IBM Launches Virtualization Software

By ST Team   |   Monday, 11 September 2006, 19:30 IST
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IBM has announced new virtualization software that enables companies to install software on thousands of laptops, desktop PCs, wireless devices and servers. The new technology, Tivoli Provisioning Manager, helps to reduce the time taken to manage and upgrade systems by hours or days, depending on the size of the infrastructure. It incorporates the technology that IBM acquired from Rembo Technologies in June this year. The software senses when the network can handle software upgrades and automatically begins those upgrades when there is sufficient network bandwidth. It also runs automatic compliance checks, such as validating that antivirus software is up-to-date, and deploys the software across the infrastructure, said the company. Moreover, the technology improves the lengthy, error-laden process of making changes, which frees up system administrators to handle other tasksAutomating changes to IT systems, such as application upgrades and security patches,. The technology can be used, for example, in a bank to sense enough network bandwidth available for deploying an email software upgrade without worrying about allocating extra servers, scheduling software changes when network traffic is slow, or monitoring network traffic. It intuitively knows to send out the software when enough bandwidth is available, giving other business needs a priority, such as peaks in demand driven by a special online promotion. Tivoli Provisioning Manager software includes two new virtualization technologies - Adaptive bandwidth control and Peering. The former one gives important business operations priority but allows administrative IT tasks, like anti-virus updates, to be handled whenever network space is available. The later one is a new grid computing-based approach for distributing software over long distances. It allows files, such as email applications or video clips, to be downloaded from a local server or a nearby desktop. Software is delivered faster to computer users while network traffic and hardware required to support high-traffic volumes are reduced. The software runs as part of a SOA, which is a way of reusing a company's existing technology to more closely align with business goals, which results in greater efficiencies, cost savings and productivity. This helps customers comply with governance models across laptops, desktops and wireless devices. Tivoli Provisioning Manager is integrated with the IBM Tivoli Change and Configuration Management Database, which allows the technologies to share information about the status of IT services. The full suite of Tivoli Provisioning software is now available in India.

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