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December 2014 / January 2015 | Vol. 8 No. 1
VirtualizationReview.com
PLUS> VIRTUAL PREDICTIONS
> DELL’S VDI STRATEGY
> UNTANGLING VMWARE DRS
WINNER
2015READERS CHOICE AWARDS
Eggnog, presents and the products you like best.
IT’S THAT TIME
OFYEAR!
FEATURES 4 The 2015 Reader’s Choice
Awards and Buyer’s Guide You, the readers, have spoken.
Here are the virtualization and cloud computing products that rock your world.
6 Best Application Virtualization Product
6 Best Server Virtualization Product
7 Best Desktop Virtualization/Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Product
8 Best Mobile Virtualization/BYOD Product
8 Best Thin/Zero Client Computing Product
8 Best Virtualization Management & Optimization Product
10 Best Cloud Infrastructure/Platform Product
11 Best Cloud Storage Product 12 Best Cloud Security Product 12 Best Cloud Software Product 13 Best Business Continuity Product 14 Best Virtualization
Automation Product 15 Best Storage
Virtualization Product
15 Best Network Virtualization Product
16 Best Virtualization Security Product
17 Best Converged Infrastructure Product
17 Best Virtualization Training
18 2015 Virtualization PredictionsWhat can you expect to happen
in the virtualization and cloud
industries in the coming year? These
experts weigh in with their forecasts.
Compiled by Keith Ward
COLUMNS2 Editor’s Note: KEITH WARD
3 Expectations for 2015
28 Dan’s Take: DAN KUSNETZKY
VDI: It’s All About the Apps, Stupid
30 Everyday Virtualization: RICK VANOVER
Following the Rules: Using DRS Groups
32 Take 5: TOM FENTON
Tips for a Hyperconverged Appliance
VirtualizationReview.com | Virtualization Review | December 2014/January 2015 | 1
VISIT VIRTUALIZATIONREVIEW.COM
contents
COVER IMAGE SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
6
December 2014 / January 2015 | VIRTUALIZATION REVIEW | VOL. 7, NO. 2
Winner
2015ReadersChoice Awards
6
18
The objective is helping organizations accomplish their goals; not to push any specifi c type of technology.
By Dan Kusnetzky
“Chromebook desktop access looks especially promising, especially in the education market.”
Garret Grajek, dinCloud
2 | December 2014 / January 2015 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
WARDED NOTE
KEITH WARD
VIRTUALIZATIONREVIEW.COMDecember 2014 / January 2015 ■ VOL. 7 ■ NO. 5
EDITORIAL STAFF
Editor in Chief Keith Ward
Group Managing Editor Wendy Hernandez
COLUMNISTS
James Brown
Tom Fenton
Dan Kusnetzky
Elias Khnaser
Rick Vanover
ART STAFF
VP Art and Brand Design Scott Shultz
Associate Creative Director Scott Rovin
PRODUCTION STAFF
Director, Print & Online Production David Seymour
Production Coordinator Teresa Antonio
ONLINE/DIGITAL MEDIA
VP Digital Strategy Becky Nagel
Senior Site Administrator Shane Lee
Senior Front-End Dev/Designer Rodrigo Muñoz
ADVERTISING AND SALES
Chief Revenue Offi cer Dan LaBianca
Publisher Al Tiano
Microsoft Account Manager Danna Vedder
Advertising Sales Associate Tanya Egenolf
President Henry Allain
VP Lead Services Division Michele Imgrund
Director, Client Services & Webinar Production Tracy S. Cook
Director, Audience Development & Lead Generation Marketing Irene Fincher
President & Chief Executive Offi cer Rajeev Kapur
Chief Operating Offi cer Henry Allain
Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Offi cer Richard Vitale
Executive Vice President Michael J. Valenti
Vice President, Erik A. Lindgren Information Technology & Application Development
Chairman of the Board Jeff rey S. Klein
Reaching the Staff
Staff may be reached via e-mail, telephone, fax, or mail.A list of editors and contact information is also available
online at VirtualizationReview.com.
E-mail: To e-mail any member of the staff , please use thefollowing form: [email protected]
Irvine Offi ce (weekdays, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. PT)Telephone 949-265-1520; Fax 949-265-1528
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9201 Oakdale Avenue, Suite 101, Chatsworth, CA 91311
The opinions expressed within the articles and other contents herein do not necessarily express those of the publisher.
3 Expectations for 2015In this issue, you’ll fi nd a group of predictions for the virtualization and cloud industry for the new year (see p. XX). In that spirit, I wanted to do my own predictions for what we’re likely to see in 2015.
The Internet of Things (IoT) becomes a real thing. I hate the phrase, and the acronym. But what it actually is will truly take hold in the public consciousness, as well as business. Gartner Inc. recently predicted a 30 percent increase in “things,” or network-connected devices, for 2015; it estimates that nearly 5 billion items will have become digitized and connected, from automobiles to vacuums to maybe my coffee cup (what I wouldn’t give for a sensor that knew when my cup was empty and auto-refi lled it). For IT pros and C-level execs, it also means fi guring out how to build a business model around this explosion; not merely connecting the devices, but making money off of the new awareness those devices have.
The cloud stops being a new thing. The cloud is so pervasive now that it’s no longer cool. It’s not new, or Wow!, or anything like that. It’s an accepted fact of our lives, not an add-on. IT departments no longer (for the most part) have to fi ght to implement cloud technology at some level, whether it be public, private or hybrid. Management has accepted it as a fact of life in 2015, so we’ll see even more innovation in this area, along with lots of mergers as the fi eld undergoes some necessary consolidation.
Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! The long, lingering economic malaise will lift, and companies, which have been wary about hiring during an uncertain time, will start to expand at a healthy rate. Many of those will be in the virtualization and cloud space, meaning it’s a good time to upgrade your skills or get new ones. And if you’re employed already, think about asking for a raise. VR
ID STATEMENT Virtualization Review Magazine (ISSN 1941-2843) is published four times a year (July, August/September, October, and December/January) by 1105 Media, Inc., 9201 Oakdale Avenue, Ste. 101, Chatsworth, CA 91311. Complimentary subscriptions are sent to qualifying subscribers. Annual subscription rates payable in U.S. funds for non-qualifi ed subscribers are: U.S. $39.95, International $64.95. SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES, BACK ISSUE REQUESTS AND ADDRESS CHANGES: Mail to: Virtualization Review, 9201 Oakdale Avenue, Suite 101, Chatsworth, CA 91311, E-mail [email protected] or call 818-814-5223, fax number 818-936-0267. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Virtualization Review, 9201 Oakdale Avenue, Suite 101, Chatsworth, CA 91311. Canada Publications Mail Agreement No: 40612608. Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to 9121 Oakdale Avenue, Suite 101, Chatsworth, CA 91311. COPYRIGHT STATEMENT © Copyright 2014 by 1105 Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. Reproductions in whole or part prohibited except by written permission. Mail requests to “Permissions Editor,” c/o Virtualization Review, 4 Venture, Irvine, CA 92618. LEGAL DISCLAIMER The information in this magazine has not undergone any formal testing by 1105 Media, Inc. and is distributed without any warranty expressed or implied. Implementation or use of any information contained herein is the reader’s sole responsibility. While the information has been reviewed for accuracy, there is no guarantee that the same or similar results may be achieved in all environments. Technical inaccuracies may result from printing errors and/or new developments in the industry. CORPORATE ADDRESS: 1105 Media, 9201 Oakdale Ave. Ste 101, Chatsworth, CA 91311, www.1105media.com MEDIA KITS: Direct your Media Kit requests to Dan LaBianca, VP and Group Publisher, [email protected], 972-687-6702 (phone) or 972-687-6799 (fax). REPRINTS: For single article reprints (in minimum quantities of 250-500), e-prints, plaques and posters contact: PARS International, Phone: 212-221-9595, E-mail: [email protected], magreprints.com/QuickQuote.asp LIST RENTAL This publication’s subscriber list, as well as other lists from 1105 Media, Inc., is available for rental. For more information, please contact our list manager, Merit Direct. Phone: 914-368-1000; E-mail: [email protected]; Web: www.meritdirect.com.
or companies needing continuous application availability, both in traditional and cloud designs, continuous storage is a requirement.
The unique Hitachi Storage Virtualization Operating System (SVOS) and enterprise-class Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform storage systems provide the solution. They enable global storage virtualization, distributed continuous storage, zero recovery time and point objectives (RTO/RPO), and simplifi ed distributed system design and operations.
Global storage virtualization provides global-active devices, storage volumes with the ability to have read and write copies of the same data in two systems or geographic places at the same time. The active-active design enables production workloads on both systems in a local or metro cluster confi guration while maintaining full data consistency and protection.
Now you can deploy the continuous infrastructure you need with the simplicity you desire with the new global-active device feature of SVOS. For applications that need continuous operations, this feature enables active-active data centers with zero downtime, zero RTOs and no data loss.
About Hitachi Data SystemsHitachi Data Systems provides information technologies, services and solutions that help companies improve IT costs and agility, and innovate with information to make a diff erence in the world. Our customers gain compelling return
on investment (ROI), unmatched return on assets (ROA), and demonstrable business impact.
Our vision is to create a better world through social innovation technologies. Beyond our industry-leading enterprise hardware and software, our strategy integrates infrastructure, content and information layers with vertical industry applications. We apply decades of expertise in big data and vertical industries to give you real-time information, useful analytics and decisions, and automated and integrated technologies.
With approximately 6,100 employees worldwide, Hitachi Data Systems does business in more than 100 countries and regions. Our products, services and solutions are trusted by the world’s leading enterprises, including more than 70% of the Fortune 100 and more than 80% of the Fortune Global 100.
Continuous Cloud Infrastructures
Visit us at www.HDS.com/go/gad
4 | December 2014/January 2015 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
COVER STORY | 2015 RCAs/Buyer’s Guide
You, the readers, have spoken. Here are the
virtualization and cloud computing products that
rock your world.
By Keith Ward
VirtualizationReview.com | Virtualization Review | December 2014/January 2015 | 5
December is the most tradition-fi lled month of the
year: holiday movies, getting a tree, lighting the
menorah, offi ce parties, eggnog.
One other, lesser-known tradition also happens
in December—the Virtualization Review Reader’s
Choice Awards. It’s that wonderful time of year
when we reveal what virtualization products you like best—the tools,
platforms and solutions you rely on to get your job done.
Most of our categories stayed the same this year as compared to last
year, although products have been added or deleted in many categories.
There is one new category, though: Best Converged Infrastructure
Product. These all-in-one hardware appliances take the “kitchen sink”
route, combining everything you need for virtualization and cloud
computing in a single package.
I’d like to thank each of you who voted this year—this quite literally
doesn’t happen without your input. In each category, we recognize
a winner and two runners-up. In addition, we include one more
product—an Editor’s Choice—to honor products that deserve honorable
mention or otherwise stand out, in our editors’ opinions.
In these lists you’ll see old favorites, and some newbies that might
surprise you. One thing that won’t surprise, however, is the general
excellence of the products presented here. (Note also that some
products may not be the most current version, and some may not
even be sold anymore; but they’re still the products being relied upon
and used.)
Virtualization and cloud computing is a huge area, and we know
we’ve left some folks out here and there. If you’re a vendor and would
like your company’s product included in next year’s awards, send an
email to [email protected], with “2016 Buyer’s Guide Additions”
in the Subject line. Vendors and readers, feel free to suggest new
categories, as well. Let us know how we can make this even better.
One change to this year’s awards is that we’re no longer including
pricing information. Nearly every vendor now has a free trial of its
products, and almost all of them require you to call to get a price.
Happy Holidays! And, now, on to the winners!IMA
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6 | December 2014/January 2015 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
COVER STORY 2015 RCAs/Buyer’s Guide
Best Application Virtualization ProductApplication virtualization allows apps written for one version of an OS to work on another version of that OS, or another OS altogether. This year, VMware takes top honors with ThinApp. Citrix, with XenApp and Microsoft, with App-V, joined VMware on the podium. And the Editor’s Choice product is Novell ZENworks, which got some nice upgrades this year. By the way, get used to seeing many of these names; you’ll encounter them often from here on out.
WINNER:VMware ThinApp - VMware Inc.http://vmware.com
FINALIST: Citrix XenApp - Citrix Systems Inc.http://citrix.com
FINALIST:App-V - Microsofthttp://microsoft.com
EDITOR’S CHOICE: ZENworks - Novell http://novell.com
2X Remote Application Server - 2X Softwarehttp://2x.com
2X Remote LoadBalancer - 2X Software http://2x.com
AccessNow - Ericom Software http://ericom.com
AdminStudio Suite - Flexera Software LLC http://fl exerasoftware.com
Application Delivery Solution – Radware Ltd. http://radware.com
Application Jukebox - Numecent http://numecent.com
AppZero Cloud - AppZerohttp://appzero.com
Cameyo - Cameyohttp://cameyo.com
ChangeBASE - Dell Inc.http://dell.com
eG Enterprise - eG Innovations Inc.http://eginnovations.com
ElectricCommander - Electric Cloudhttp://electric-cloud.com
Scense - Scensehttp://www.scense.com
Spoon Server - Spoon Inc.http://spoon.net
Symantec Workspace Virtualization - Symantec Corp. http://symantec.om
Best Server Virtualization ProductServer virtualization started the virtualization movement, with the hypervisor’s ability to abstract the server from the hardware, making it possible to stack multiple severs onto one physical box. And, yes, VMware once again takes home the gold medal, with vSphere. vSphere is the Windows of the virtualization world; everyone pretty much uses it. Microsoft is next, with its well-regarded and increasingly popular Hyper-V hypervisor. Citrix and XenServer round out the “Big Three.” Oracle VM, also based on the Xen Hypervisor, wins the Editor’s Choice award.
WINNER:vSphere - VMware Inc. http://vmware.com
FINALIST: Windows Server with Hyper-V - Microsoft http://microsoft.com
FINALIST: Citrix XenServer - Citrix Systems Inc. http://citrix.com
EDITOR’S CHOICE: Oracle VM - Oracle Corp. http://oracle.com
Dell vStart series - Dell Inc. http://dell.com
ftServer - Stratus Technologies http://stratus.com
HC3 - Scale Computing http://scalecomputing.com
Proxmox Virtual Environment - Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH http://proxmox.com
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Servers - Red Hat Inc. http://redhat.com
Riverbed SteelFusion (formerly Granite) - Riverbed Technology http://riverbed.com
Stratus Avance - Stratus Technololgies http://stratus.com
Virtuozzo Containers - Parallels IP Holdings GmbHhttp://parallels.com
vSMP Foundation - ScaleMP Inc. http://scalemp.com
VirtualizationReview.com | Virtualization Review | December 2014/January 2015 | 7
COVER STORY 2015 RCAs/Buyers Guide
Best Desktop Virtualization/Virtual Desktop Infrastructure ProductDesktop virtualization and VDI do the same basic thing: treat end-user terminals as dummies, and pull down OSes and apps from a server to deliver to the user. VMware had two winners this year: VMware View 5.1, the champ, and Desktone (now rebranded as VMware Horizon Air) as a fi nalist. The other fi nalist was Citrix XenDesktop, one of the seminal products in the VDI space. Parallels—seen as more of a consumer-level product, but still in heavy usage in business environments—was selected as the Editor’s Choice.
WINNER: Horizon View (formerly VMware View) - VMware Inc. http://vmware.com
FINALIST: Citrix XenDesktop Citrix Systems Inc. http://citrix.com
FINALIST: Horizon Air (formerly Desktone) - VMware Inc. http://vmware.com
EDITOR’S CHOICE: Parallels Desktop IP Holdings GmbH http://parallels.com
2X Remote Application Server - 2X Software http://2x.com
AMAX Virtual Desktop Series - AMAX Information Technologies Inc. http://amax.com
Aternity for VDI - Aternity http://aternity.com
BareMetal - MokaFive http://moka5.com
Ceedo Enterprise - Ceedo http://ceedo.com
Citrix VDI-in-a-Box - Citrix Systems Inc. http://citrix.com
Connection Broker/Leostream http://leostream.com
Desktop Central - ManageEngine http://manageengine.com
Desktop Cloud Computing Appliance - Sphere3D http://sphere3d.com
LeoStream Cloud Desktops - Leostream Corp. http://leostreamdesktops.com
Login VSI - Login VSI http://loginvsi.com
NexentaConnect for VMware Horizon - Nexenta Systems Inc. http://nexenta.com
Pano for VDI - Thinspace Technology Ltd. Logic http://thinspace.com
Profi leUnity FlexApp - Liquidware Labs Inc. http://liquidwarelabs.com
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (desktop add-on to RHEV) - Red Hat Inc. http://redhat.com
RES Workspace Manager - RES Software http://ressoftware.com
ShadowProtect Desktop - StorageCraft Technology Corp. http://storagecraft.com
Splunk Apps for Citrix XenDesktop - Splunk Inc. http://splunk.com
SmartVDI Host Platforms - ClearCube Technology Inc.http://clearcube.com
Stratusphere UX - Liquidware Labs Inc. http://liquidwarelabs.com
Teradici APEX 2800 Server Offl oad Card - Teradici Corp.http://teradici.com
Thin Desktop - ThinLaunch Software LLC http://thinlaunch.com
Unidesk - Unidesk http://unidesk.com
VDI Blaster - Devon IT http://devonit.com
VERDE - Virtual Bridges http://vbridges.com
Virtual Desktop Platform (VDP) - VDIworks http://vdiworks.com
vSpace - NComputing http://ncomputing.com
vSpace Management Center - NComputing http://ncomputing.com
vWorkspace - Dell Inc. http://dell.com
Workspace Streaming - Symantec Corp. http://symantec.com
WorldDesk for Enterprise - WorldDesk http://myworlddesk.com
8 | December 2014/January 2015 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
COVER STORY 2015 RCAs/Buyer’s Guide
Best Mobile Virtualization/ BYOD ProductBring Your Own Device (BYOD) refl ects the changing nature of IT, as the days of only company-approved devices getting on the network is becoming a relic. The VMware Horizon Suite (now AirWatch Mobile Device Management) was the top choice in a close race, followed by Citrix XenMobile and Microsoft System Center Confi guration Manager. Dell Enterprise Mobility Management, further evidence of the company’s expansion beyond desktops and laptops, is worth watching.
WINNER: Horizon Suite – VMware Inc. http://vmware.com
FINALIST: Citrix XenMobile - Citrix Systems Inc. http://citrix.com
FINALIST: System Center Confi guration Manager - Microsoft http://microsoft.com
EDITOR’S CHOICE: Enterprise Mobility Management - Dell Inc. http://dell.com
2X Client for RDP - 2X Software http://2x.com
Cortado Corporate Server - Cortado AG http://cortado.com
Enterprise Mobility Management - Dell http://dell.com
Intelligent Mobile Edge - Extreme Networks Inc. http://extremenetworks.com
Mobile Admin - SolarWinds http://solarwinds.com
MokaFive for iOS (now Enterprise AnyWare Infrastructure) - Moka5 http://moka5.com
Parallels Access - Desktop IP Holdings GmbH http://parallels.com
Pocketcloud Explore Premium - Dell Wyse http://pocketcloud.com
vLogix Mobile - Red Bend Software http://redbend.com
Best Thin/Zero Client Computing ProductBeyond BYOD, Dell is dominating the thin/zero client space. It won with Dell Wyse T10, as its acquisition of Wyse several years ago continues to pay dividends. ThinShell was another popular product, and between the two, they captured more
than 54 percent of reader votes. RDPSoft and its Remote Desktop Reporter makes its fi rst appearance as a fi nalist in this category. Teradici PCoIP Zero Clients remain a compelling offering, and win the Editor’s Choice race.
WINNER: Dell Wyse T10 - Dell Wyse http://dell.com
FINALIST: vWorkspace ThinShell - Dell Inc. http://dell.com
FINALIST: Remote Desktop Reporter - RDPsoft http://rdpsoft
EDITOR’S CHOICE: PCoIP Zero Clients - Teradici Corp. http://teradici.com
2X Remote Application Server - 2X Software http://2X.com
JC6100C Cloud Computing Model - Computer Lab International http://computerlab.com
NoTouch Desktop - Stratodesk http://stratodesk.com
Thin and Zero Client Hardware Series - IGEL Technologyhttp://igel.com
Userful Multiplatform (formerly MultiSeat Linux Zero Clients) - Userful http://userful.com
Zero Clients - 10ZIG Technology http://10zig.com
Best Virtualization Management & Optimization ProductThis is one of the most popular categories, with more than 80 entrants. Readers spoke loud and clear, though; vCenter Operations Management Suite (now renamed as vRealize Operations) won handily. The other fi nalists, the venerable Microsoft System Center and Cisco Virtual Network Management Center, also garnered strong vote totals. Veeam, which focuses on virtual environments rather than physical components, continues to show well, and its ONE product grabbed the Editor’s Choice award.
WINNER: vCenter Operations Management Suite - VMware Inc. http://vmware.com
FINALIST: System Center - Microsoft http://microsoft.com
VirtualizationReview.com | Virtualization Review | December 2014/January 2015 | 9
COVER STORY 2015 RCAs/Buyers Guide
FINALIST: Virtual Network Management Center - Cisco Systems Inc. http://cisco.com
EDITOR’S CHOICE: Veeam ONE - Veeam Software http://veeam.com
Alta - Akamai Technologies http://akamai.com
AppSense User Virtualization Platform - AppSense http://appsense.com
APTARE StorageConsole Platform - APTARE Inc. http://aptare.com
Argent for VMware - Argent Software http://argent.com
athene - Metron-Athene Inc. http://metron-athene.com
AX Series - A10 Networks Inc. http://a10networks.com
Axxia Network Accelerators - LSI Corp. http://lsi.com
BlueCat Automation Manager - BlueCat Networks http://bluecatnetworks.com
Bocada vpConnect - Bocada Inc. http://bocada.com
CA LISA Platform - CA http://ca.com
Centrix WorkSpace iQ - Centrix Software Ltd. http://centrixsoftware.com
Cirba - Cirba Inc. http://cirba.com
dsNet Manager - Cleversafe Inc. http://cleversafe.com
Dynamic Multi-Pathing for VMware - Symantec Corp. http://symantec.com
Embrane heleos - Embrane Inc. http://embrane.com
Enterprise Manager - F5 Networks Inc. http://f5.com
Equalizer On Demand - Coyote Point Systems http://coyotepoint.com
Foglight for Storage Management - Dell Inc. http://dell.com
Foglight for Virtualization - Dell Inc. http://dell.com
Grid Engine - Univa Corp. http://univa.com
Hitachi Command Suite - Hitachi Data Systems http://hds.com
HotLink SuperVISOR for VMware vCenter - HotLink Corp. http://hotlink.com
HP OneView for VMware vCenter (formerly Insight Control for VMware vCenter Server) - Hewlett- HyTrust Cloudcontrol - HyTrust Inc. http://hytrust.com
ImageManager - StorageCraft Technology Corp. http://storagecraft.com
Intigua - Intigua http://intigua.com
ioTurbine - Fusion-io http://fusionio.com
Layered Tech - Datapipe http://datapipe.com
Librato - Librato http://librato.com
LogicMonitor - LogicMonitor Inc. http://logicmonitor.com
Netuitive - Netuitive http://netuitive.com
Network Services - Infoblox Inc. http://infoblox.com
NetWrix Auditor (formerly VMware Change Reporter) - Netwrix Corp. http://netwrix.com
Nexus 1010 and 1010-X Virtual Services Appliances - Cisco Systems Inc. http://cisco.com
OneFabric Data Center - Extreme Networks Inc. http://extremenetworks.com
OnCommand Management Software - NetApp Inc. http://netapp.com
OneCommand Vision - Emulex http://emulex.com
Operations Manager - VMTurbo Inc. http://vmturbo.com
Packard Co. http://hp.com
PAN Manager Software - Egenera Inc. http://egenera.com
PerfectDisk Hyper-V - Raxco Inc. http://raxco.com
PerfectDisk vSphere - Raxco Inc. http://raxco.com
PlateSpin Migrate - NetIQ Corp. http://netiq.com
Simpana - CommVault http://commvault.com
Simplify Monitoring - Tricerat http://www.tricerat.com
10 | December 2014/January 2015 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
COVER STORY 2015 RCAs/Buyer’s Guide
SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer VM Option (formerly IgniteVM) - SolarWinds http://solarwinds.com
SteelCentral NetShark (formerly Riverbed Virtual Cascade) - Riverbed http://riverbed.comj
Stratusphere FIT - Liquidware Labs Inc. http://liquidwarelabs.com
United Communications Managed Services - Avaya Inc. http://avaya.com
up.time - Uptime Software Inc. http://uptimesoftware.com
vCapacity - Refl ex Systems (now StrataCloud) http://refl exsystems.com
Veeam Management Pack - Veeam Software http://veeam.com
Virtualization Manager - SolarWinds http://solarwinds.com
VirtualWisdom - Virtual Instruments http://virtualinstruments.com
Xangati Management Dashboard - Xangati http://xangati.com
Zenoss Service Dynamics - Zenoss Inc. http://zenoss.com
Best Cloud Infrastructure/Platform ProductThe only category that eclipsed virtualization management and optimization was cloud computing, which had 85 contenders. The product you liked best here was VMware vCloud Director. But there was no overwhelming majority vote here, with Microsoft Azure and Amazon EC2 cloud both garnering strong support. OpenStack was an easy Editor’s Choice award, as the open source platform is rocketing to prominence, and may soon make the fi nalist list.
WINNER: vCloud Director - VMware Inc. http://vmware.com
FINALIST: Microsoft Azure - Microsoft http://microsoft.com
FINALIST: Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud - Amazon Web Services Inc.http://aws.amazon.com
EDITOR’S CHOICE: OpenStack http://openstack.org
6fusion for Enterprise IT - 6fusion http://6fusion.com
7048-7500 Series Devices - Arista Networks Inc. http://arista.com
Active System Manager - Dell Inc. http://dell.com
AgileAppsLive (formerly LongJump Platform as a Service) - Software AG http://softwareag.com
AppFog - AppFog Inc. http://appfog.com
Application Services - AT&T http://att.com
Apprenda Enterprise PaaS/Apprenda Inc. http://apprenda.com
AvailabilityGuard/Cloud - Continuity Software http://continuitysoftware.com
BIG-IP Virtual Edition series of products - F5 NetworksInc. http://f5.com
Canopy Anytime Communication & Collaboration Cloud - Canopy http://canopy-cloud.com
Caringo Swarm (formerly CAStor) - Caringo Inc. http://caringo.com
Cisco UCS Director (formerly Cloupia Unifi ed Infrastructure Controller) - Cisco Systems Inc. http://cisco.com
CloudArray - TwinStrata (recently acquired by EMC Corp.) http://twinstrata.com
CloudBees Platform as a Service - CloudBees Inc. http://cloudbees.com
Cloud Computing Services - Expedient Data Centers http://expedient.com
Cloud CORE (formerly Cloud OnRamp Enablement) – Geminare Inc. http://geminare.com
Cloudera Enterprise - Cloudera Inc. http://cloudera.com
Cloud Intelligent Network - Cisco Systems Inc. http://cisco.com
Cloud Foundry - Pivotal Software Inc. http://pivotal.io
Cloud Hosting - Hosting.com http://hosting.com
CloudHub - MuleSoft http://mulesoft.com
Cloudify - GigaSpaces http://gigaspaces.com
Cloud Lifecycle Management - BMC Corp. http://bmc.com
VirtualizationReview.com | Virtualization Review | December 2014/January 2015 | 11
COVER STORY 2015 RCAs/Buyers Guide
Cloud Management Portal - Virtacore Systems Inc. http://virtacore.com
CloudPhysics - CloudPhysics Inc. http://cloudphysics.com
CloudPlatform - Citrix Systems Inc. http://citrix.com
Cloud Recovery - Geminare Inc. http://geminare.com
Cumulogic Cloud Services - CumuLogic Inc. http://cumulogic.com
Dell Cloud Manager - Dell Inc. http://dell.com
Engine Yard - Engine Yard Inc. http://engineyard.com
Enterprise Cloud Services - Hewlett-Packard Co. http://hp.com
Enterprise Cloud Services - SunGard Availability Services http://sungardas.com
Eucalyptus Cloud - Eucalyptus Systems Inc. http://eucalyptus.com
GoGrid - GoGrid http://gogrid.com
Hitachi Content Platform - Hitachi Data Systems http://hds.com
IBM Platform HPC Cloud - IBM Corp. http://ibm.com
iland Cloud Services - iland http://iland.com
Intalio|Create - Intalio Inc. http://intalio.com
Leostream Cloud Desktops - Leostream http://leostream.com
Managed Hosting Service - Verizon Terremark http://verizonenterprise.com
mCloud - Morphlabs Inc. http://morphlabs.com
Moab Cloud Suite - Adaptive Computing Inc. http://adaptivecomputing.com
NaviCloud Platform - NaviSite Inc. http://navisite.com
Nebula - Nebula Inc. http://nebula.com
NephoScale Cloud Computing - NephoScale Inc. http://nephoscale.com
OpenShift Enterprise - Red Hat Inc. http://redhat.com
Oracle Fabric Manager - Oracle Corp. http://oracle.com
OS33 - OS33 http://os33.com
PAN Cloud Director - Egenera Inc. http://egenera.com
Parallels Automation for Cloud Infrastructure - Parallels IP Holdings GmbH http://parallels.com
Rackspace Managed Cloud - Rackspace http://rackspace.com
Sales Cloud - Salesforce.com Inc. http://salesforce.com
Sanbolic - Sanbolic Inc. http://sanbolic.com
SmartDataCenter - Joyent Inc. http://joyent.com
SoftLayer Private Clouds - SoftLayer Technologies Inc. http://softlayer.com
Stackato - ActiveState Software Inc. http://activestate.com
Stratosphere Elastic Cloud - Datapipe Inc. http://datapipe.com
Virtual Computing Platform - Nutanix http://nutanix.com
Virtual Datacenters - Bluelock http://bluelock.com
vRun - CloudFounders http://cloudfounders.com
xStream Enterprise Cloud - Virtustream Inc. http://virtustream.com
Best Cloud Storage ProductDropbox barely eked out a win over Amazon Simple Storage Service, while Atmos from EMC took the other fi nalist slot. The innovative Microsoft StorSimple was named the Editor’s Choice in this category.
WINNER: Dropbox - Dropbox Inc. http://dropbox.com
FINALIST: Amazon Simple Storage Service - Amazon Web Services Inc.http://aws.amazon.com
FINALIST: Atmos - EMC Corp. http://emc.com
EDITOR’S CHOICE: StorSimple Hybrid Cloud Storage - Microsoft http://microsoft.com
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COVER STORY 2015 RCAs/Buyer’s Guide
Abiquo anyCloud - Abiquo Inc. http://abiquo.com
Box - Box http://box.com
Carbonite Business - Carbonite Inc. http://carbonite.com
CloudAlly - CloudAlly http://cloudally.com
CloudArray - TwinStrata (recently acquired by EMC Corp.) http://twinstrata.com
Cloud Storage - AT&T http://att.com
Cloud Storage Network - Symform (recently acquired by Quantum Corp.) http://symform.com
Global File System - Panzura http://panzura.com
Hitachi Cloud Storage Solutions - Hitachi Data Systems http://hds.com
iCloud - Apple Inc. http://apple.com
MagFS/Maginatics http://maginatics.com
Network for Cloud Services/Aryaka http://aryaka.com
NexentaStor - Nexenta Systems Inc. http://nexenta.com
Profi tBricks Infrastructure as a Service - Profi tBricks http://profi tbricks.com
SolidFire - SolidFire http://solidfi re.com
SteelStore (formerly Riverbed Whitewater Cloud Storage Gateways) - NetApp http://netapp.com
StorSimple Hybrid Cloud Storage - Microsoft http://microsoft.com
Best Cloud Security ProductSecurity issues necessitate this category, the best cloud security product. Here, in a photo fi nish, McAfee Cloud Security nosed ahead of Symantec 03, which edged out IBM Cloud Security. In all, this was probably the most competitive category in the list, with no product getting more than 12.6 percent of the vote. SecureCloud from Trend Micro, the Editor’s Choice, fi nished just out of the top three, but not far behind McAfee—an indication of just how tight the race was.
