Cisco, VMware unveil Desktop Virtualization product

Since my post regarding Citrix and Cisco taking on VMware:
http://virtualben.blogspot.com/2010/09/cisco-citrix-and-netapp-vs-vmwareding.html

It looks like Cisco have since decided to widen the market and jump into bed with VMware.
"Cisco and virtualisation software specialist VMware have unveiled a Desktop Virtualization product based on Cisco Unified Computing System and VMware ViewTM 4.5. Cisco and VMware are supporting this product with new channel initiatives that will enable channel partners accelerate deployment of virtual desktop products. Cisco Desktop Virtualisation with VMware View will simplify the physical and virtual infrastructure and management associated with desktop deployments."
Please read the full article here:
http://www.telecompaper.com/news/cisco-vmware-unveil-desktop-virtualization-product

XenApp 5 on Windows 2003 x86 - VMwareUser.exe

If you install HFRP06 onto the Windows 2003 x86 XenApp servers in VMware then when you launch a published desktop you may receive the error.

VMwareUser.exe. The Application failed to initialize properly (0x06d007e).

If you get this then you need to install an additional hotfix available here:

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX125004

VirtualSharp - ReliableDR

An interesting article regarding a new VMware DR product released by VirtualSharp. With lots of DR products on the market it will be interesting to see how this fairs in the market place.

VirtualSharp software creates a virtual datacentre on the fly to ensure delivery of IT after a major breakdown, such as a cyber attack, terrorism or a natural disaster.

"We wanted to shift the paradigm on disaster recovery", said Virtual Sharp CEO Carlos Escapa. "In traditional disaster recovery, SLAs were measured in time. But time objectives are not commitments, organisations wanted to know how quickly they could get services up and running after a disaster – they wanted more predictability."

http://news.techworld.com/virtualisation/3239478/new-company-offers-virtualised-datacentre-on-the-fly/?olo=rss

VMware vCloud Director Overview

Question:

What is VMware vCloud Director?

Answer:
Pool virtual infrastructure resources in your existing datacenter and deliver them to users as a catalogue-based service with VMware vCloud Director. Coupled with VMware vSphere, VMware vCloud Director enables customers to build secure private clouds, transforming the way IT delivers and manages infrastructure services and the way users access and consume these services.

• Increase business agility by empowering users to deploy pre-configured services or custom-built services with the click of a button
• Maintain security and control over a multi-tenant environment with policy-based user controls and VMware vShield security technologies
• Reduce costs by efficiently delivering resources to internal organizations as virtual datacenters to increase consolidation and simplify management
• Follow an evolutionary path to the cloud by leveraging existing investments and open standards for interoperability and application portability between clouds

I am not a VMware specialist but this sounds like an interesting product. The following article is a good overview of VMware Cloud Director. It’s an introductory article but an interesting read.

http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2010/08/31/vmware-vcloud-director-vcd/

If anyone has had any experience with this yet then feel free to post your thoughts.