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Test Their Might: JumpBox Opens Proving Grounds

The people at Jumpbox, Inc. want to know if you have what it takes to join Proving Grounds, where brave participants put it all on the line to… test upcoming JumpBox beta software (hey, this is a techie site, after all)!

The provider of virtual appliances has announced the launch of the JumpBox Proving Grounds, an invite-only beta testing community. Proving Grounds gives members access to new JumpBoxes, special offers and news not otherwise available to the public.

JumpBox’s main advantage is the ease of use and short amount of time it takes to deploy server-based applications. A “JumpBox” nicely bundles an entire application stack into a pre-configured unit that runs on top of virtualization software from VMWare, Xen, Parallels and Microsoft.

So, while typical deployment of a server-based app would likely take a technician many hours or even days to set up, a JumpBox solution is up and running in minutes.

There are eight new JumpBox applications ready to be tested, including: Alfresco, Bugzilla, Joomla!, 1.5 Mantis, Silverstripe, OTRS, Project Pier, and OpenLDAP.

The Proving Grounds will also provide the company with solid feedback from its beta testers. Sean Tierney, co-founder and COO of JumpBox, says it will “put experimental and beta products in the hands of our most passionate users early and often, creating a flow of new applications that eventually graduate to production status.”

The JumpBox production library currently contains virtual appliances for a number of popular open source applications, including: Drupal, Joomla!, MediaWiki, DokuWiki, PunBB, Wordpress, SugarCRM, TWiki and Trac/Subversion.

Other nifty features are included, like automated backups and a consistent web based control panel.

The biggest benefit of using a JumpBox boils down to lowered costs and labor, and fewer general headaches a business has to endure from dealing with fussy software.

If you are interested in becoming a Proving Grounds member, request an invitation by visiting the JumpBox website.