Parallels, already known for its Windows and Mac OS X virtualisation software, has now introduced a hypervisor-based product aimed particularly (though not exclusively) at cloud service providers.

Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal will be available in several editions. These include the standard edition (allows unlimited hypervisor virtual machines on one server and includes a Parallels Virtual Automation licence), advanced edition (also includes unlimited Linux containers), and a Service Providers edition.

"Parallels has developed these products specifically to enable public and private cloud services," said Parallels CEO Serguei Beloussov.

"Our unique understanding of the importance of automation tools and the innovative approach of Parallels Virtuozzo Containers has made us the leader in virtualised services in the cloud and we're building on that with the flexibility of hypervisor technology in Parallels Server Bare Metal, automated by Parallels Virtual Automation.

"Now, private and public cloud services providers can take the server virtualisation approach that most suits their needs with minimal financial and time investment," he explained.

The product is based on the hypervisor used in Parallels' desktop virtualisation products.

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The combination of the hypervisor and Virtual Automation provides full life-cycle service delivery management for virtualised services including provisioning, upgrades, monitoring, backup, customer self-service, and other components, Parallels officials claimed.

Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal takes advantage of Intel VT-x and AMD-v technologies. It can support up to 12 virtual CPUs, 64GB of virtual RAM, 2TB virtual hard disks, and 16 virtual network interfaces per virtual machine.

"We've been using Parallels' highly efficient Parallels Virtuozzo Containers software to support our VPS products for years," said Demian Sellfors, CEO of (mt) Media Temple, a web hosting and application services company.

"We're excited about the Parallels Server Bare Metal launch based on the capabilities it will provide the development community and anyone seeking broad OS support," he added.

Parallels also released Parallels Virtuozzo Containers 4.5 for Windows (adding support for Windows Server 2008), and Parallels Virtual Automation 4.5 (formerly Parallels Infrastructure Manager, which allows the management of multiple physical and virtual environments from one console, including patch management).

In related news, Parallels plans to expand its presence in the Asia Pacific region. New offices in Australia (Sydney) and South Korea will augment those in China (Beijing), Japan (Tokyo), India (Mumbai) and Singapore.

The Sydney office is expected to open within the next few months.