Kubernetes Takes Center Stage at VMworld

Virtualizationreview | August 26, 2019

All the best new product names and code names spoken during the VMworld kickoff keynote had to do with Kubernetes. The names that involved creative effort and an attempt at inspiration on the part of the product and marketing teams were "Tanzu," "Project Pacific" and "Project Galleon." VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger left no doubt during his Monday keynote why VMware is investing in Kubernetes-related acquisitions, contributing engineering resources to related open source projects, building new products related to Kubernetes, overhauling old ones to better support Kubernetes, and spending time on getting the names right.

Spotlight

Safecoder is here! VMware, partnering with Hugging Face, has brought their open source code LLM: Starcoder on-premises as the "Safecoder" solution. Safecoder lets customers provide a highly capable coding assistant to their development teams while maintaining control over proprietary data. Plus, Safecoder provides capabilities to fine-tune the underlying model on proprietary code to learn your coding style and guidelines.


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Virtual Desktop Tools, Desktop

Docker Continues Investment in Performance and Flexibility of Docker Desktop with Acquisition of Mutagen

Globenewswire | July 03, 2023

Docker, Inc.® today revealed its latest efforts to improve the scope and performance of the Docker Desktop with the acquisition of Mutagen, a renowned company celebrated for its open-source file synchronization and networking technologies that enable high-performance remote development. Mutagen's synchronization and forwarding capabilities facilitate the seamless transfer of code, binary artifacts, and network requests between arbitrary locations, connecting local and remote development environments. When combined with Docker's widely-used container technologies, developers can unlock a plethora of innovative opportunities and accelerate development velocity through local and remote containerized development. “Docker is more than a container tool, it comprises multiple developer tools that have become the industry standard for self-service developer platforms, empowering teams to be more efficient, secure, and collaborative," said Docker CEO Scott Johnston. “Bringing Mutagen into the Docker family is another example of how we continuously evolve our offering to meet the needs of developers with a product that works seamlessly and improves the way developers work.” The acquisition of Mutagen introduces novel mechanisms for developers to extract the highest level of performance from their local hardware, while simultaneously opening the gateway to the newest remote development solutions. With the growing number of developers, businesses, and enterprises relying on Docker, the company is driven to continually scale and enhance the capabilities of Docker Desktop. In addition to Mutagen, the company has recently introduced new offerings that are compelling to every developer. For simplified local Kubernetes development there is Telepresence for Docker, and Docker Scout is an early access tool that offers efficient image monitoring with a layer-by-layer view of image dependencies, vulnerabilities, and remediation paths. "There are so many captivating integration and experimentation opportunities that were previously inaccessible as a third-party offering," explained Jacob Howard, Mutagen’s CEO. "As Mutagen's lead developer and a Docker Captain, my ultimate goal has always been to enhance the development experience for Docker users. As an integral part of Docker's technology landscape, Mutagen is now in a privileged position to achieve that goal." About Docker Docker helps millions of developers efficiently and collaboratively build, share and run applications. The Docker collaborative application development platform provides developers with an unmatched experience for an integrated, reliable, and secure workflow that accelerates app delivery from code to the cloud. Through a combination of the world’s largest marketplace of trusted content and integrations with leading tools, Docker allows teams to rapidly create modern applications. For more information, visit www.docker.com

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Virtual Desktop Tools, Server Hypervisors

RISC Zero raises $40m in Series A to bring its leading Zero-Knowledge technology to Web3 & Enterprise

