Virsto Introduces Hypervisor-Based Storage Virtualization Solution for Virtual Servers
New approach to virtual server storage provides faster provisioning, I/O performance while cutting costs
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Virsto Software has introduced storage virtualization software, Virsto One. Designed to increase the agility of storage in virtual environments, Virsto One is a hypervisor-based storage solution that can anticipate the evolving demands, barriers, and opportunities native to server virtualization. Initially supporting Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, Virsto One is architected to be storage- and hypervisor-agnostic and enable users to virtualize storage-intensive workloads, maximize consolidation of server and storage hardware, reduce storage management complexity, and reduce overall storage costs.
Most data storage technologies deployed with virtual servers today were not designed specifically for server virtualization and were designed based on assumptions that are true for physical servers but are false for a virtual data center. Virtualization exposes new challenges for storage, creating a barrier to the full virtualization of data centers. These challenges include virtual machine (VM) sprawl which can consume 30 percent more storage than physical servers, storage performance problems that can reduce server I/O throughput by up to 80 percent, an increase in storage management complexity that drives increases in administrative headcount and application performance issues, and excessive storage capital and operating costs.
Specifically designed for IT professionals to take advantage of current and future opportunities brought about by virtualization, Virsto One drastically reduces the complexity of storage for virtual servers and delivers innovation and benefits by:
- Reducing storage sprawl: cutting VM image space consumption by 90% through unlimited high-performance, thin provisioned, VM-optimized snapshots and clones.
- Simplifying storage management: enabling quick, simple automatic thin VM storage provisioning, instantaneous clone creation and off-host snapshot backup.
- Increasing storage performance: Providing VM-optimized flow control to eliminate the I/O blender, potentially doubling I/O performance and ensuring unlimited high-performance yet space-efficient storage.
- Eliminating excessive storage costs: Decreasing storage costs by reducing the number of terabytes and disk spindles required for VM application support, enabling use of low-cost commodity storage hardware, and reducing the operating expense of VM storage management.
Virsto One is delivered as a plug-in to Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 and offers a seamless user interface with PowerShell integration and standard Windows interfaces.
Virsto One will be generally available by the end of February. Pricing is based per socket. Hyper-V users may download a free 30-day evaluation from http://www.virsto.com/buy.