Ready to Remotely Monitor and Manage SUSE Linux?

Generally speaking, numerous remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools support remote Linux administration. But Opsview, an open source RMM solution, is making some noise in the SUSE Linux market. The noise comes as Attachmate acquires Novell, the keeper of SUSE Linux. Here’s the update.

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Google Wave Finds New Life with Apache

Call it one last hurrah for the Zombie fad of 2010, but Google Wave — the e-mail/instant messaging hybrid that failed to attract an audience — has come back to life. Specifically, Google has turned over development to the open source Apache Software Foundation’s incubator program. Here’s the scoop on the newly minted Apache Wave:

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SaaS: The Return of Google Wave

You may recall that Google ceased development of their Wave e-mail/collaboration/instant messaging platform back in August 2010. But it’s rising again, Google now reports, in the form of the “Wave in a Box” project, putting the open source server and web client code already completed into a single application. Here’s the scoop.

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Eucalyptus Private Cloud Adds Windows VM Support

Eucalyptus Private Cloud, the Amazon EC2-compatible, open-source platform, has hit version 2.0 with an update that adds support for Microsoft Windows VMs, along with user group management tools designed to make it more attractive as a scalable enterprise solution. So where do MSPs potentially fit in? Here’s the lowdown.

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Linxter: Cloud Connection For SMTP

Here’s something a little different: Linxter (the cloud messaging platform) has announced  Cloud Connector for SMTP, which enables developers to actually route email along distributed endpoints when common port 25 isn’t available, or closed off because of security. Sound intriguing? In theory, Linxter’s approach could be useful for  MSPs. Here’s why.

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Morph Labs: Amazon Web Services Meets Private Clouds (Again)

Lots of folks consider Amazon Web Services and their Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) platform a market-leading cloud platform. Now Morph Labs, developers of the Morph Application Platform, think they have a solution for MSPs to form private clouds that are EC2-compatible. Here’s the scoop.

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Eucalyptus, Terracotta Make Next Cloud Move

Eucalyptus Systems, the open-source cloud platform vendor that’s positioned itself as the free, private alternative to Amazon Web Services, told me they were going to spend most of 2010 looking for new business opportunities. It looks like they’ve found one, as they announce a partnership with Terracotta to provide enhanced data scalability and application performance for enterprises using their private cloud. Here’s the scoop.

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MSPs: Is Drupal Right for Your Site?

drupal-logoDrupal is catching on as a platform for building Web sites that have social networking capabilities. And since it’s a free and open source content management system, Drupal can be easy on your wallet when launching a Web site. But the big question: Is Drupal really an option for managed service providers that want to overhaul their own web sites?

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Podcast: Fonality’s CEO on Asterisk, IP PBXes And Cloud Services

The VAR Guy Live Podcast: Fonality CEO on Asterisk and IP PBXesI interviewed Fonality CEO Chris Lyman for a podcast originally posted on TheVARguy.com. Our discussion offers managed service providers a high-level overview of Fonality’s IP PBX strategy. We touch on such topics as Asterisk, open source, and hybrid-hosted services that combine on-premise solutions with cloud services.

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Software Wants to Be Free, Software Never Dies, And Other MSP Rules to Live By

I just got off the phone with one of my first editors — the man who showed me the ropes in the high-tech industry. Back in 1992 at InformationWeek, he made two rather stunning statements to me that I never forgot:

  1. Software Never Dies
  2. Software Wants to Be Free

Remember, he made those statements long before open source and the Internet revolutionized the way we think about software and collaboration. And both statements are critically important to managed service providers. Here’s why.

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Five Things MSPs Can Learn From Open Source

I’ve spent the past two days at OSCON (Open Source Convention) in Portland, Oregon. There isn’t much managed services news here — or is there? In fact, MSPs can leverage at least five key lessons from the open source movement. Take a look.

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Open Source SaaS Scores Again With Apatar

Software as a service (SaaS) and open source continue to converge. The latest example is Apatar On-Demand, which now synchronizes Salesforce.com CRM and Intuit QuickBooks accounting software.

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Managed VoIP Services Shifting to Open Source

If you’re a managed service provider mulling your VoIP options, keep this in mind: A growing number of customers — especially in Europe — are embracing IP phone systems that leverage open source and Asterisk. In fact, the European market for open source VoIP is growing 70 percent annually, according to one market researcher. Here’s the scoop.

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SugarCRM CEO John Roberts Describes SaaS Strategy, Potential 2010 IPO

John Roberts is sitting in the middle of the perfect storm. As CEO of SugarCRM, he leads one of the fastest-growing open source application providers. And roughly 30 percent of SugarCRM’s customer wins now involve software as a service (SaaS) or an on-demand approach — meaning the company competes with traditional CRM (Siebel) and hosted models like Salesforce.com.

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Untangle, N-able Deal Accelerates Open Source, MSP Convergence

N-able has inked a security-related managed services partnership with Untangle. But I believe there’s a bigger trend here.

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Red Hat Prepping Managed Services Strategy

Red Hat PhotoThe convergence of open source with managed services and software as a service (SaaS) continues. The latest example: Red Hat, arguably the world’s best-known open source company, has created two staff positions to serve hosting partners. Plus, Red Hat is evaluating a strategy to work more closely with managed service providers, MSPmentor has learned. Here’s the scoop.

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Network Security Converges With Ubuntu Linux

Ubuntu, the fastest-growing version of Linux, is starting to attract interest from the managed services industry. One prime example: Untangle, which develops security solutions for managed service providers, is preparing to add support for Ubuntu within the next few months, MSPmentor has learned.

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Managed Services: Built On Open Source?

Ben Yarbrough has seen it. Bob Walters has seen it. And now, hundreds of managed service providers are starting to see it. What exactly is “it”? The simple answer: The convergence of open source with managed services.

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Managed Services Meets Voice Over IP

On their own, voice-over-IP and managed services are hot markets. Toss the two together, and maybe you can fan the flames of opportunity. For instance, check out how Cistera Networks is hosting VoIP managed services for schools.

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