Cyclades Goes the Alternate Route
We recently sat down with representatives for
Cyclades and talked with them about their company's new AlterPath KVM/netPlus family of KVM switches. These network-based KVM products offer Cyclades AdaptiveKVM technology, which combines Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) functionality with KVM over IP access. The AdaptiveKVM feature delivers consistent remote access to administrative tools on Windows servers, letting you use the same KVM appliance for daily operations and server recovery. You can use RDP's low-bandwidth performance for most server maintenance and administration, while offering KVM over IP functionality to restore normal operations in the event of a server crash or other network failure. The Cyclades AlterPath System—an out-of-band infrastructure (OOBI) technology—gives you alternative paths into the IT infrastructure to access, diagnose, and restore disconnected IT assets. "Out-of-band infrastructure technology such as KVM over IP has traditionally been used to provide access to the production infrastructure when there is no connectivity over the network to a failed device," said Cyclades representatives. "As out-of-band technology evolves, we see more administrative and maintenance tasks being handled by this alternate infrastructure."
—Jason Bovberg
Streamline Storage Consolidation
Do you manage a large company, or a midsized company with room to grow? Are you looking for ways to consolidate storage or expand your storage space within your existing environment? Take a look at UtiliCat, a new unified storage solution that delivers enterprise-class consolidated SAN and NAS services. Unlike other storage approaches that force customers to deploy and manage multiple storage silos, UtiliCat merges ONStor’s NAS Gateways with 3PAR’s Utility Storage arrays to produce a simple, efficient storage architecture. We recently spoke with Jon Toor, ONStor's VP of marketing, and Geoff Hough, 3PAR's director of product marketing, about the announcement. "UtiliCat can significantly bring down storage-management costs," said Toor. "This partnership makes a ton of sense and brings a great deal of value to customers. It's the ultimate consolidation platform, letting you grow easily without disruption, and providing excellent scalability." Hough added that UtiliCat could potentially result in a 50 percent reduction in TCO.
—Jason Bovberg
LANDesk Upgrades Systems Management and Security Management Suites
LANDesk Software has been a consistent innovator in the enterprise IT management space. The company was instrumental in developing the desktop management category in the early 1990s and continues to focus on systems configuration and security management solutions. I spoke with Dave R.Taylor, LANDesk's vice president of worldwide marketing, about a major product launch that includes upgrades to LANDesk Management Suite and LANDesk Security Suite. Considered LANDesk's flagship product, Management Suite 8.6 incorporates LANDesk Management Gateway technology and supports Intel's Active Management Technology (AMT) to enable remote discovery and access without regard to system state or OS. Expanded role-based administration, reporting and software distribution, and Mac and Linux management capability further enhance the new release. Security Suite 8.6 embodies what Dave describes as LANDesk's approach to security "from an IT operations manager's perspective." That focus has produced a layered, horizontally integrated suite of tools that defend against a number of internal and external threats to system security, including malicious attacks and system intrusion, spyware, adware, and viruses. In addition to providing one solution that delivers targeted tools for the most important security concerns, such as patch management, virus and spyware protection, and audit compliance enforcement, Security Suite 8.6 lets you scan computers that attempt to connect to your network and quarantine any system that doesn't meet your security policy standards, letting you secure your enterprise environment through intelligent control of its endpoints.
—Dianne Russell
Automate IT Management with KBOX
We recently had the pleasure of talking with Sheila Baker, vice president of marketing at KACE, who energetically announced her company's new KBOX IT Management Suite 2.0, an affordable and easy-to-use—yet comprehensive—turnkey appliance. This all-inclusive secure server appliance instantly manages, monitors, and controls the inventory, distribution, patch, security, compliance, messaging, licensing, and performance demands of every node on the network. Targeted specifically to the mid-market—"where complexity and cost are the enemies of IT productivity and security," according to Baker—the KBOX IT Management Suite automates routine and complex IT maintenance tasks, improves IT productivity and security, and promotes network uptime in a flexible, intelligent approach. Absolutely no upfront customization or programming effort is required to enable the KBOX appliance. KBOX lets you quickly take and maintain control even as new security threats abound and continue to contribute to system and network vulnerability. "We've taken very complex, broad enterprise capabilities and packaged them into an accessible yet powerful all-in-one IT automation solution for the cost-conscious," said Baker.
—Jason Bovberg
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