Roundup: EMC, Cisco, Microsoft, Nimsoft

Here's a roundup of some of this week's headlines from the data center and enterprise IT industries:

EMC's Greenplum Modular Data Computing Appliance.  EMC introduced the Greenplum Modular Data Computing Appliance (DCA), the industry's first complete Big Data analytics platform. The DCA enables enterprises to combine a shared-nothing MPP relational database with enterprise-class Apache Hadoop in a single, unified appliance to achieve structured and unstructured data coprocessing. Deployed in quarter-rack increments, the approach to capacity management and scaling is based on processing performance or storage needs. The Greenplum DCA is a scalable data-warehousing appliance module that architecturally integrates database, computing, storage and network into an enterprise-class, easy-to-implement system. "We are the only company enabling data coprocessing, the fast, bidirectional sharing of structured and unstructured data between relational and Hadoop modules within a single appliance, to allow each system do what it does best and achieve a whole that's much greater than the sum of its parts," said Scott Yara, vice president of products of Greenplum, a division of EMC. "That's why data coprocessing is so important and so powerful, and it is the new modularity of our DCA that provides this opportunity for enterprises to get the benefits of Big Data analytics from whatever kind of data they're working with."

Cisco and Microsoft collaborate.  Cisco (CSCO) and Microsoft (MSFT) announced a collaboration for delivering data center virtualization solutions designed to provide improved scalability and operational control of Microsoft Windows Server "8" virtual environments. Advanced Cisco networking features will be constant across both virtual and physical networks with the Cisco Nexus 1000V distributed virtual switch and the Cisco UCS with Virtual Machine Fabric Extender (VM-FEX) capabilities and Windows Hyper-V hypervisor.  VM-FEX collapses the physical and virtual networking layers into one virtual infrastructure, improving traffic engineering, visibility and troubleshooting capabilities for VM traffic. "Cisco Unified Computing System scalability and memory density make it an ideal system for customers as they explore the many new virtualization features of Windows Server 8 and Hyper-V," said Jackie Ross, vice president of Server, Access, and Virtualization Technology Group for Cisco.  "Together, Nexus 1000V and VM-FEX with Windows Server Hyper-V will provide the advanced controls and consistency with simplified management to help accelerate customers' journey to the cloud." The Cisco Nexus 1000V and VM-FEX solutions for Hyper-V will be available when Windows 8 Server is released to the market.

Nimsoft announces SAP monitoring.  Nimsoft announced Nimsoft Monitor for SAP, an automated solution that enables customers to optimize service levels across physical, virtual and cloud environments while reducing their technology ownership costs. As a component of the Nimsoft Monitor, it features a built-in knowledge base of key performance indicators (KPIs) and associated best-practice thresholds to help administrators proactively address potential issues and quickly identify and resolve problems before they impact service levels. “Enterprise SAP environments have become highly dynamic due to both increasingly volatile business conditions and today’s extensively virtualized IT infrastructure,” said Chris O’Malley, Nimsoft CEO. “The SAP monitoring application and Nimsoft Monitor empower customers to stay on top of these dynamic SAP environments so they can achieve superlative service levels while driving down management overhead.”

Blue Coat updates PacketShaper.  Blue Coat Systems (BCSI) announced a new version of operating software for its Blue Coat PacketShaper appliances that adds an intelligent structure to auto-discovered applications and Web content categories, making it easy to instantly understand application usage. Version 8.7 of the PacketShaper operating software adds an automated hierarchical grouping of applications and content to quickly monitor and control social media, business-critical applications, business data, Web threats and other groupings. "Application visibility and control is increasingly critical now that typical Web usage consumes over 50 percent of a company’s network, and video and aggressive applications can easily incapacitate business-critical applications," said Steve Daheb, chief marketing officer and senior vice president, Blue Coat Systems. PacketShaper 8.7 is available now as a software upgrade for all customers with a current support contract for a PacketShaper appliance.