F5 Increases SDN And Cloud Support

F5 Networks’ latest hardware and software aims to help enterprises extend their software-defined networking deployments and scale IT operations into the cloud, under the umbrella of F5's ScaleN architecture.

New software includes BIG-IP v11.4, which features integration capabilities with SDN topologies based on VXLAN and NVGRE environments, and the company’s new iCall technology, which provides more programmability and control-plane extensibility. F5’s iCall is an extension of its programmable iRules and enables BIG-IP products to dynamically react based on the real-time status of the entire application delivery network infrastructure. F5 is also completing its BIG-IP hardware refresh with new mid-range hardware platforms, the BIG-IP 5000 and 7000 series.

BIG IP 7000

F5 is pulling together all of this software and hardware together with ScaleN to help enterprises scale up, down or out as required. ScaleN’s Virtual Clustered Multiprocessing technology provides additional flexibility by allowing resources to be redirected to applications as needed, rather than remaining idle or segmented by device. The unified platform supports cloud bursting or hybrid infrastructure models where public or private cloud resources are tapped into as needed. The company has introduced flexible licensing across its BIG-IP products to allow customers to purchase only the resources they need at a given time.

Riverbed’s Granite Consolidates Data And Servers

Riverbed Technology updated its Granite product line with expanded capacity so enterprises can extend its server and data consolidation features to larger branch offices and data-intensive applications that previously were too difficult to consolidate.

The update includes new Granite 2.5 software that adds support for Fibre Channel, thereby extending integration with enterprise-class storage arrays, including those from EMC, NetApp and IBM. The software also has improved data protection capabilities with automated snapshots and simplified support for existing data center class backup and recovery software.

Customers can enhance Granite 2.5 by hosting it on Riverbed’s new, purpose-built Steelhead EX 1360 model appliance, which has expanded capacity and performance for consolidating larger data stores back to the data center. The Granite 2.5 software and Steelhead EX 1360 model appliances are expected to be available in the third quarter of this year.

WildPackets Watches More Closely

WildPackets’ latest version of its WatchPoint network monitoring software makes use of big data technology to capture all network flow and packet analysis data with one-minute granularity for up to a year. Features of WatchPoint 3.0 include the ability to aggregate data from up to 20 network segments into a single view of network health, application trends and business activity, and the ability to track business applications such as Oracle Financials, SAP or NetSuite.

WatchPoint 3.0 also integrates with other WildPackets analysis and troubleshooting tools such as OmniPeek network analyzers and Omnipliance network appliances, and summarizes data from OmniFlow-supported devices, NetFlow-supported devices and sFlow-supported devices. Reporting options include both ad hoc and scheduled PDF reports.

[Read how a health care provider monitors the quality of service on its network in "QoS Boosts Health of Telemedicine Network."]

WatchPoint can be used to monitor network health across data centers and branches, and to examine current or previous network activity in close detail. The software's big data architecture is designed to provide a detailed and accurate view of network performance with reports that display long-term trends and baselines, not just a series of short-term reports, including up to a year of network analysis data.

NComputing Offers Windows Support

NComputing has updated its core VDI vSpace Server software to extend its application and desktop virtualization capabilities to Windows Multipoint Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8. Other new features include improved graphics performance and expanded USB peripheral support.

Included in the new vSpace Server 7.1 software is the vSpace Management Center, which enables IT administrators to manage and scale virtual desktop deployments to tens of thousands of users through a Web-based management console and remotely manage vSpace Server software instances on PCs, servers and client devices, such as NComputing L300 or M300 thin clients.vSpace Server is available now to new customers or as an upgrade for existing customers with membership in the NComputing Support and Subscription program. It's included with all new purchases of NComputing client devices.

NEXT: New releases from Meru, CloudVelocity, Coraid

Meru’s AP832 Is Backwards Compatible

Meru Networks’ newest access point, the Meru AP832, makes use of a single-channel option provided by Meru’s MobileFLEX architecture to achieve what the company described as superior speeds. It’s also backward compatible to support 802.11n clients in both 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz bands.

The Meru AP832 features two dual-band 802.11ac-supporting radios capable of simultaneously transmitting on the 5-GHz band, which allows users to overlay 802.11ac APs on 802.11n networks to solve capacity problems in high-density environments. To help customers migrate to 802.11ac at their own pace, the AP832 also enables the use of three spatial streams with only standard 802.3af power over Ethernet, rather than being forced to upgrade all access points in one fell swoop.

Meru controllers can be upgraded to support 802.11ac using Meru System Director 6.0 software. Priced at $1,295, the AP832 will be available in the third quarter of this year.

CloudVelocity Automates App Migration To AWS

CloudVelocity’s latest version of its One Hybrid Cloud software enables enterprises to run their Linux and Windows multi-tier and multi-system applications on Amazon Web Services without modifications, while automating dozens manual cloud processes necessary for the migration.

Processes automated by the One Hybrid Cloud software include discovery of constituent hosts, blueprinting of system components and configuration, provisioning of cloud resources, continuous replication and synchronization of the entire application stack, and service initiation in the cloud site to extending infrastructure services such as LDAP and Active Directory.

Coraid Releases New File Block Storage

Coraid’s new file storage appliance, the ZX4000, is flash-enhanced to handle large-scale mixed workloads in both enterprise and cloud deployments. Customers can create a limitless pool of elastic, shared, block storage and scale file storage performance by adding more ZX appliances.

Based on the Zettabyte File System, the ZX4000 is designed to work with Coraid EtherDrive SRX block storage and features a cloud-compatible architecture. Using EtherDrive scale-out block storage, customers can create a shared storage pool that is potentially limitless in size. As more capacity or performance is needed, customers can add more appliances and reallocate storage without hardware reconfiguration.

Available now, the ZX4000 uses RAIN and RAIDZ-3 options to protect against the failure of three entire shelves or drives.