Parallels (company)
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Company type | Privately held company |
---|---|
Industry | Computer software |
Genre | Virtualization |
Founded | 1999 |
Founder | Ilya Zubarev ![]() |
Headquarters | ![]() |
Key people | Sergeui Belousov, Chairman and CEO |
Products | Parallels Desktop for Mac Parallels Workstation Parallels Server Parallels Server for Mac Parallels Virtuozzo Containers Plesk HSPcomplete Compressor Server Compressor Workstation PEM Parallels Infrastructure Manager Parallels Automation |
Number of employees | 900+ (as of May 2008) |
Website | parallels.com |
Parallels, Inc. is a privately-held virtualization technology company with offices all around the world (USA, Germany, UK, France, Japan, China, Russia and Ukraine). Parallels US offices are in Seattle, WA and Washington, D.C.. The company currently has over 900 employees.
Parallels, Inc. was an SWsoft company until January, 2008 [2], each company operated as a separate entity and maintained its own distinct branding. In December, 2007, Parallels' parent company SWsoft announced its plans to change its name to Parallels and ship both companies' products under the Parallels name.[3] The merger was formalized in January 2008. [4]
Company history
- 2004 – SWsoft acquires Parallels, Inc.[5]
- 2005 – Parallels, Inc. officially launches
- September 7 – Parallels launches beta version of Workstation for Windows and Linux 2.0[6]
- December 8 - Parallels launches the completed version of Parallels Workstation for Windows and Linux 2.0[7]
- 2006 - Parallels announces itself as an official company
- April 5 – Apple Inc. launches Boot Camp[8]
- April 6 – Parallels launches its first beta build of Parallels Desktop for Mac[9]
- June 15 – Parallels officially launches Parallels Desktop for Mac[10]
- July 18 – Parallels Desktop for Mac debuts in retail stores[11]
- September - Parallels moves its corporate headquarters from Herndon, Virginia to Renton, Washington
- 2007
- Netsys lawsuit (see Parallels Desktop for Mac for details).
- June - Announces Parallels Server for Mac at WWDC
- April 26 - Announces Parallels Technology Network [12]
- 2008
- January - SWsoft merges into Parallels to become one company under the Parallels branding.[2]
- January 11 - Parallels acquires ModernGigabyte, LLC.[13][14]
- June 17 - Parallels officially launches the first version of Parallels Server for Mac[15]
- November 11 - Parallels releases Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac [16]
Products
Parallels uses Intel Core's virtualization technology to allow the virtual machine direct access to the host computer's processor. Much of Parallels' software is based on a lightweight hypervisor architecture, which provides the guest operating system direct access to the computer's hardware. Each Parallels virtual machine functions like a real computer with its own processor, RAM, floppy and CD drives, and tools.
Desktop software
Parallels is best known for its MacIntel-based product Parallels Desktop for Mac. First released June 25, 2006, Parallels Desktop for Mac is a hardware emulation virtualization software that uses a lightweight hypervisor to enable users to run Windows simultaneously with Mac OS X on their IntelMacs.
First released December 8, 2005, Parallels Workstation enables users to create multiple, independent virtual machines on one PC. Workstation consists of a virtual machine suite for Intel x86-compatible computers (running Microsoft Windows or Linux), which allows the simultaneous creation and execution of multiple x86 virtual machines. Workstation supports hardware x86 virtualization technologies such as Intel VT.
Server software
First release June 17, 2008, Parallels Server for Mac is a hypervisor-based server virtualization software that enables IT managers to run multiple Windows, Linux and Mac OS X Server operating systems on a single Mac Xserve[17]. As of its release, it is currently the only server virtualization solution for the Mac OS X server platform and that allows users to virtualize Mac OS X Leopard Server.
Parallels Virtuozzo Containers was first released under Parallels' former parent company SWsoft. The Linux version was released in 2001 while the Windows version was released in 2005. Parallels Virtuozzo Containers is an operating system-level virtualization product designed for large-scale homegenous server environments and data centers. Parallels Virtuozzo Containers is compatible with x86, x86-64 and IA-64 platforms.
Automation software
Parallels Plesk Control Panel allows a server administrator to set up new websites, e-mail accounts, and DNS entries through a web-based interface. Parallels Plesk Control Panel for Linux/UNIX supports multiple POSIX platforms, including Red Hat Linux/Fedora, SUSE, Debian/Ubuntu and FreeBSD. Parallels Plesk Control Panel for Windows supports Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 operating systems.
See also
- Comparison of platform virtual machines for a list of related virtualization software products
- Hypervisor
- Operating system-level virtualization
- Virtual appliance
- Virtual machine
- Virtualization
- x86 virtualization
References
- ^ Worldwide Operations HQ at http://www.parallels.com/en/contact
- ^ a b InfoWorld Virtualization Report | David Marshall | InfoWorld | Parallels Announces Virtuozzo Containers 4.0 | January 29, 2008 08:03 PM | By David Marshall
- ^ SWsoft to abandon itself and become Parallels | The Register
- ^ SWsoft Parallels does Virtuozzo Containers 4.0 thing | The Register
- ^ Parallels acknowledges SWsoft ownership
- ^ SWsoft: :
- ^ http://www.parallels.com/en/news/id,8345
- ^ Apple Introduces Boot Camp
- ^ http://www.parallels.com/en/news/id,8655
- ^ http://www.parallels.com/en/news/id,9121
- ^ http://www.parallels.com/en/news/id,9389
- ^ Parallels Technology Network announced
- ^ Web Host Industry News | Parallels Acquires ModernGigabyte
- ^ Parallels.com | Parallels Acquires ModernGigabyte
- ^ Virtualization Report | David Marshall | InfoWorld | Parallels announces the first Mac server virtualization platform | June 18, 2008 08:14 AM | David Marshall
- ^ http://www.macworld.com/article/136717/2008/11/parallels.html
- ^ Parallels demos Mac server virtualization