Got virtual servers? Get ready for virtual appliances
IT managers grew tired of having to separately maintain countless infrastructure management and monitoring software tools, so vendors began packaging their point products in dedicated appliances. Well, that may be fine for your old-fashioned, real-world infrastructure. But what about your virtual computing environment? Andres Kohn,
vice president of product management at Proofpoint Inc. in Cupertino, Calif., argues that IT needs "virtual appliances" for systems using VMware Inc.'s virtualization software. Enter the Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway for VMware, which is in beta now and is scheduled to ship in Q4. The software does what Proofpoint's real-to-the-touch appliances do -- scan incoming and outgoing messages for violations of content management and security policies. But it does so as a VMware image that you load onto a server running the virtualization software. The virtual appliance will reduce energy costs, Kohn notes. And although pricing has yet to be set for Proofpoint's software, it will cost less than a hardware appliance, he says. The only thing is, you might miss the comfort of seeing all those steady-state green LEDs on actual appliances in your data center.
