SWsoft was a privately held server automation and virtualization software company and the parent company of Parallels. SWsoft developed software for running data centers, particularly for web-hosting services companies, application service providers, and managed service providers. SWsoft products included applications for operating system-level virtualization, which enables users to run multiple operating systems, including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Solaris, on a single computer.
The company was founded in 1997 and maintained its headquarters in Herndon, Virginia, with additional offices throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Its research and development offices were located in Moscow, Russia, and it had sales offices in Germany and Singapore.ISP-Planet - Webhosting - SWsoft's Moscow Edge
In December 2007, SWsoft announced its plans to change its name to Parallels in 2008 and ship its products under the Parallels brand name.
Company history
1997 SWsoft founded 2001 Virtuozzo released HSPcomplete released 2003 SWsoft acquires automation firms Yippi-Yeah! E-Business GmbH (makers of Confixx) and Plesk IncSWsoft Buys Plesk, Yippi-Yeah! Automation Firms (makers of Confixx and Plesk) PEM data center released Open Fusion launchedSWsoft Builds Virtual Bridge 2004 Announces partnership with AcronisGRIDtoday: SWsoft, Acronis Announce Server Virtualization Partnership Plesk 7.0 releasedWeb Host Industry News | SWsoft Releases Plesk 7 for Windows SiteBuilder beta releasedWeb Host Industry News | SWsoft Releases Beta of SiteBuilder Acquires Parallels, Inc. but keeps this secret.Parallels acknowledges SWsoft ownership 2007 December 12: SWsoft announces that it will change its name to "Parallels" in 2008. 2007 December: SWsoft acquires WebHostAutomation Ltd developers of HELM Control Panel.Parallels Helm 4.0 January 2008 SWsoft officially becomes Parallels, Inc.
Uses SWsoft’s virtualization software is predominantly used to automate data center and server management and to consolidate multiple servers onto one Windows- or Linux-based physical server. The company’s products are developed predominantly for web hosting companies, service providers, and corporations.
Although the company’s software reportedly uses fewer system resources because it does not require each virtualized server to have an independent operating system, its overall flexibility is limited. For example, each virtualized Virtuozzo server must have the same version of the same operating system, and when running Linux, the operating system's kernel must be modified from the standard version.
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