Virtual Iron’s New Virtual Classroom Streamlines Deployments and Accelerates Customer ROI

Virtual Iron Software ( http://www.virtualiron.com ), a provider of comprehensive server virtualization software solutions for the mainstream market, today announced the immediate availability of a new eLearning portal. The new Virtual Classroom expands upon Virtual Iron’s existing online training offerings to help technical personnel quickly learn about the Virtual Iron solution and the best ways to install and deploy it for immediate benefit and ROI. This training is available to any Virtual Iron user on a subscription basis.

“The Virtual Iron eLearning portal is a great resource and a tremendous convenience,” said Paul Klump, system administrator at Rutgers University in New Jersey. “I can view exactly the training I need, when I need it, and as my busy schedule allows. Plus, I can refer back to it on demand. I feel very well prepared as we get ready to move Virtual Iron into production here at the university.”

Virtual Iron offers an easy-to-use, cost-effective true server virtualization solution that incorporates comprehensive and intelligent virtual infrastructure control with essential capabilities including LiveMigrate(TM) for virtual server migration, LiveRecovery(TM) for disaster recovery and high availability, LiveCapacity(R) for dynamic CPU resource load balancing, and LiveMaintenance(TM) for offline server maintenance without downtime. Over 2,000 customer organizations leverage Virtual Iron to support a broad range of data center initiatives including server consolidation, virtual server management, dev/test optimization, business continuity and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) enablement.

“We pride ourselves on our ease of use; however, server virtualization lives in a complex ecosystem touching servers, networks, storage, and more,” said Tony Asaro, Chief Strategy Officer at Virtual Iron. “That is why we’ve put such an emphasis on our online training and education. It is core to our strategy and Virtual Iron will continue to create courses and content to provide our customers with easier implementation, operation and optimization.”

Five Hours, not Five Days

With the new Virtual Classroom, Virtual Iron users get all the information they need to be totally self-sufficient on the Virtual Iron software platform–in just five hours. This is in comparison to the five days of onsite classroom training that is typical for comparable solutions such as VMware. The Virtual Iron training is self-paced, highly modularized and delivered via a web-based console for anywhere, anytime access. Comprised of formal concept and how-to presentations, video demonstrations of tasks on real systems, integrated self-check testing and downloadable job aids, the modules average 20-30 minutes each and are designed in a highly intuitive, workflow sequence that encourages users to practice and master each task before moving on. Users can also revisit any module at any time during their subscription period. The modules include:

— Virtual Classroom Overview

— Preparing a Virtual Iron Environment

— Installing Virtual Iron Software

— Creating and Configuring Virtual Data Centers

— Creating and Installing Virtual Servers

— Configuring and Testing High Availability

— Miscellaneous Administration Tasks

— Scripting with the Virtual Iron Application Programming Interface

— Troubleshooting Your Virtual Iron Environment

The Virtual Classroom is available from any Virtual Iron reseller partner as an annual subscription and includes new modules and updates throughout the year. Additional details are available at http://www.virtualiron.com/pdf/VI_Virtual_Classroom.pdf .

Virtual Vignettes

Virtual Iron has also made available a series of free eLearning videos covering the basic steps for preparing, installing and configuring a Virtual Iron environment. These vignettes are freely available for general consumption at http://www.virtualiron.com/training and include:

— Watch this First – how to prepare for and install Virtual Iron

— Networking – how to configure Logical Networks

— iSCSI Storage – how to configure an iSCSI Network and connect to an iSCSI SAN

— Fibre Channel Storage – how to connect to a Fibre Channel SAN

— VLANs – how to configure and use Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANS)

— Virtual Data Centers – how to build your first Virtual Server

— Logical Disks – understanding the differences between Raw and Logical Disks and how to configure Logical Disks

— Virtual Servers – how to create and configure your first Virtual Server

— High Availability – how to configure and test Virtual Iron High Availability (HA) features

About Virtual Iron Software, Inc. – True Server Virtualization for Everyone

Virtual Iron provides server virtualization software that enables companies of all sizes to reduce the cost and complexity of operating and managing their IT infrastructure. Leveraging industry standards, open source, and built-in hardware-assisted acceleration, Virtual Iron provides a complete and cost-effective solution that supports a broad range of data center initiatives. The software is available exclusively through Virtual Iron’s Channel One partner network. Trial versions of the software are available for free download at http://www.virtualiron.com/free . For more information, visit http://www.virtualiron.com or e-mail info@virtualiron.com .