Advanced automated server provisioning software set to redefine server utilization and flexibility in the Middle East

This new software will enable IT administrators located from Abu Dhabi to Amman to simultaneously discover, provision, configure and track distributed servers and applications throughout their lifecycle across multi-tiered heterogeneous data centers to help significantly reduce the time, cost and complexity traditionally associated with these tasks.

"As the Middle East's IT market continues its rapid evolution, the implications of the introduction of VERITAS OpForce Enterprise Edition 4.0 in the market are extremely positive, as the software delivers greater simplicity in managing infrastructure as well as improved performance," said Sam Tayan, regional manager, VERITAS Middle East.

"OpForce 4.0's advanced capabilities also assist VERITAS' regional strategy, which is focused on enabling IT departments to adopt a utility computing model that delivers technology as a measurable, always-on service aligned with the business goals and directions of organizations in the Middle East."

VERITAS OpForce Enterprise Edition 4.0 software allows administrators to automatically detect and manage dissimilar server configurations. In addition, through new point-in-time snapshot and reprovisioning capabilities, OpForce software helps ensure regulatory compliance of heterogeneous servers across the enterprise.

"By increasing server utilization, improving server infrastructure flexibility and lowering the overall cost and complexity of managing their IT operations, VERITAS' new software is clearly the most attractive option available to organizations looking to streamline operations with advanced automation," Tayan added.

According to a June 2004 META Group study, automation technology is key to improving the productivity of administrative staff, enabling companies to do more with the same level of resources. Server provisioning is further augmented with VERITAS OpForce 4.0 software by providing customers with new discovery and configuration management capabilities for their multi-tier datacenter environments.

New features of VERITAS OpForce 4.0 include:
•Application Discovery: OpForce software discovers and inventories prepackaged and custom applications, making the IT administrator more aware and knowledgeable about applications running on each server.
•Application Provisioning and Configuration Management: Through the creation of application software packages and one or many associated configuration models, OpForce software enables administrators to greatly simplify deployment, configuration and ongoing management of distributed applications across heterogeneous servers.
•Change Management: OpForce software provides consistency and lessens the potential of server performance problems by quickly discovering, analyzing and reporting differences between any number of provisioned servers. This innovative feature makes it possible for administrators to detect and correct server configuration drifts and helps to ensure compliance.
•Remote Operating System Installation: In addition to image-based installations, OpForce software can now conduct a fresh, remote, unattended install of the following operating systems: Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition and Red Hat Linux Advanced Server 3.0 -- onto any managed server, making the datacenter more efficient, dynamic and reliable.
•Universal Portable Snapshots: OpForce software builds on top of Microsoft Sysprep technology to create a universal and portable golden Windows server snapshot that can be matched with any server to be provisioned. This unique capability further automates the provisioning of dissimilar servers and provides flexibility when faced with configuration and hardware changes that would otherwise force the recreation of images.
•Enhanced Integration: OpForce now extends support for VERITAS Storage Foundation™ software. Now administrators can automatically provision bare-metal Sun Solaris and IBM AIX servers with fully configured VERITAS Storage Foundation software in addition to operating systems, patches and applications, effectively tying together storage and server management.
•Enhanced Networking Support: OpForce software now includes enhanced support for network personalization on servers including network interface card (NIC) teaming, Infiniband host channel adaptor (HCA) support and simple network management protocol (SNMP) trap detection for event driven operations to further enable utility computing.