Storage Is a Key Aspect of Server Virtualization, Part 2

To illustrate the relevance of storage to server virtualization environments, last week’s enterprise storage post discussed some of the significant storage announcements that occurred at VMworld. Of course, the companies mentioned in the previous post were hardly all inclusive; several other storage companies announced storage products targeted for VMware. The following continues where last week’s post left off, highlighting the announcements that we believe will have the most significant impact. (For a complete list of product announcements, please check the VMware website).

Storage virtualization provider DataCore announced on September 10 that its storage virtualization and SAN management products now support virtualized server platforms or virtual machines (VMs). While most vendors at VMworld were understandably rushing to support VMware, DataCore announced support for server virtualization platforms Xensource and Microsoft Virtual Iron in addition to VMware. DataCore’s SANsymphony, Traveller, and SANmelody products allow virtual SAN storage servers to be created on VMs. Such a capability provides an extra level of integration and collaboration between server and storage virtualization. DataCore’s press release states, and rightly so, that this announcement is significant in that continues to move storage virtualization more toward hardware-independent software solutions, as opposed to single-purpose hardware devices. Although several virtualization solutions today are hardware or device based, as the industry matures, we’ll see more hardware independent software options become available as these products evolve.
 
Other notable announcements were:

• Acronis’s True Image Echo appliance has been expanded to back up and restore from virtual servers in addition to physical servers. Acronis supports multiple VM vendors: Microsoft, Xensource, and Parallels.
• EqualLogic will integrate its PS Series with VMware’s Site Recovery Manager for automated replication and recovery.
• Pillar Data Systems has joined VMware’s Technology Alliance Partner Program.
• Change management company Onaro will add VM Insight to its SANscreen software suite. VM Insight will track and manage changes to VMs.
• QLogic (competitor to Emulex) demonstrated that its virtual HBAs allow live data migrations, i.e no requirement to take down and reboot servers.
• StorServer will offer an agent with management, scheduling, and reporting for backups initiated by VMware Consolidated Backup.

These types of announcements demonstrate how server virtualization and storage virtualization are becoming more integrated. As virtual environments grow, the demands on the storage infrastructure will increase dramatically. Virtualized storage environments – that are fully interoperable with VMs – will be required to meet the increasing demands on performance, availability, and energy efficiency.