Category Archives: 2016

IOGEAR

IOGEAR Launches Industry-First Thunderbolt 2 KVM/Docking Station

On November 15, IOGEAR launched a first-to-market Thunderbolt 2 KVM/Docking Station. The new product enables users to turn a Thunderbolt 2-enabled computer into a complete workstation by allowing the connection of external monitors at HD and 4K resolutions, a keyboard, mouse, printer, USB drive, camera, etc., through a single Thunderbolt port. The truly unique aspect of the product is that it is also a KVM switch that allows users to connect a second computer and share all of those devices, easily switching between them with the push of a button.

This product saves money and desktop space by allowing two computers to share workstation resources with data transfer rates up to 20Gbps.

Click here to read the press release.

Source: IOGEAR

MakerBot logo

MakerBot Named Best 3D Printer in THE Journal 2016 Readers’ Choice Awards

THE Journal, a magazine that covers leading educational technology for administrative, technical, and academic leaders in K-12 education has announced their 2016 Reader’s Choice Awards for their favourite technologies in dozens of categories. In 2016, MakerBot made a change in direction of their 3D printing solutions to focus on the education market, with the launch of new products, apps and resources, which has earned them the title of Best 3D Printer.

To see a full list of THE Journal Readers’ Choice Awards 2016 click here.

Source: THE Journal

Zones

Zones the Large IT Solution Reseller Enters the Canadian Market

Computer Dealer News has reported that Zones, a big American IT solution provider has arrived in the Canadian market. For the Canadian operation manager, Zones has hired Zameer Hussain to take the lead. “One source close to the situation told CDN that Hussain’s growth strategy for the Canadian market is to go after the Canadian subsidiaries of U.S. companies that are already Zones customers. This is a similar strategy that was used by other large, foreign-owned solution providers such as Dimension Data and CDW when they entered the Canadian market.”

For the full article, click here.

Source: CDN

MakerBot Print

MakerBot Launches New 3D Printing Solutions for Professionals and Educators

New MakerBot Solutions Address the Wider Needs of Professionals and Educators

MakerBot has launched a new solution that aims to improve the way professionals and educators use 3D printing. Its new solution includes MakerBot Print and Mobile applications that makes it easier for professionals to integrate 3D printing into their workflow and for educators to bring 3D printing into the classrooms, by reducing the print preparation time and increasing the quality of the prints.

Along with these new applications, MakerBot has made improvements to the performance of their MakerBot Replicator+ and Replicator Mini+, they have introduced a more durable MakerBot Slate Gray Tough PLA Filament Bundle, and they have launched Thingiverse Education designated for 3D printing in the classroom.

For more information read the full press release, click here.

Source: MakerBot

Cabling Installation & Maintenance Honors Fluke Networks with Three Gold 2016 Innovation Awards

Prestigious awards highlight continued cutting-edge developments by Fluke Networks for tools to install, certify and troubleshoot essential cable infrastructure

EVERETT, Wash., Sept. 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Fluke Networks announced today that three of its recent products were judged by the Cabling Installation & Maintenance 2016 Innovators Awards program to be industry-leading developments. The program recognizes LinkWare™ Live with Asset Tracking, OptiFiber® Pro OTDR with SmartLoop™, and LabelLink™, a Brother Mobile Solutions mobile app integrated with LinkWare Live. A panel of cabling and communications system specifiers, designers, integrators and managers made the award decisions. The awards are intended to acknowledge the clear benefits of these tools over previous methods, approaches and products.

LinkWare Live with Asset Tracking gives contractors, cable installers and project managers the ability to track and configure testers and helps them deliver projects on time and on budget. LinkWare Live is the industry’s fastest-growing cloud-based cable certification project management service. The Asset Tracking capability makes it easy for project managers to keep track of their assets as well as the status of software and calibration of testers, informing them whenever devices need to be updated or calibrated.

