple physical servers are made into one virtual machine? Well, you might call it ScaleMP, an SMP virtualization software start-up that has spent its infancy quietly lashing together off-the-shelf x86 servers into 1.5 TFLOP systems with 128 cores and a terabyte of memory sold by folks like SGI, VXtech, Flextronics and Dell.

Intel introduced five versions of its new Atom chip and the Atom Centrino platform, once code named Menlow, at its Developer Forum in Shanghai Wednesday, the stuff of its so-called life-altering Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) and newfangled embedded solutions. Four years in the making, the widgetry includes the Atom processor, a k a Silverthorne, and a single low-power chip with integrated 3D graphics called the Intel System Controller Hub that's supposed to enable the promised PC-like capabilities and long battery life in gismos that slip in your pocket.

Vizioncore announced that the ability of organizations to recover from failure is much quicker using virtualization according to an end-user survey. Of the more than 200 responses, 76 percent of those surveyed stated that they could recover a virtual machine within two hours, while 73 percent stated that virtualization had helped them to reduce application downtime. However, just over a third of all organizations that have implemented virtualization do not have a specific disaster recovery strategy in place to protect their environments.

InstallFree launched its patent-pending application and desktop virtualization products that give IT directors an easier, more secure way of managing and deploying virtual applications while providing end-users the autonomy they require to be more productive. The InstallFree Bridge allows virtual applications to be 'Packaged Once to Run Anywhere' across a full range of computing scenarios including Windows XP or Vista 32bit PCs as well as 64bit and server-based solutions such as Citrix XenApp, Windows Terminal Server and Windows-based virtual machines. Its platform integrates into a corporation's existing IT infrastructure without the need to make changes making it easy to use and support.

The Mono Web site has, in some cases, been downloading a very old version of Mono. It serves as a fine example of what can go wrong with software, even with the best of intentions, and without anyone really making a mistake. What happened was back in May 2005, the Mono team added accessibility features to its Web site, including the little yellow pop-up balloons for screen readers.

NetApp and Virtual Iron Software announced that NetApp StoreVault storage solutions are now certified for Virtual Iron's server virtualization software. StoreVault joins the other Virtual Iron certified products in the NetApp family, namely FAS and V-Series. The combined solutions deliver comprehensive server and storage virtualization capabilities to mid-market organizations to help them simplify disaster recovery, streamline test and development environments, and optimize system utilization. They also set a new standard in virtualization technology, with features and capabilities that had previously been unavailable to customers in the mid-market segment.

DataCore Software introduced a product in SANharmony, the next generation of storage virtualization that harmonizes NAS with SAN. DataCore also underscored the traction its new SANmelody-based Feature Packed Solutions are garnering by making the virtual enterprise a reality at SMBs throughout North America. Additionally, DataCore promoted its most recent industry success in becoming a Citrix Ready storage virtualization solution.

Montego Networks announced its HyperVSecurity Alliance, an initiative allowing third-party vendors to integrate their products with Montego's HyperVSecurity technology platform. Through their integration with Montego's architecture, technology partners and their customers will be able to leverage the benefits of the Montego HyperSwitch - Montego's virtual security switch.

NComputing announced it has further strengthened its sales management team with the appointment of two new vice presidents of sales. Manish Sharma was appointed as the company's new vice president of sales for Asia-Pacific, while Frank Coggrave was appointed for the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region. Sharma and Coggrave will play key roles in directing the company's continued expansion in the Asia-Pacific and EMEA regions, which are showing very high growth rates for NComputing systems.

StillSecure announced participation in the VMware Technology Alliance Partner (TAP) program. As part of this program, StillSecure will take advantage of the VMware VMsafe technology to bring security to virtualized data center environments. VMsafe enables companies like StillSecure to integrate their solutions - using APIs that are available for VMware ESX Servers - to protect applications running in virtual machines.

Trend Micro Incorporated has released a prototype security solution for VMware virtualized environments. The prototype technology consists of a new virtualization security solution that operates in a VMware ESX 3.5 environment, scans for infected machines and remediates any that are found. With this technology, Trend Micro will be able to provide greater protection for VMware virtual machines.

StillSecure and Montego Networks announced a partnership that brings a higher level of security to virtual environments. Through the integration between the Montego Networks HyperVSecurity technology platform and StillSecure security solutions, virtual-to-virtual environments can now be inspected and secured from network attacks.

Virtualization is being adopted for green IT and server consolidation initiatives, but software licensing models are lagging behind, and security is still an open debate. Third Brigade announced a new licensing model designed to address the accelerated adoption of virtual environments and help customers achieve the lowest total cost of ownership for virtualization security.

MokaFive unveiled its answer to the persistent desktop management problem of the last two decades: MokaFive Virtual Desktop Solution. Available as a preview, the MokaFive solution leverages the power of cloud computing to deliver centrally managed, locally run virtual desktops as a service. Based on years of research at Stanford University funded by the National Science Foundation and backed by 15 pending patents, the MokaFive solution enables IT managers to centrally manage dozens to thousands of desktop computers across an organization.

Quest Software announced the release of Foglight version 5.2, which supports VMware ESX Server. In a growing and crowded virtualization management market, Foglight has the ability to monitor the impact virtualization changes can have on databases, applications and end users, while simultaneously correlating the usage of resources on both physical servers and virtual machines.

Lenovo announced a low-level client virtualization software platform. Lenovo's Client Virtualization Platform (CVP) will be the base technology for customer solutions shipping with Lenovo PC products later this year. Lenovo's Client Virtualization Platform uses the latest hardware features to isolate applications. These applications provide improved internet security and manageability, while minimizing the impact on performance. Virtualization technologies have been widely used on servers and network storage to improve performance and manageability. Lenovo's platform uses Intel Virtualization technology to help to bring similar benefits to PC clients with near native performance and full Windows PC experience.

Attune Systems announced the Maestro Intelligent Archive Manager (MIAM), delivering an eDiscovery repository and file archival management through the company's latest file virtualization technology. MIAM allows organizations to be prepared in litigation situations, when the need for electronic evidence may require an organization to search for important information in a timely and cost-effective manner.