VMware, which specializes in software that carves multiple virtual servers out of single physical boxes, has introduced a product that promises centralized control of those systems. It also is readying software that will let users move virtual machines among physical servers in response to resource demands.
VMware Control Center, which is in beta-testing now and is scheduled to be available later this year, is software that provides a centralized point for managing multiple virtual servers on heterogeneous systems. It includes technology called VMotion that the company says lets users move live, operating applications from one physical machine to another without disruption.
In the past, VMware customers had to turn off servers to move the virtual machines, which are basically software files that contain operating systems and applications.
That’s one of the features that particularly appeals to one VMware customer who has used the company’s virtualization software for about six months. The customer, a CTO at a large financial institution who asked not to be named, says he has avoided about $500,000 in hardware costs, while improving utilization rates on the servers he’s running.
With Control Center and VMotion, which he will beta-test beginning in July, he expects even greater savings and performance enhancements.
“With VMotion technology I can do things in a way that I can have zero downtime for my users,” he says. “The other thing is today I have to manage each box individually. [Control Center] is going to give me a multi-box view so I can have one console for all of my [virtual servers] in a single view. It’s a big productivity booster.”
He expects to be able to raise his server utilization rates to as much as 80% by using Control Center and VMotion to ensure that software needs are matched with hardware resources.
“I can carve out exactly what [resources] I need,” he says. “Where virtualization plays a key role is when you need an individual machine, but you can’t make the machine small enough. And there are lots of things that fit that mold.”
Control Center lets users monitor virtual machine performance and availability and move virtual machines across servers to ensure they’re being used as efficiently as possible. In addition, the package lets users set management rights that can be restricted based on a user’s position within an organization.
Analysts say VMware is taking the next logical step with its technology that is designed to help companies consolidate their server infrastructures.
“Virtual machines are nice, but now I’ve got them all over the place and it’s a manageability headache. Control Center makes it much more realistic to run a bunch of virtual servers,” says Frank Gillett, an analyst with Forrester Research.
VMotion is also significant, he says, because although it might take a while for customers to get comfortable with the idea of moving virtual machines, it will let them put more critical applications on VMware servers.
“Because you know that if the hardware gets into trouble or if you need to scale up the capabilities [of] that particular virtual machine, you can move it to bigger hardware in a hurry,” he says.
VMware competes with companies such as Connectix, which Microsoft acquired earlier this year. With Control Center, it will begin to compete in the management arena with companies such as Leostream, which makes software to centrally manage virtual machines from VMware and Microsoft.
Pricing for VMotion and Control Center have not yet been released.
