Networking vendor, Netgear, introduced two new enterprise products for commercial SMB and larger companies – the XCM8800 Chassis series switch and the XSM7224S ProSafe 24-port 10 Gigabit Stackable L2+ managed switch.
The Netgear 8800 Chassis series supports industry standard protocols and combats networking device sprawl through its rack-mount design and complete line of plug and play functional modules. Its operating software and system management features take the complexity out of delivering network services to medium sized organisations.
Key features include redundant control modules and power supply configuration options, built-in threat detection and support for all major communications protocols – including the latest versions of IPv6, 802.3af Power over Ethernet (PoE), Gigabit copper or optical, and 10-Gigabit optical connectivity.
The XSM7224S allows for a flexible top-of-rack infrastructure. All its 24 ports are Gigabit/10 Gigabit capable and deliver wired speed performance with minimal latency. Local/distant stacking provides versatile 10 Gigabit deployment possibilities, such as Distributed (LACP) Aggregation for virtualised servers and storage.
It is built for virtualisation and distributed LACP and features stackable solution for Active-Active server teaming and aggregation and core scalability with L3 licensing.
The XCM8800 Chassis series switch starts at $3359 and the XSM7224S starts at $12,679.
The products are available from Netgear distributors Ingram Micro, Dicker Data and Synnex.
Seagate ships Pulsar XT.2 to distribution channel
Hard disk drives and storage solution provider, Seagate, has begun distributing the Pulsar XT.2 solid state drive (SSD).
According to the vendor, it is the first Multi-Level Cell (MLC) Flash-enabled SSD from an enterprise hard drive maker.
The Pulsar XT.2 SSD combines Single-Level Cell (SLC) flash with a native 6Gbps Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) interface. The 2.5-inch SSD with up to 400GB of capacity is optimised for complex and mixed workloads.
It is designed specifically for enterprise environments such as datacentres.
The drive automatically identifies and amends data errors that could plague normal drive operations. It also supports Serial ATA (SATA) 6Gbps interfaces for primary and secondary server storage.
The solution also meets the standards of the Storage Performance Council (SPC), which outlines, manages and upholds industry-standard storage benchmarks.
As part of the SPC-1C result, the Pulsar XT.2 SSD also met the new SPC-1C requirement for data prefilling, decreasing any potential performance advances storage component vendors may produce by destroking a device or limiting access to certain portions of the storage space to artificially escalate performance.
Ensim introduces Unify Cloud Manager
Cloud management vendor, Ensim Corporation, has released of Ensim Unify Cloud Manager.
It is a complete, centralised platform that manages the creation, activation, configuration and administration of cloud services.
It enables service providers to control the functionality of the Ensim Unify platform to authorise resellers and organisations to securely offer an extensive variety of cloud services that include desktop, server and application.
Ensim Unify Cloud Manager includes management functionality across desktop, computing and applications, enabling service providers to deliver cloud-based applications and services to their resellers and customers via a wide variety of connectors.
Other features include multi-tenant enablement, automated provisioning, fine-grain privilege management, delegated administration, robust resource and pool management for service providers, resellers, organisations and end-users in a single solution.
It is available in Australia through TrackITOnline.
SolarWinds releases Web Transaction Watcher and Synthetic End User Monitor
IT management software provider, SolarWinds, has launched its Web Transaction Watcher and Synthetic End user monitor.
It aids systems administrators and application support professionals in monitoring multi-step web-based transactions in mission-critical applications.
It also supplies a cloud-based and internal web application monitoring system that enables users to counter transaction problems before customers see them.
Alerts are sent if there are issues with completing transactions and users can run transactions as often as they like as the cost is not based on frequency.
The Web Transaction Watcher is a free tool that allows users to record and capture the results of a web transaction and provide a notification in the event that a problem is detected. The test can be replayed as often as every 30 minutes upon recording.
If users choose to upgrade to Synthetic End User Monitor, their existing Web Transaction Watcher transaction recordings do not need to be re-recorded.
Both Synthetic End User Monitor and Web Transaction Watcher integrate with SolarWinds Application Performance Monitor (APM) to read system status from inside the server to outside the application. Synthetic End User Monitor offers frequent testing from various locations, multiple alerting options and historical data.
The SolarWinds Web Transaction Watcher is free and available for download on the SolarWinds website. The Synthetic End User Monitor is available from $1995, with the first year of maintenance included and the pricing for SolarWinds APM starts at $2495.
Parallels Plesk Panel 10.3 and product expert support program
Virtualisation and automation software provider, Parallels, announced the latest release of its Plesk Panel – a control panel tool for managing the delivery of hosted services to SMBs.
Parallels Plesk Panel 10.3 includes numerous enhancements and power users and customers can also now partake in the new Parallels Product Expert (PPE) program, which provides an online community to interact with experts well-versed on the deployment and management of Parallels platforms.
New features include the integration for directly managing Facebook and other social media applications, via the introduction of Parallels Plesk Web Presence Builder (replacing the formerly-named Parallels Plesk Sitebuilder).
The solution manages any company’s Web presence, such as the construction of full websites using business-specific templates, updating and posting social media content, generating and launching applications such as online stores and other e-commerce activities and support for file sharing, multimedia and other Cloud-based content.
According to Parallels vice-president of service provider marketing, John Zanni, linking a company’s website to its social networking presence is essential for SMBs to build a community of interest and drive customer engagement.
Additional capabilities of Parallels Plesk Panel 10.3 include file sharing, user-selectable interface, drag-and-drop online stores, improved billing interface and a new billing order form.
Parallels also unveiled the PPE program, which focuses on supporting Parallels Plesk Panel products.
Experts from the Parallels community who establish a high level of technical knowledge of the panel can join the program.
Accepted PPEs will interact directly with technical staff and the growing community of Parallels Plesk Panel users.
They will have access to pre-release reviews of product roadmaps and be able to test future software releases.
