Roundup: Cisco, VMware, Juniper, Enterasys

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

Juniper to acquire Trapeze Networks. Juniper Networks  (JNPR) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement under which Juniper will acquire Trapeze Networks, a technology leader in enterprise wireless local area network (WLAN) systems and management software, in an all cash transaction valued at approximately $152 million. The Trapeze Networks WLAN technology is complementary to Juniper's campus and branch switching, routing and security business. "With the acquisition of Trapeze Networks, we extend our industry leading routing, security and switching portfolio with proven and innovative WLAN technology that will enable our customers to provide a seamless, high-quality, secure experience to their users regardless of where and how they access their network," said David Yen, executive vice president and general manager, Fabric and Switching Technologies at Juniper Networks.

Enterasys Data Center Manager. Enterasys Networks, a Siemens company announced Enterasys Data Center Manager (DCM), a unified management solution delivering automation, visibility and control over the data center fabric, including network, servers, storage and applications, across both physical and virtual environments. The new DCM solution provides a tool for tracking and historical reporting on virtual machine movement and implementation of the integrated Enterasys network and VM management system.  “Our experience in managing a dynamic, virtualized environment helped us understand and plan for the challenges associated with building our new data center. Enterasys solutions provide us with an integrated and comprehensive view of our physical and virtual environment, with the ability to keep track of applications as they move from server to server," said Charles Desourdy, associate CIO for the UMass Medical School.

Cisco and VMware integrate virtual desktop. Cisco (CSCO) and VMware (VMW) announced a desktop virtualization solution based on Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) and VMware View  4.5. Two new Cisco Validated designs will help customers mitigate some of the risks to successful virtual desktop implementations as well as help customers and channel partners accelerate the deployment of a combined Cisco and VMware solution. Channel initiatives also introduced include a new Solution Enablement Toolkit (SET), funding for partner-led assesments, customizable marketing campaign tools and a twelve city road show across the U.S. and Canada to educate partners. “The virtual desktop solution from Cisco and VMware is the right approach, especially considering that it has become more and more important for organizations to reduce their total cost of ownership (TCO) and optimize the lifecycle management of their hardware infrastructure.  Additionally this desktop virtualization solution helps enable companies to quickly adapt themselves to a possible change in the business," said Nino D'Auria, CEO at Lutech.