prnewswire | July 20, 2023

RISC Zero, developer of leading general purpose zero-knowledge (ZK) virtual machine technology, has raised a $40 million Series A. The round was led by Blockchain Capital and joined by seed round lead Bain Capital Crypto, with participation from other notable investors including Galaxy Digital, IOSG, RockawayX, Maven 11, Fenbushi Capital, Delphi Digital, Aglaé Ventures, IOBC, Tribute Labs' Zero Dao, Figment Capital, and Alchemy Ventures. RISC Zero's mission is to equip developers and infrastructure providers with novel cryptographic tools to power the next generation of trustless, scalable, and decentralized computation; both on and off-chain — allowing them to build solutions that defy common assumptions about the capabilities of blockchains and other federated and cooperative computing systems. Our innovative system enables users to confidently take control of their digital world by ensuring computational integrity and producing indisputable receipts of accurate program execution. "Imagine a world where data privacy, security, and trust are no longer concerns, where software supply chains are transparent and verifiable, and where a new generation of applications can harness the power of zero-knowledge computing to solve some of the most pressing challenges of the digital age. This is the promise of zero-knowledge computing and the reason we are investing in RISC Zero" - Bart Stephens, Founder and Managing Partner at Blockchain Capital RISC Zero's ZK Virtual Machine (zkVM) enables developers to build ZK-powered applications with the convenience of conventional programming languages such as Rust and C++. Utilizing advanced features such as continuations, RISC Zero's zkVM can run programs of arbitrary complexity and scope while utilizing off-the-shelf computing platforms — a first in the blockchain industry. "We're honored to be supported by all of our incredible capital partners and the visionary leaders and teams that have signed on to help us build this revolution in computing capability. We're excited to play our part in building a more open and trusted foundation for the future of the internet." - Brian Retford, CEO & Co-founder This funding round will enable RISC Zero to bring its Bonsai computing platform to market, supporting rapid application development and deployment in both cloud and decentralized environments. With Bonsai, developers can focus on writing their application instead of worrying about the complexities of proof orchestration and server infrastructure. AboutRISC Zero The RISC Zero platform will drive the coming decentralized computing revolution. We are bringing general purpose computing to the zero-knowledge ecosystem – enabling users to trust programs run anywhere, while allowing developers to use the tools they already know and love. Public key cryptography ushered in the modern internet era by fundamentally altering digital trust dynamics. Similarly, zero-knowledge computing will radically alter the way we interact digitally and enable entirely new classes of applications.

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Server Virtualization

Tachyum Demonstrates Support for Xen Hypervisor

businesswire | August 03, 2023

Tachyum® today announced that it has completed porting of all the software necessary for chip validation on the Prodigy FPGA prototype before it is sent for tape out with the successful running of the Xen hypervisor on a QEMU software emulator. Xen is a type-1 hypervisor providing services that allow multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical host system, sharing resources such as memory, processing and devices. Its bare metal capabilities allow the Xen hypervisor to communicate directly from the host’s hardware, acting like a lightweight operating system. It supports four types of virtualization: paravirtualization, full hardware virtualization, full virtualization with a set of paravirtualization drivers, and paravirtualization with hardware virtualization support. Tachyum demonstrated its support of XEN running in three different modes: Standard “dom0” mode – the most privileged domain and the only virtual machine that has direct access to hardware by default. From dom0, the hypervisor can be managed and unprivileged domains (domU) can be launched. Hyperlaunch – enabled seamless transition for existing systems that require a dom0. Provides a new general capability to build and launch alternative configurations of VMs, including support for static partitioning and accelerated start of VMs during host boot while adhering to the principles of least privileged. Dom0less – a set of Xen features that enable the deployment of a Xen system without a control domain (dom0). It is a hyperlaunch-like configuration with static partitioning without using dom0. This means that there are no virtual devices and hardware resources are statically assigned to a specific virtual machine using the passthrough method. “In order to assure that Prodigy truly becomes the means for transforming data centers into Universal Computing Centers, we need to ensure that it can properly handle any number of components, software and technology available now or in the future,” said Dr. Radoslav Danilak, founder and CEO of Tachyum. “By successfully running Xen in our Prodigy software emulator, we can confidently assure organizations that they will reap the full benefits of Prodigy when it becomes commercially available. I’m proud of the work of our highly skilled software team as they continue to complete the final components needed before tape out.” Prodigy delivers unprecedented data center performance, power, and economics, reducing CAPEX and OPEX significantly. Because of its utility for both high-performance and line-of-business applications, Prodigy-powered data center servers can seamlessly and dynamically switch between workloads, eliminating the need for expensive dedicated AI hardware and dramatically increasing server utilization. Tachyum's Prodigy delivers performance up to 4x that of the highest performing x86 processors (for cloud workloads) and up to 3x that of the highest performing GPU for HPC and 6x for AI applications. About Tachyum Tachyum is transforming the economics of AI, HPC, public and private cloud workloads with Prodigy, the world’s first Universal Processor. Prodigy unifies the functionality of a CPU, a GPGPU, and a TPU in a single processor that delivers industry-leading performance, cost, and power efficiency for both specialty and general-purpose computing. When hyperscale data centers are provisioned with Prodigy, all AI, HPC, and general-purpose applications can run on the same infrastructure, saving companies billions of dollars in hardware, footprint, and operational expenses. As global data center emissions contribute to a changing climate, and consume more than four percent of the world’s electricity—projected to be 10 percent by 2030—the ultra-low power Prodigy Universal Processor is a potential breakthrough for satisfying the world’s appetite for computing at a lower environmental cost. Prodigy, now in its final stages of testing and integration before volume manufacturing, is being adopted in prototype form by a rapidly growing customer base, and robust purchase orders signal a likely IPO in late 2024. Tachyum has offices in the United States and Slovakia.

