News

Managing Clouds and Software-Defined Networks

• By David Ramel
• 09/03/2014

Real Status Ltd. today announced the general availability of Hyperglance version 3.3 to manage enterprise cloud and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) systems.

The tool seeks to simplify the management of disparate private and public clouds and SDNs in modern datacenters. It uses APIs to hook into cloud services such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and OpenStack, along with SDN controller platforms including OpenDaylight and the HP Virtual Application Networks (VAN) SDN Controller.

It can also connect to the Nagios management system to integrate map alerts and other service data. A Hyperglance Open API JSON Web service provides a RESTful way to work with other data sources.

"The Internet of Things, hybrid cloud and SDN provide great agility, but also create complex physical and virtual relationships across an IT estate that are often difficult to fully understand," the company said. "Without such an understanding, communications can break down and systems might fail. Most traditional management systems look at static lists of data, charts, and very limited visualization of resource relationships, particularly across different platforms such as public and private cloud. It can be difficult to pinpoint exactly where errors exist and especially how errors, or potential error resolution, will affect other resources."

By simplifying systems management and aggregating and synchronizing data for visualization, navigation and analysis, Real Status said enterprises can reduce the risk entailed with putting new cloud or SDN platforms into production, and also improve quality of service and increase efficiency.

The tool uses a 360-degree topology that can rotate, zoom in and out, make point-and-click selections and issue commands to effect changes to single resources or collections. It provides existing filters or lets users create their own, and allows for interactive data visualizations.

"As part of the HP SDN Ecosystem, Hyperglance offers customers comprehensive graphical visibility and user-driven controls of network infrastructure powered by the HP VAN SDN Controller," said Michael Zhu, an exec at partner company HP. "Customers can now take advantage of HP SDN technology to instantly configure switches and optimize data paths in real-time, with the confidence of knowing how such actions will affect complex virtual relationships."

Hyperglance is available as an Open Virtual Appliance that can be imported into VMware, Virtual box, OpenStack and AWS, or through the AWS marketplace. A free version for managing up to 50 nodes is available for download. At the high end, a maximum of 100,000 nodes can be managed for an annual $200,000 license. Eight other levels below that are available. For up to a 1 million nodes, the company will provide a price quote upon request. A live demo, running a Hyperglance instance inside the browser, is available to see how it works.