Fluke Networks continues to enhance the OptiFiber Pro OTDR which is part of the Versiv line, the industry’s leading Cabling Certification System. OptiFiber® Pro with SmartLoop™ technology is the first OTDR that comes standard with the ability to test two separate fiber links in both directions from one end in a single test. SmartLoop provides instant bi-directional averaged results as required by the Telecommunications Industry Association and promises to reduce the time required for testing fiber by 50 percent or more. SmartLoop also reduces the need for fiber techs to travel to difficult to access or dangerous sites. With SmartLoop and its patent-pending algorithms for analysis, users no longer need to walk the OTDR to the far end of the link to perform bi-directional tests, helping contractors squeeze more profitability out of each project.

The LabelLink App is the result of a technology integration agreement between Fluke Networks and Brother Mobile Solutions. It makes the network and cable labeling process more efficient by making it possible for technicians to print cable and ID labels on the jobsite using data generated during the design and installation stages from the LinkWare Live platform. Cable installers can achieve greater efficiency, improved accuracy and better profitability by entering data a single time for re-use in the labeling phase of the cable installation process

“On behalf of the Cabling Installation & Maintenance Innovator Awards, I congratulate Fluke Networks on these gold awards,” said Cabling Installation & Maintenance Group Publisher Alan Bergstein. “This competitive, unbiased program spotlight the most innovative projects in the structured cabling industry. We are pleased to celebrate Fluke Networks’ gold status and recognize their contribution to the structured cabling industry”

This year’s recognition extends the acclaim for Fluke Networks ongoing and industry-leading innovation. Last year, Cabling Installation and Maintenance awarded two of their Innovators Awards to Fluke Network for the Versiv Cable Certification System and for LinkWare Live.  Both products received “Silver” level awards.

“We are honored and inspired by this recognition from such a respected organization,” said Eric Conley Vice President and General Manager of Fluke Networks. “Our team is focused on identifying ways to improve the important work performed by cable installers and technicians who operate in a competitive and rapidly changing industry.”

About Cabling Installation & Maintenance
Published since 1993, Cabling Installation & Maintenance has provided practical information to professionals responsible for the specification, design, installation and management of structured cabling systems in enterprises, data centers and campuses. Cabling Installation & Maintenance’s magazine, website (www.CablingInstall.com), email newsletters and webcasts help cabling professionals improve day-to-day operations and enable strategic planning for their networks’ optimum long-term performance

About the Cabling Installation & Maintenance 2016 Innovators Awards program
The Cabling Installation & Maintenance 2016 Innovators Awards program reviews and recognizes the most-innovative applications of cabling and communications technology products and systems within the structured cabling industry. Platinum, Gold and Silver Honorees were announced at BICSI’s 2016 Fall Conference. Criteria used in the Innovators Awards ranking included: innovation, value, sustainability, collaboration, and impact.

About Fluke Networks
Fluke Networks is the worldwide leader in certification, troubleshooting, and installation tools for professionals who install and maintain critical network cabling infrastructure.  From installing the most advanced data centers to restoring service in the worst weather, our combination of legendary reliability and unmatched performance ensure jobs are done efficiently. The company’s flagship products include the innovative LinkWare Live — the world’s first cloud-connected cable certification capability –introduced in late 2014.  For more information, call 1-800-283-5853 (US, Canada), 1-425-446-5500 (International) or visit www.flukenetworks.com.

Source: Fluke Networks

NetScout Logo

NETSCOUT Announces the Release of AirMagnet Survey v9.0, Spectrum XT v3.8 and Wi-Fi Analyzer v11.2

NETSCOUT has now released version 9.0 for the AirMagnet Survey products:  AirMagnet Survey PRO, AirMagnet Survey Express, and AirMagnet Planner.  In addition to being fully NETSCOUT branded, this new release is focused on feedback we’ve received from our customers on ways to make the tool more valuable and usable.

At the same time, NETSCOUT will release Spectrum XT version 3.8 and Wi-Fi Analyzer version 11.2. These releases will also include NETSCOUT branding and user enhancements.

For more information on NETSCOUT AirMagnet products.