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Virtual Desktop Tools, Virtual Server Management

Anviz Launches Next-Gen OSDP-Powered Access Control Solutions, Setting New Industry Standards

prnewswire | July 11, 2023

Anviz, an industry leader in professional and converged intelligent security solutions, has announced the launch of its next-generation access control solutions powered by Open Supervised Device Protocol (OSDP). The two new offerings – the SAC921 single-door access controller and C2KA-OSDP RFID keypad reader – are future-proof systems packed with state-of-the-art technology and smart features. Both solutions seek to ensure customer safety and peace of mind, providing a comprehensive security solution for today's modern world. "Mounting concerns surrounding personal data security have raised awareness about the importance of digital safety in recent years, which is expected to drive significant changes in safety standards for data storage and transfer," said Felix, Product Manager of Anviz. "Aiming to take the lead in transforming how personal data is safeguarded, we launched our latest OSDP-based solutions equipped with tailor-made features for businesses looking for more advanced access control systems. We also believe SIA OSDP, the most widely-recognized standard for access control systems, will play a pivotal role in addressing security concerns by empowering manufacturers to offer enhanced security options with diverse functionalities to global users." SAC921 Single-door access controller SAC921 is a PoE-powered access control system that offers great flexibility and simplicity with a wider range of access control interfaces supporting alarm input, perimeter security, and device control. The SAC921 provides a revolutionary upgrade to the traditional Wiegand-based access control systems, significantly streamlining device operations while offering improved security features and better third-party compatibility. Due to the adoption of PoE, OSDP, and built-in management software, installation of the SAC921 is easier and more cost-effective. Via Anviz's CrossChex remote control system, users can also access a more comprehensive set of security options, such as personnel identity verification, access control, and time attendance management system, granting powerful and customizable security capabilities. C2KA-OSDP RFID keypad reader The C2KA-OSDP RFID keypad reader ushers in a new era of PIN code access, delivering unrivaled convenience for both credentialed users and visitors alike. The cutting-edge reader goes beyond traditional access control by supporting multi-factor authentication with seamless integration of various credentials and access methods. The keypad reader's breakthrough security capabilities are made possible by OSDP, securing connections and safeguarding against hacks. Unlike traditional Wiegand-based systems, OSDP-powered devices enable bidirectional communication between controllers and card readers using RS485, allowing for real-time monitoring of the card reader's status. This enables access control software to monitor, control, and encrypt data between the access control controller and card reader, delivering advanced tamper protection and usage tracking. OSDP's key value come from its superior flexibility. Data shared between OSDP access control and readers are no longer confined to fixed-length data fields, such as 24 or 36, with AES128 encryption ensuring higher data security. As a member of SIA, Anviz intends to introduce more SIA OSDP Verified products to the global markets, allowing customers worldwide to enjoy higher security, richer functionality, greater ease of use, and increased interoperability brought by OSDP. The packaged access control solution that combines the SAC921 access controller and C2KA-OSDP RFID keypad reader is scheduled to be launched in the second half of 2023. Anviz is also planning to upgrade its products to support greater compatibility with third-party solutions. This will be tailored to the needs of various industries, including education, government, commercial real estate, retail, manufacturing, healthcare, and hospitality users, allowing them access to a comprehensive and integrated security control experience. AboutAnviz Global Anviz is the leading security solution provider for the commercial market. We are providing smart solutions based on cloud and IoT technologies to SMB and enterprises clients globally. Security is crucial to any office or facility, every building needs a way to keep the space safe, and most organizations also need to restrict access to certain areas. Anviz is the first access control company to make use of biometrics-based, RFID cards, mobile access technology and specialized hardware to achieve space safety goals. The powerful security features with convenient and flexible system, provide office efficiency for enterprises small and large.

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Spotlight

Safecoder is here! VMware, partnering with Hugging Face, has brought their open source code LLM: Starcoder on-premises as the "Safecoder" solution. Safecoder lets customers provide a highly capable coding assistant to their development teams while maintaining control over proprietary data. Plus, Safecoder provides capabilities to fine-tune the underlying model on proprietary code to learn your coding style and guidelines.

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