Veritas has delivered the next steps in its Linux-based utility computing vision, expanding support for SuSE Linux with its Cluster Server, Foundation Suite and OpForce products. Cluster Server will also provide support for Vmware, underlining the continued importance of Vmware to Veritas despite the software's recent acquisition by storage rival EMC.

Veritas has recently acquired several technologies as part of its move towards utility computing. As well as OpForce, it also acquired application performance and availability management vendor Precise Software Solutions in late 2002, and server farm management software start-up Ejasent earlier this month.

Merger and acquisition activity in the utility computing space is rife at the moment and it is no surprise that Veritas has balanced its acquisition of Ejasent with the announcement of expanded support for VMware ESX Server, the server virtualization software that Veritas's storage rival, EMC, acquired at the turn of the year.

Veritas has announced that its Cluster Server software is now available for VMware ESX Server, providing high-availability functionality for ESX virtual servers. Using Veritas Cluster Server, ESX users can now monitor virtual servers and fail over to another cluster node in the event of server failure.

Veritas's continued support for VMware following its acquisition by EMC indicates not only the importance of VMware's software, but also the fact that it has retained a degree of independence as a subsidiary of the storage giant, which is a direct competitor of Veritas following its acquisition of storage management software vendor Legato Systems. EMC has committed to maintaining VMware's relationships with potential rivals.

The move also highlights the fact that despite its acquisition of utility computing technologies that have some crossover with VMware, Veritas wants to continue its relationship with the firm.

Veritas's recent acquisition of Ejasent might have given it some server virtualization technology of its own in UpScale, but for the time being VMware is the much more established player with valuable partnerships with the leading server vendors.

Source: Computerwire/Datamonitor

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