Source: NETSCOUT

 

Sphere3D logo

Overland Storage’s SnapServer NAS Solution Granted Preferred Certification Status by Biotest Pharmaceuticals

International pharmaceutical company’s purchase of Snap family, and certification demonstrates Sphere 3D subsidiary’s leadership in network attached storage market

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 21, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sphere 3D Corp. (NASDAQ:ANY), a containerization, virtualization and data management solutions provider, today announced that its subsidiary, Overland Storage has reached the highest level of preferred vendor status for its SnapServer® NAS product suite with a large international pharmaceutical company, Biotest Pharmaceuticals.

Established in 2007, Biotest Pharmaceuticals owns and manages plasmapheresis centers across the United States and operates a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Boca Raton, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Biotest AG which employs approximately 2,100 people worldwide. Its scientists collaborate globally on plasma research and other academic programs, often managing large amounts of data that require secure and flexible storage solutions. SnapServer includes SnapECRTM, an encrypted replication feature which allows information to be shared securely amongst all Biotest’s pharmaceutical sites.

With more than 300,000 SnapServer NAS storage units shipped along with the award-winning GuardianOS® operating system, SnapServer continues to grain trust for protecting and managing critical information. Moreover, seamless integration with SnapCLOUDTM, the company’s virtual enterprise NAS platform available in the Azure Marketplace, enables rapid solution deployment for organizations in a secure, fast and easy way which utilizes a comprehensive hybrid cloud storage infrastructure with centralized management.

Sibrina Shafique, Sphere 3D’s senior director, product management and marketing commented, “Significant transformations in the pharmaceutical industry have led to exponential growth in research data, which at most times is generated in geographically-distributed locations. SnapServer, a widely deployed data storage solution with operational simplicity, offers high reliability and seamless growth. In a geographically distributed storage deployment, the built-in array of replication tools makes it easy to move the data around and the SnapStorage ManagerTM enables centralized management. We believe our SnapCLOUDTM, SnapSync TM and SnapServer product family is a game changer for the storage industry and puts us in a unique position to be a single source for a complete private and hybrid cloud experience.”

Biotest completed a thorough and diligent examination of many companies and selected Sphere3D’s Overland Storage subsidiary as its partner of choice to meet its global storage and solution requirements. Sphere 3D’s workflow enhancement provides Biotest with the means to access and store its research safely while accessing and moving collaborative information around the world with other medical professionals and staff. The turnkey SnapServer NAS and SnapCLOUD products enable Biotest to effectively work with its thousands of employees and colleagues worldwide and increase productivity.

About Biotest Pharmaceuticals Corporation
Biotest Pharmaceuticals is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Biotest AG, a German global provider of plasma products. The Company researches, develops and manufactures biotherapeutic plasma protein products, with a specialization in immunology and hematology and is a leader in the collection of source plasma.

Biotest Pharmaceuticals’ team of over 900 employees is part of Biotest AG’s global workforce of nearly 2,100 associates worldwide. To learn more about Biotest Pharmaceuticals, its Plasma Centers and the difference it makes in the lives of patients and the healthcare community, please visit www.biotestpharma.com and www.biotestplasma.com.

About Sphere 3D
Sphere 3D Corp. (NASDAQ:ANY) delivers industry renowned data management, and desktop and application virtualization solutions via hybrid Cloud, Cloud and on-premise implementations through its global reseller network. Sphere 3D, along with its wholly-owned subsidiaries Overland Storage and Tandberg Data, has a strong portfolio of brands including Glassware 2.0TM, SnapCLOUDTM, SnapScale®, SnapServer®, SnapSync TM, NEO®, RDX® and V3®. For more information, visit www.sphere3d.com. Follow us on Twitter @Sphere3D, @overlandstorage, and @tandbergdata.

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, unforeseen changes in the course of Sphere 3D’s business or the business of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, including, without limitation, Overland Storage and Tandberg Data; the timing of releases of any new or updated versions of our products; the performance and functionality of our products; the level of success of our collaborations and business partnerships; possible actions by customers, partners, suppliers, competitors or regulatory authorities; and other risks detailed from time to time in Sphere 3D’s periodic reports contained in our Annual Information Form and other filings with Canadian securities regulators (www.sedar.com) and in prior periodic reports filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov). Sphere 3D undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.

