13
Wed, Nov
5 New Articles

IBM Advances Cloud Computing with New Software

Managed Services / SaaS
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

IBM expands its virtualization, image management, and cloud computing leadership with major technology breakthroughs. 

IBM has announced a series of technology breakthroughs that extend its leadership capabilities in virtualization, image management and cloud computing, including software that can virtualize a data center within minutes to instantly meet business demand. 

These new technologies build on IBM's existing provisioning and image deployment capabilities that help clients better manage virtualized cloud environments to achieve greater business efficiency, agility and innovation while controlling costs. 

According to IDC, $17 billion was spent on cloud-related technologies, hardware and software in 2009. IDC expects that spending will grow to $45 billion by 2013. (1) 

The demand for cloud computing is exploding as organizations seek to expand the impact of IT to deliver new and innovative services while realizing significant economies of scale. The power of the cloud computing model is the ability to harness varying technology investments by enabling rapid and dynamic scheduling, provisioning, and management of virtualized computing resources on demand. 

IBM has helped thousands of clients adopt cloud models and manages millions of cloud based transactions every day in areas as diverse as banking, communications, healthcare and government, and securely tap into IBM cloud-based business and infrastructure services. By offering proven solutions to accelerate the deployment of advanced infrastructure virtualization with capabilities to visualize, control, and automate these infrastructures, IBM helps global organizations optimize their ROI from technology. 

New software virtualizes a data center in minutes 

IBM's new, advanced virtual deployment software--now available as an open beta program--enables organizations to build a cloud environment rapidly and manage with greater ease than ever before. The software has unmatched dynamic provisioning and scheduling of server resources, two capabilities at the core of cloud functionality. 

While traditional technologies deploy virtual machines slowly, requiring significant hands-on management from IT staff, the IBM software can deploy a single virtual machine in seconds, dozens in a few minutes and hundreds or thousands at the unrivaled speed of under an hour. 

In addition to speed, the new IBM software provides a powerful "image management" system to help organizations install, configure and automate the creation of new virtual machines to better meet business demands, while minimizing costs, complexity and the risk associated with IT deployment.

An organization's ability to instantly access computational resources enables quicker response to changing customer demands as well as new business opportunities that require IT resources from a large data center.

For example, a telecommunications operator could leverage a high-performance cloud environment to support rapid development and deployment of fourth-generation applications, reducing time to market from months to weeks; a healthcare provider could leverage the cloud's computational resources to accelerate retrieval and analysis of medical records to provide better service to patients in a more cost-effective manner.

As organizations rely more heavily on the rapid availability of computational resources, the demand for virtual machines increases dramatically. In fact, virtual machines under management will grow tenfold from 2008 to 2012.(2) Virtual server images are typically between five to 20 gigabytes in size. Multiply that by the thousands of virtual images created today, with larger enterprises having five to twenty thousand virtual machines, and the resulting complexity makes it challenging for IT managers who are tasked with improving service levels.(3) These types of requirements demand an environment that delivers rapid access to IT resources. It is becoming a critical requirement to have an automated, "low touch" design that supports a much larger number of virtual machines with fewer administrators—reducing costs and risks associated with human error.

"These new technologies deliver a definitive step forward in simplifying the way IT staff can manage the cloud," said Ric Telford, vice president of Cloud Services, IBM. "They come at a critical time for businesses as the demand for computing resources and new services are becoming nearly insatiable, despite generally stagnate budgets. IBM is delivering again on our promise of leading cloud innovation with a focus on fundamentally transforming the economics of IT."

IBM also announced three new breakthroughs for managing virtual environments: 

1. Automating IT Resources 

IBM has expanded the capabilities of Tivoli Provisioning Manager 7.2 to help organizations better manage virtual computing resources easily by automating best practices for data center provisioning activities. New capabilities to this provisioning software include a federated image library, image mobility and application deployment utilizing composite images. 

The new software enables clients to rapidly deploy images in order to provide high value applications, while the automated provisioning helps control image sprawl, reduce cost and optimize resources. Leveraging best practices drives greater consistency to help minimize human errors and speed the execution and accuracy of the testing process. 

2. Extending Service Management to Hybrid Cloud Environments 

IBM demonstrated technologies that provide a centralized management platform for hybrid cloud environments for both on and off premise deployments. IBM's cloud integration strategy enables clients to simplify, centralize and control the secure use of hybrid public and private clouds. 

