VMware acquires B-hive for apps management

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VMware is targeting application monitoring and health management with the acquisition of performance management firm, B-hive Networks.

Financial details were not disclosed for the deal, which sees the virtualisation vendor continue to target the management toolset around its software portfolio for controlling pooled hardware resources regardless of the application portfolio they support.

The vendor said it would use the expertise and technology of B-hive to offer proactive performance management and service level reporting for applications running within VMware virtual machines on both servers and desktops.

Dr Stephen Herrod, VMware chief technology officer, said the increased number of users standardising on the virtualisation platform to run business-critical applications prompted the acquisition to ensure the performance of applications from an end-user's perspective.

"B-hive's agentless, virtual appliance-based approach goes beyond traditional monitoring approaches to proactively manage application performance to specified levels," he said.

Herod gave an example of B-hive identifying degradation in application response time. In this scenario, he said it could remediate the problem by automatically instructing VMware Infrastructure to adjust the resources allocated to the application or provision an additional virtual machine with an additional instance of the application.

The vendor also said the B-hive's agentless Conductor tool, packaged as a virtual appliance with open, standards-based interfaces, would enable VMware's management partners to manage enterprise-wide business services using its service level metrics for applications in a VMware virtualised environment.

B-hive's research and development facility and team in Israel will form the core of a new VMware Middle Eastern development centre.

VMware expects its acquisition of the privately held, San Mateo-based company will complete during the third quarter of 2008, subject to customary closing conditions.

Only earlier this month, the vendor bolstered its own management tool portfolio with a number of bundles packages designed to encourage the use its data centre management and automation products.

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