The Virtualization Management Mess

Utilization and flexibility of every class of computing resource - servers, storage, and networking - have improved dramatically with the addition of virtualization.

Unfortunately, each of these has required its own management tools and processes, and the points of impact between them expose inefficiency and opportunity for error.

For example, using other products, in order to build virtual machines that take advantage of virtualized storage, IT staff must:

• Configure virtual storage using the storage management tools required by their hardware, or specific software tools
• Allocate specific storage areas for the new virtual machines
• Create the virtual machines and connect them to the allocated storage

In addition, advanced features of the storage hardware or software, such as thin provisioning, snapshot, and cloning, must be accessed separately from the virtual machine management process. System managers must execute complicated scripts or manual processes to take advantage of these capabilities.

Unifying the Virtual World with XenSource

XenSource V4 products provide points of integration between virtual server, storage and network management, allowing IT staff to manage them as an integrated whole. 

• The XenSource storage management API, which is open and being implemented by many storage vendors, takes advantage of the advanced capabilities of storage systems directly from the server virtualization management interfaces.  For example, if a virtual machine's disk storage is allocated on a storage system with storage API integration, the disks can be allocated using fast cloning and thin provisioning. Hardware-based snapshot can also be used to enhance backup.
• With the release of the upcoming XenSource V4 update incorporating Symantec Veritas Foundation Suite technology, features such as volume snapshot and dynamic multi-pathing can be used automatically across many vendors' storage hardware.
• Virtual LAN (VLAN) settings can be accessed from standard XenSource graphical, command-line and API sessions, making it easy to isolate virtual machine traffic or to make distributed systems act as if they are on the same local networks.

Unified virtualization reduces the complexity of management, protecting tool and staff investment, and reducing error-driven downtime.