Opsware Unveils Blade Edition
Called Blade Edition, the software is designed to install, configure and manage applications and operating systems residing on blade servers.
"Blades help companies reduce hardware and data center costs, but in exchange, they actually increase the complexity of managing the software stack that runs on the blades," said Tim Howes, CTO of Opsware, based here. "As you add more blades, the management challenge grows substantially from an annoyance to a headache to a migraine. That's why we developed Blade Edition."
The product is set to become part of EDS' utility platform. The consulting and systems integration firm is developing an automated platform that combines Opsware's suite of automation software, Ejasent Software's data-center metering software, blade servers and services developed by EDS, said Steve Lapekas, offering manager for automated web hosting operations at EDS.
"Blades have been around for a while but are beginning to take off and will definitely be a part of our utility strategy," said Larry Lozon, global offering executive for Web and application hosting at EDS.
The vendor acquired the MSP business of Opsware, then known as Loudcloud, last August. In December, EDS plans to relaunch a melded offering of EDS and Opsware services to the market, Lapekas said.
EDS also expects to layer its enterprise applications on the Opsware platform and roll out Opsware across its entire hosting business. The company has about 900 hosting customers.