* Embotics, Veeam and VKernel get the word out about their virtual monitoring tools with free versions
IT managers don’t need a recession to appreciate free downloads of useful tools, but many vendors today are packaging scaled down applications and utilities as freeware to help customers take on virtual environments.
Most recently VKernel introduced a free virtual machine documentation tool for VMware ESX server environments, dubbed SnapshotMyVM. The stand-alone application documents and inventories all virtual machines and helps to eliminate manual processes around managing virtual environments. According the vendor, the free application collects virtual machine name; guest operation system; host hardware type; manufacturer and version; virtual machine resource configurations; and virtual machine utilization statistics.
“Documenting physical servers is one of a systems administrator’s least desirable and time-consuming tasks. In a virtual data center, it becomes even more challenging as the environment is dynamic and static documentation becomes quickly outdated,” VKernel Founder and CEO Alex Bakman said in a statement.
The third free tool from VKernel — following SearchMyVM and CompareMyVM — SnapshotMyVM can be downloaded here.
Customers familiar with VKernel’s and others’ offerings say the capabilities can meet most IT managers’ needs, especially in a time when budget dollars aren’t readily available.
Rick Vanover, systems administrator at Safelite Auto Glass in Columbus, Ohio, has used free tools from VKernel as well as Embotics’ V-Scout product. V-Scout is a scaled-down version of Embotics’ V-Commander product that the vendor says helps IT managers generate reports from data dispersed in their virtual environment.
“You can get some really good search and management capabilities from free tools if you don’t have the money right now to buy full commercial products,” Vanover says. “I would say they offer anywhere between 30% and 70% of the functionality you need to manage a virtual environment.”
In particular, he explains that V-Scout really helps “manage the virtual machine lifecycle if you can’t pony up the dollars for V-Commander. It will take you most of the way toward what you want to manage the virtual machines.”
The free tool trend doesn’t stop with VKernel and Embotics. Another upstart in the virtual systems management realm, Veeam, also makes a free monitoring tool that the vendor says enables users to “view real-time resource usage data for any virtual infrastructure object or collection of objects, as well as known infrastructure events, all on a single screen.”
Vanover says: “I look to freeware and open source tools to get more out of what I have, and the free tools usually compliment the more premium product from the vendor so it’s an easy transition if you do decide to buy commercial products.”
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