The new technology demonstrated today extends service management capabilities such as governance, monitoring and security across physical and virtualized resources in private and public clouds as well as traditional physical deployments. 

3. Protecting Virtualized Data 

The IBM Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments integrates with and extends clients' requirements to meet backup and recovery needs, online database and application protection, disaster recovery, reduction in stored data, space management, archiving and retrieval 

In the virtualized environment, this software improves the frequency of backups to reduce the amount of data at risk, and enables faster recovery of data to reduce downtime following a failure. By off-loading backup and restore processes from virtual machines, Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments allows users and applications to remain productive without disruption. 

IBM Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments includes features that: 

  • Utilize VMware's vStorage APIs for Data Protection, including block-level incremental backups based on VMware's Changed Block Tracking
  • Offload the backup workload from virtual machines and production VMware ESX hosts to vStorage backup servers
  • Provides flexible recovery options -- file, volume or image -- from a single-pass backup
  • Centralizes and simplifies management with IBM Tivoli Storage Manager
  • For photos and more on this story, visit the PULSE 2011 press kit at www.ibm.com/press/pulse.
  • ________________________________
    (2) Tom Bittman, "Server Virtualization: From Virtual Machines to Clouds," Gartner Webinar, January 20, 2010.
    (3) Kurt Marko, "The Costs of Virtual Sprawl," Processor, July 2, 2008.

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider, helping clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM's hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently, and securely. IBM's breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM's legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity, and service.

For more information, visit: www.ibm.com.

BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS

LATEST COMMENTS

Support MC Press Online

$

Book Reviews

Resource Center

  • SB Profound WC 5536 Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application. You can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 of our free Node.js Webinar Series, Brian May teaches you the different tooling options available for writing code, debugging, and using Git for version control. Brian will briefly discuss the different tools available, and demonstrate his preferred setup for Node development on IBM i or any platform. Attend this webinar to learn:

  • SB Profound WP 5539More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT Generic IBM announced the E1080 servers using the latest Power10 processor in September 2021. The most powerful processor from IBM to date, Power10 is designed to handle the demands of doing business in today’s high-tech atmosphere, including running cloud applications, supporting big data, and managing AI workloads. But what does Power10 mean for your data center? In this recorded webinar, IBMers Dan Sundt and Dylan Boday join IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington for a discussion on why Power10 technology is the right strategic investment if you run IBM i, AIX, or Linux. In this action-packed hour, Tom will share trends from the IBM i and AIX user communities while Dan and Dylan dive into the tech specs for key hardware, including:

  • Magic MarkTRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now!  Request Now.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericForms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericIT security is a top priority for businesses around the world, but most IBM i pros don’t know where to begin—and most cybersecurity experts don’t know IBM i. In this session, Robin Tatam explores the business impact of lax IBM i security, the top vulnerabilities putting IBM i at risk, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. If you’re looking to avoid unexpected downtime or corrupted data, you don’t want to miss this session.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericCan you trust all of your users all of the time? A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six months later. A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:

  • FORTRA Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAManaging messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAThe thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing. Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAFor over 30 years, Robot has been a leader in systems management for IBM i. With batch job creation and scheduling at its core, the Robot Job Scheduling Solution reduces the opportunity for human error and helps you maintain service levels, automating even the biggest, most complex runbooks. Manage your job schedule with the Robot Job Scheduling Solution. Key features include:

  • LANSA Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.

  • LANSAWhen it comes to creating your business applications, there are hundreds of coding platforms and programming languages to choose from. These options range from very complex traditional programming languages to Low-Code platforms where sometimes no traditional coding experience is needed. Download our whitepaper, The Power of Writing Code in a Low-Code Solution, and:

  • LANSASupply Chain is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. From raw materials for manufacturing to food supply chains, the journey from source to production to delivery to consumers is marred with inefficiencies, manual processes, shortages, recalls, counterfeits, and scandals. In this webinar, we discuss how:

  • The MC Resource Centers bring you the widest selection of white papers, trial software, and on-demand webcasts for you to choose from. >> Review the list of White Papers, Trial Software or On-Demand Webcast at the MC Press Resource Center. >> Add the items to yru Cart and complet he checkout process and submit

  • Profound Logic Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.

  • SB Profound WC 5536Join us for this hour-long webcast that will explore:

  • Fortra IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn: