Symantec Cloud Services Help IT Proactively Manage its Data Center

Finds hidden risks, configuration errors to head off or correct problems

• By James E. Powell
• 12/01/2008

Symantec Corp. has unveiled its new Veritas Operations Services, an online service suite that helps IT identify hidden risks in a data center that helps an enterprise improve service availability and improve the productivity of IT operations.

The first two parts of the “services” collection were announced:Veritas Installation Assessment and Veritas Storage Foundation Health Check which the company says enable “IT organizations to perform prioritized, preventative maintenance using the latest known good configurations, best practices, and data center risks.” Veritas Operations Services “proactively manages the storage and server environment to deliver rapid time to value and expands the Symantec portfolio to help organizations secure and manage their information,” according a statement issued by Symantec.

Using the cloud computing model, Veritas Operations Services keeps track of “best practices, optimal configurations, hardware compatibility lists, and software compatibility lists for Veritas Storage Foundation, Veritas Cluster Server, leading operating systems. and storage area network software and firmware.” Several Web-based services then use this information to spot risks to a data center. Problems are highlighted with alerts that provide steps for reducing or eliminating the risk.

According to Rob Soderbery, senior vice president of the Storage and Availability Management Group at Symantec, most IT shops look backwards, working on a “break/fix” mode. Symantec’s product works proactively to help IT intervene to prevent or correct problems. “We chose a cloud services model because we can deliver new risk profiles more quickly and our customers can realize value almost effortlessly,” Soderbery says.

Veritas Installation Assessment Service validates server and storage infrastructure configurations, simplifying installations and upgrades by pre-validating the environment. Detailed reports offer pass/fail/warning reports on configuration variables and proactive patch notification. The assessment uses no agents; it can run on a single server or be employed across several servers and operating systems. The second service announced, Storage Foundation Health Check. Health Check, finds configuration errors that can lead to downtime or poor performance or resource utilization issues.

More information can be found at http://vias.symantec.com.