Media Contacts:
Eileen Elam
408-283-4734
media.relations@sphere3d.com

Nick Foot
BWW Communications
+44-1491-636393
nick.foot@bwwcomms.com

Investor Contact:
Blueshirt Group
Michael Bishop
415-217-4968
mike@blueshirtgroup.com
Sphere 3D Corporation

Sphere3D logo

Sphere 3D Simplifies VDI Adoption and Expands Addressable Market with V3 Appliance Family

Integrated, turnkey hyperconverged appliances specifically designed for distributed virtual desktop environments now generally available through company’s certified Elite program partners

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sphere 3D Corp. (NASDAQ:ANY), a containerization, virtualization and data management solutions provider and parent company of Overland Storage and Tandberg Data, today announces the general availability of its V3 distributed Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) appliance family. With this, the company is also introducing a new approach to architecting the fundamentals of VDI to outperform desktop centric appliances as well deliver proprietary failover capabilities. Sphere 3D calls this new approach a Distributed Desktop Hyperconvergence (DDH) architecture, and it enables simplified virtual desktop deployment and management while optimized for distributed environments.

Story Highlights

Provides one of the industry’s most comprehensive and complete solution portfolios that takes aim at making VDI accessible and appropriate for any customer, any workload with the ability to scale in any increment, whether it be 10 users or thousands.

Purpose built for VDI, V3 delivers a simple turnkey appliance family for use cases including Remote Office / Branch Office (ROBO), Small/Midsize Businesses (SMB) and distributed enterprise environments.

Seamlessly integrates with existing VMware solutions and existing VDI investments for streamlined deployment and enhanced VDI capabilities.

Starts small with a list price of $15,000 and scales through workload optimized appliances that address a variety of workloads, including everything from simple task workers to professional graphics users.

Integrates Sphere 3D’s Desktop Cloud Orchestrator™ (DCO) software with VMware and NVIDIA technologies, providing desktop orchestration and automation from a centralized management platform.

Built for desktop administrators to decentralize virtual desktops and provide an enhanced user experience.

Introduces a Distributed Desktop Hyperconvergence (DDH) architecture to better align VDI with real world use cases.

Slated to be able to leverage the VMware Horizon® Air™ Hybrid-Mode capabilities for increased flexibility and expanded cloud capacity as part of VMware’s hyper-converged appliance partnership.

“The $2 billion hyper-convergence market defined in 2014 is estimated to grow tenfold to $20 billion by 2020,” said David Floyer, chief technology officer and co-founder, Wikibon.  Mr. Floyer went on to add: “Sphere 3D’s approach to Distributed Desktop Hyper-converged Infrastructure (HCI) is a unique contribution to the HCI ecosystem, with VDI being a leading-edge workload.”

“With this launch of their V3 distributed hyperconverged appliance solutions, Sphere 3D has distinguished itself as a pioneer in delivering high performance desktops for the distributed enterprise and the SMB,” said John Fanelli, vice president, NVIDIA GRID. “Sphere 3D’s workload optimized business graphics and professional graphics offerings, powered by our NVIDIA GRID technology, are changing the business case of deployment and management of virtual workspaces by making high-performance virtualization available to a broader set of customer profiles.”

“With our V3 product family, organizations can look to a purpose-built family of appliances that are pre-tuned for optimal VDI performance and leverage existing best-of-breed technologies.  Demands on IT departments for End User Computing (EUC) solutions have traditionally put a strain on budgets and IT resources and have prevented organizations from being able to match real world use cases of physical desktops with a Cloud computing solution,” said Peter Bookman, Global Strategist of Sphere 3D. “Our new V3 solutions have been specifically engineered to match these use cases and provide the flexibility to de-risk VDI deployments through a simple building block approach that no longer requires a ‘one size fits all’ approach.”

The V3 appliance family comes pre-provisioned with Sphere 3D’s Desktop Cloud Orchestrator™ (DCO) software and also leverages VMware’sVMware vSphere® virtualization and server management software, and VMware Virtual SAN™ enterprise-class shared storage solutions, along with GPU technology from NVIDIA, to take aim at making Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) accessible and applicable to business and branch offices of any size. The V3 all-flash appliances can start with a single appliance for VDI use or a 3-node configuration for a Virtual SAN cluster. Designed to stand alone or extend and simplify existing VMware customer environments, the V3 appliances can deliver key performance and capacity advantages from a single product family with one point of support.

Sphere 3D’s DDH architecture is designed to simplify virtual desktop deployment and management for ROBO installations, and also reduces the cost and necessary infrastructure to support VDI.   DDH reduces VDI management overhead and complexity while creating desktop resilience and decreasing branch office infrastructure.  DDH is also road-mapped to use application containerization to shift the focus from storage onto end user computing, resulting in an improved user experience.

V3 appliances with DCO provide hardware awareness with real time alerts of the state of the hardware and the ability to migrate end users, on a case by case basis, from appliance to appliance for optimal performance and availability.  In addition, the new V3 family is slated to be able to leverage the VMwareHorizon® Air™ Hybrid-Mode capabilities for increased flexibility and expanded Cloud capacity in the coming months.

Pricing and Availability

Entry systems for small and medium businesses and remote offices start at a U.S.-list price of $15,000. Options for performance-intensive or graphic-based workloads that can support more than 100 professional graphic users from a single appliance are also available. The product is available for purchase through Sphere 3D’s Elite and Elite Pro FastTrack channel partners.

About Sphere 3D’s V3 Virtual Desktop and Mobility Solutions

The newest V3 product families combine storage, server and virtualization services to create unprecedented scale-out and scale-up appliances for VDI use in: private, public and hybrid Clouds. The new families are in three categories:

V3 Smart Nodes for large centralized enterprises
V3 End User Computing (EUC) Nodes for decentralized and Remote Office, Branch Office (ROBO) locations
V3 Flex Nodes for smaller businesses and branch locations

Organizations can start small, with as few as 10 virtual desktops, and easily and non-disruptively scale to thousands of users with a predictable, ‘pay-as-you-grow’ approach. The V3 appliances, available in a broad set of configurations, are workload optimized to ensure that typical over provisioning in VDI can be eliminated, while also providing multiple scale points. With the preinstalled DCO software on each appliance, organizations can also overcome the performance degradation of VDI in widely distributed deployments and eliminate distance limitations of traditional VDI architectures. For additional resources, see the V3 Products Web page at http://sphere3d.com/v3-hyperconverged-solutions/.

About Sphere 3D

Sphere 3D Corp. (NASDAQ:ANY) delivers industry renowned data management, and desktop and application virtualization solutions via hybrid Cloud, Cloud and on-premise implementations through its global reseller network.  Sphere 3D, along with its wholly-owned subsidiaries Overland Storage and Tandberg Data, has a strong portfolio of brands including Glassware 2.0™, SnapCLOUD™, SnapScale®, SnapServer®, SnapSync™, V3®, RDX®, and NEO®.  For more information, visit www.sphere3d.com. Follow us on Twitter @Sphere3D, @overlandstorage, and @tandbergdata.

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, unforeseen changes in the course of Sphere 3D’s business or the business of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, including, without limitation, Overland Storage and Tandberg Data; the timing of releases of any new or updated versions of our products; the performance and functionality of our products; the level of success of our collaborations and business partnerships; possible actions by customers, partners, suppliers, competitors or regulatory authorities; and other risks detailed from time to time in Sphere 3D’s periodic reports contained in our Annual Information Form and other filings with Canadian securities regulators (www.sedar.com) and in prior periodic reports filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov). Sphere 3D undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.

Media Contacts:
Eileen Elam
408-283-4734
media.relations@sphere3d.com

Nick Foot
BWW Communications
+44-1491-636393
nick.foot@bwwcomms.com

Investor Contact:
Blueshirt Group
Michael Bishop
415-217-4968
mike@blueshirtgroup.com
Sphere 3D Corporation