Utility computing gets a boost

Veritas is moving into the utility arena with OpForce 3.0, which uses technology it acquired from Javera Technologies that allows automated server provisions.

The latest version of OpForce 3.0 seeks to eliminate the need of an IT administrator to manually configure and provision servers for specific applications, said Jeremy Roe, a Veritas spokesman. He said Version 3.0 combines Jareva's technologies with existing advancements from Veritas.

"The software can now also discover instances of installed Veritas File System and Volume Manger," said Roe, explaining that the settings for these applications also can be replicated over when provisioning a new server.

Meanwhile, RLX Technologies announced RLX HPC Cluster Manager - software which will help manage large cluster-based computing environments. The software is already on RLX's Control Tower XT Blade operating system and costs $50 (£30) a clustered ServerBlade.

Altiris also introduced the latest version of its Altiris Server Provisioning Suite - software which also automates some of the manual tasks associated with server deployment and configuration.

The latest version features what the company calls integrated patch management and a monitoring capability. The integrated patch management was added to help install Microsoft-issued security patches, while the monitoring capability permits real-time monitoring of servers. This means the software can reprovision or add more resources as required by the needs of applications.

Scott Tyler Shafer writes for InfoWorld