10 Cloud And Data Center Products To Check Out Right Now

Cloud On The Horizon

Cloud computing in practice is all about infrastructure, data center convergence, services and dynamic applications. Naturally, solution providers and the vendors with which they partner come at the cloud from all different angles, and at Interop New York, cloud- and data center-focused products and services were the big topic of discussion. Here's a look at some of the more interesting ones CRN found at the show.

Virtual Exinda WAN Optimization Appliance

An up-and-coming WAN optimization player, Exinda Networks came to Interop with a new, virtual WAN optimization appliance, meaning it's joined the range of vendors that can offer WAN op services to customers without needing a dedicated hardware appliance. According to Exinda, the Virtual Exinda WAN Optimization Appliance works with all major hypervisors, and can source storage using SAN architecture and boost performance using other Exinda products like Exinda Edge Cache, for disk storage, WAN Memory, for data de-duplication, and CIFS Acceleration.

Parallels Automation For Cloud Infrastructure

Hosting and cloud services provider Parallels brought to Interop New York its recently released Parallels Automation for Cloud Infrastructure (PACI) which is intended for use by service providers to deliver infrastructure-as-a-service (IAAS) to SMBs. Parallels described PACI as a "complete, turnkey cloud infrastructure solution" and for its channel partners and customers, offers everything from complete hosting control to self-service management and security features. In addition, PACI offers a single interface and access to APIs for developing applications for a cloud hosting environment, plus access to tuck-in platforms like the content management and distribution software CloudFlare.

Egenera PAN Manager

At Interop New York, Egenera went live with the latest version of PAN Manager, the company's flagship converged infrastructure management offering and a means to consolidate management for both physical and virtual data center technologies under a single platform. Recently named to CRN's list of Need to Know Emerging Infrastructure Software vendors, Egenera has also recently been adding partnerships, including a strategic partnership with Cloud Silver Lining, an IT consultancy that is certifying PAN Manager as "cloud-compatible" under its influential Xertification process.

Gigamon G-SECURE-0216 Inline Traffic Distribution Switch

Gigamon's latest is its G-SECURE-0216 Inline Traffic Distribution Switch, which manages how traffic between 10G links and 1G inline devices is distributed. According to GIgamon, the 0216 offers distribution for up to eight 1G inline devices such as firewalls and intrusion prevention systems, and also can provide bypass protection to keep a network from going down during a system failure or power outage. It can distribute traffic loads based on IP or MAC addresses, or do it by application port number, and is available in single-mode and multimode fiber configurations.

i365 EVault Endpoint Protection

i365, a Seagate company, brought to Interop New York its EVault Endpoint Protection product, which offers cloud-connected backup, recovery and data security features for protecting endpoint devices like desktops and laptops. That's important for on-the-go workers carrying a lot of mobile devices that need access to the corporate network, i365 argues, because companies can use centralized, policy-based administration and reduplicated, compressed data transfer -- all hosted in the EVault cloud, by the way -- to more easily manage those assets.

Napatech NT40E2-4

Napatech, which specializes in intelligent network adapters, launched its 4 x 10 Gbps Ethernet network adapter, the NT40E2-4. It's designed, according to the vendor, to support both Ethernet and SONET/SDH operations, supporting both Ethernet LAN and WAN PHY standards, able to provide passive packet capture for active packet analysis and multi-port traffic generation. The adapter specifically has four, 10-GbE ports, meaning higher port density for monitoring and analyzing links, and, according to Napatech, a lower cost-per-port for network appliances. Napatech was demonstrating the NT40E2-4 at Interop New York, and testers there told CRN it can be upgraded to 40 GbE when required.

StorageFlex rdx A8 Backup & Archive Appliance

StorageFlex brought lots of goodies to Interop New York, including its new rdx A8 Backup & Archive Appliance, which includes eight 1TB hot swap removable cartridges and a standard iSCSI interface for expansion in 2U increments. Each rdX A8 appliance, in fact, can be figured as an 8-slot JBOD, using eight drive letters or mount points, or as an LTO 8-slot virtual tape library for performing backups from most forms of backup software, according to the company.

Tier 3 Enterprise Cloud Platform

Tier 3 is a provider of virtual private cloud platforms, and at Interop New York confirmed updates to the IT automation capabilities its platform offers. Tier 3's Enterprise Cloud Platform includes the ability to create storage clusters with log replication, and is additionally a SAS 70 Type II audited platform that's also HIPAA and PCI compliant, promising 99.999 percent uptime across servers, network and storage thanks to QoS controls built right in. The company's infrastructure partners include Dell, Cisco, VMware and NetApp.

Phoenix NAP Secured Cloud

Phoenix NAP is an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) provider, as well as the primary network access point for the Phoenix, Ariz. metro region. Its director of corporate strategy, Jordan Jacobs, appeared at Interop New York to talk up Phoenix NAP's Secured Cloud, an infrastructure platform that the company offers in a white-label format. Compute power is purchased by the drink, with Phoenix NAP billing only for the time that compute power is operating. Secured Cloud is currently in beta, and among other recent announcements, Phoenix NAP joined the VMware Service Provider program.

Riverbed Zeus And Aptimize

Riverbed talked up the fruits of two recent acquisitions: Zeus Technology, which makes virtual application delivery controllers, and Aptimize Limited, a specialist in Web content optimization. Zeus, in particular, has been especially touted by ADC solution providers and analysts for its software-based controllers that support the full range of virtual hypervisors.