Embotics’ V-Commander Helps Manage the VM Lifecycle
The popularity of server virtualization seems to be centered on how the consolidation of physical resources can save money and how the ease of creating new virtual machines can save IT management time. What gets lost in the discussion are the processes needed to manage VMs. Many organizations, especially mid-range data centers, don’t have the policies in place to control the management of virtual servers the way they did for physical servers - or the time to create these procedures. As a result, when implementing server virtualization they often end up with ‘VM sprawl’, but the potential for a more efficient environment.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Briefing Note
Eric Slack, Senior Analyst
Embotics is not a client of Storage Switzerland
V-Commander from Embotics provides end to end management capabilities for every phase of the VM lifecycle, from the user request through decommissioning, and all the steps in between. It simplifies and automates many activities which can improve efficiency and lower costs, like providing policies to control resource provisioning and enforcing the use of VM templates. V-Commander also provides a safety net for companies that have users involved in the VM creation and management process. It enables them to assume some of these tasks but with the structure in place to ensure they don’t get into trouble, such as policies which can direct where a VM is deployed, or prevent a VM from launching altogether if resources aren’t available or if the VM needs approval first.
IT Managers need visibility into a number of areas like VM configuration management, change management and capacity management, while maintaining adequate performance. V-Commander has modules that address all of these fundamental areas to help optimize resource usage, control costs and forecast future requirements. For example, on simple dashboards users can see realtime performance of VMs and hosts, find hosts with high CPU or memory utilization or identify VMs waiting for resources.
There are plenty of virtual server environment management tools available, some which provide extremely sophisticated information that’s focused on complex performance and resource tuning. V-Commander is focused on providing vital but more general information that’s appropriate for the wider range of VM owners and IT personnel who need a solution that goes in quickly and easily. Individual solution views and landing pages can be created for specific IT staff or VM owners based on the information they need to see, and excluding what they don’t, so less sophisticated users don’t get lost in a ‘tree of reports’ trying to find some basic information. V-Commander can be installed in a few minutes and users frequently report it paying for itself in a few days, based on improvements in resources used and their own time savings.
Storage Swiss Take
In the resource management area more information isn’t always better. Instead, appropriate information is what’s needed. A complex task like managing resources in a virtual server environment can present a dizzying amount of data. For users, especially in the mid-range data center, a management system that knows the difference between more data and the right data is invaluable. In addition, effective management requires sound processes to apply that data. Solutions like Embotics’ V-Commander, which provide a structure for managing the VM lifecycle and easy access to appropriate information to use in that process are what’s needed in the mid-market space.
