Roundup: Verisign, nlyte, VMware, Level 3

Here’s a roundup of some of this week’s headlines from the data center and hosting industry:

Verisign unveils infrastructure grants. As a part of the "25 years of .com" celebration Verisign (VRSN) has announced a grant program to promote and foster research that strengthens the Internet Infrastructure.  This fall the company will award four $75,000 research grants. The four topics that submissions will be accepted for are overall Internet infrastructure, the domain name system (DNS), DNS security, the internationalization of the Internet, and infrastructure applications. Additional information about the grants can be found at http://www.25yearsof.com/grants. Verisign also paid tribute Wednesday night to pioneering individuals and companies for their contributions to the development of the Internet.  Some of the honorees included Steve Jobs, Andy Grove, Bill Gates, Marc Andreessen, Vint Cerf and Tim Berners-Lee.

nlyte selected by ACS. nlyte Software announced that ACS, A Xerox company has selected the nlyte DCPM (Data Centre Infrastructure Management) Suite to drive its green data center program. "As part of our plan to deliver IT services to our customers in the most effective and environmentally sustainable way, we decided that we needed a data centre infrastructure management tool," said Alan Brooks, Managing Director, UK ITO Operations, ACS. "The introduction of business intelligence-based DCIM processes will enable us to better manage our customers’ IT requirements and build an on-going relationship with them."  The nlyte solution will help drive compliance and governance-based processes for management of all data centre assets at ACS' new flagship facility in Telford, UK.

VMware Announces Fusion 3.1.  VMware (VMW) announced the worldwide availability of VMware Fusion 3.1 as a free update to all VMware Fusion 3 users. The latest version contains more than 20 new features, has up to 5x faster 3D graphics and is supported and recommended by Autodesk for AutoCAD 2011. The new version has greatly improved Windows Aero performance and OpenGL 2.1 support. Other new features include support for larger virtual machines, faster application launching, better overall disk performance and 35% better end-to-end performance compared to its predecessor. Fusion users on version 3 can automatically download the free update, or previous versions can upgrade for $39.99.

Level 3 and GlobeNet partner for services.  Level 3 (LVLT) announced that the company has established a multi-service relationship with GlobeNet, an international provider of submarine cable transmission capacity, to enable Level 3 and GlobeNet to offer transport and high-speed Internet services to satisfy the growth in communications demand in South America.  "Level 3 is committed to meet the rising demand for high-speed internet and international connectivity. Our new collaboration with GlobeNet illustrates this by increasing our ability to provide customers with premium packaged services to the South American market," said Andrew Crouch, president of Wholesale Markets for Level 3.  The arrangement between companies allows GlobeNet to package its sub-sea cable capacity with Level 3's high-speed Internet protocol (HISP) services and Level 3 can package HISP services on routes between South and North America, using GlobeNet's sub-sea cable capacity.