A screenshot of the Cloudfoundry.org site, the home for the Cloud Foundry community (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Virtualization and cloud computing software developer VMware ( www.vmware.com ) announced on Tuesday that it has released a new open source platform for building cloud-based application development environments, along the lines of Microsoft’s Windows Azure, or Google’s App Engine, in an apparent effort to create the standard service providers will use to create platform-as-a-service clouds that compete with those services. VMware’s Cloud Foundry project, as the code base is called, was launched by the company today at a live event led by CEO Paul Maritz, and attended by thousands of developers, with a long list of speakers.

A screenshot of the Cloudfoundry.org site, the home for the Cloud Foundry community (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Virtualization and cloud computing software developer VMware ( www.vmware.com ) announced on Tuesday that it has released a new open source platform for building cloud-based application development environments, along the lines of Microsoft’s Windows Azure, or Google’s App Engine, in an apparent effort to create the standard service providers will use to create platform-as-a-service clouds that compete with those services. VMware’s Cloud Foundry project, as the code base is called, was launched by the company today at a live event led by CEO Paul Maritz, and attended by thousands of developers, with a long list of speakers. VMware says Cloud Foundry is the company’s first ever major open source project

Don Klein spoke to the WHIR via email about Modius’s new monitoring tool (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — As data centers are increasingly pressured to improve their energy efficiency, operators and owners are required to provide comprehensive reports on power usage and the energy efficiency of their equipment. Data center monitoring solutions provider Modius ( www.modius.com ) recently developed a new data center monitoring system that addresses this need, giving data center operators the ability to enforce client bill back for energy expenses.

A screenshot from the MySitebuilder offering on the 1&1 website (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — The UK-based operation of web hosting provider 1&1 Internet ( www.1and1.com ) announced late last week that it has launched two new versions of its business website building and hosting tools, designed to better address the needs of small businesses and entrepreneurs. 1&1 says its MyBusiness website packages are all built around the company’s template-based site-building tool, which enables the fairly simple creation of a kind of bare-bones website based around a selection of business types (such as architect, building contractor, gardener, coffee shop). It’s similar to many of the features Parallels introduced in one of the more recent releases if its Site Builder tool.

A screenshot from the MySitebuilder offering on the 1&1 website (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — The UK-based operation of web hosting provider 1&1 Internet ( www.1and1.com ) announced late last week that it has launched two new versions of its business website building and hosting tools, designed to better address the needs of small businesses and entrepreneurs. 1&1 says its MyBusiness website packages are all built around the company’s template-based site-building tool, which enables the fairly simple creation of a kind of bare-bones website based around a selection of business types (such as architect, building contractor, gardener, coffee shop). It’s similar to many of the features Parallels introduced in one of the more recent releases if its Site Builder tool

A screen shot of NetBenefit’s PCI compliance page (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Managed hosting provider NetBenefit ( www.netbenefit.com ) announced on Tuesday it has attained Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard compliance following a detailed audit of its hosting environment by qualified security assessor, CNS.

Screenshots of Open-Xchange’s email hosting platform (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Open-source collaboration software provider Open-Xchange ( www.open-xchange.com ) announced Tuesday at Parallels Summit 2011 that it is now offering “tighter integration” with control panel Parallels Plesk Panel 10.1, enabling hosting customers and resellers to choose their desired WebMail application.