Scalent Enters Data Center Virtualization Market

A new entrant jumped into the data-center virtualization market on Thursday when Scalent Systems Inc. introduced its Virtual Operating Environment, which promises to improve data-center utilization and reduce complexity.

Scalent's VOE tackles three critical facets of virtualization with software aimed at automating virtualization of servers, networks, and storage allocation, says Ben Linder, chief executive and a co-founder of Scalent.

"We can radically raise utilization," Linder says. "Customers are seeing a tripling of resource utilization that provides a meaningful and substantial reduction in the number of new servers they have to add into their infrastructure because they can more effectively and powerfully use their existing infrastructure."

The Scalent software is designed to work with other virtualization products from companies like Microsoft, VMware, and Zen Source to create a true virtual infrastructure that unites all major IT systems into a single virtual fabric, he says.

VOE is designed to work with Windows and Linux operating systems, and can be integrated with all major servers and networking devices, Linder says. The software creates a separation of physical infrastructure devices from the operating system and applications, and provides for "just-in-time" allocation of the resources.Connectivity virtualization shapes the underlying LAN and SAN resources to match the needs of applications as well as security and clustering requirements.

Scalent, which was founded in 2003, is currently completing pilot projects with about 10 customers. The software is priced at less than $1,000 per managed agent.