WINNER: McAfee Cloud Security - McAfee Inc. http://mcafee.com
FINALIST: Symantec O3 Cloud Identity and Access Control - Symantec Corp. http://symantec.com
FINALIST: IBM Cloud Security and Infrastructure Management Services - IBM Corp. http://ibm.com
EDITOR’S CHOICE: SecureCloud - Trend Micro Inc. http://trendmicro.com
2X SecureRemoteDesktop - 2X Software http://2x.com
Access Manager - NetIQ Corp. http://netiq.com
Advanced Threat Protection - Fortinet Inc. http://fortinet.com
BIG-IP Virtual Edition series of products - F5 Networks Inc. http://f5.com
CA Secure Cloud (formerly CA CloudMinder) - CA http://ca.com
CloudPassage Halo - CloudPassage Inc. http://cloudpassage.com
Dome9 Business Cloud - Dome9 Security Ltd. http://dome9.com
EVault Cloud Backup Service - Seagate Technology LLC http://evault.com
Hytrust CloudControl (formerly HighCloud Security) - Hytrust Inc. http://hytrust.com
KONA Security Solutions - Akamai Technologies http://akamai.com
Managed Network Security Services - SilverSky http://silversky.com
Okta Enterprise - Okta Inc. http://okta.com
Oxygen Enterprise - Oxygen Cloud http://oxygencloud.com
Panda Cloud Protection - Panda Security http://pandasecurity.com
Qualys Cloud Platform - Qualys Inc. http://qualys.com
SMB Cloud-Managed Security Service - Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. http://checkpoint.com
Best Cloud Software ProductThis is a wide-open category that can include just about anything used to leverage the cloud for business. The top vote-getter was ShareFile, the Citrix enterprise fi le sync and sharing service. Google Fusion Tables is used for Web data,
VirtualizationReview.com | Virtualization Review | December 2014/January 2015 | 13
COVER STORY 2015 RCAs/Buyers Guide
“to gather, visualize, and share data tables,” according to the company. It made the fi nals, along with the OpenStack private cloud platform. And although it didn’t fi nish in the top three, no list of cloud software would be complete without Salesforce.com, so it’s our Editor’s Choice winner.
WINNER: ShareFile - Citrix Systems Inc. http://citrix.com
FINALIST: Fusion Tables - Google Inc. http://tables.googlelabs.com
FINALIST: OpenStack http://openstack.org
EDITOR’S CHOICE: Salesforce.com - Salesforce.com Inc. http://salesforce.com
Acumatica Cloud ERP - Acumatica http://acumatica.com
AppZero Cloud - AppZero http://appzero.com
Cloud Manager - NetIQ Corp. http://netiq.com
CloudTest Platform - Soasta http://soasta.com
Cloud Monitoring - Zenoss Inc. http://zenoss.com
Cloud Cruiser Enterprise - Cloud Cruiser http://cloudcruiser.com
HotLink Hybrid Express - HotLink Corp. http://hotlink.com
Intacct Financials - Intacct Corp. http://us.intacct.com
Komodo IDE - ActiveState Software Inc. http://activestate.com
NetSuite ERP - NetSuite Inc. http://netsuite.com
Oracle Cloud Applications - Oracle Corp. http://oracle.com
Oracle Taleo Enterprise Cloud Service - Oracle http://oracle.com
Piston OpenStack - Piston Cloud Computing Inc. http://pistoncloud.com
Puppet Enterprise - Puppet Labs http://puppetlabs.com
QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions Hosting Service – Intuit Inc. http://intuit.com
SAP Cloud Applications - SAP http://sap.com
vCommander - Embotics http://embotics.com
Workday - Workday Inc. http://workday.com
WorkSpace Universal - Centrix Software Ltd. http://centrixsoftware.com
Wyse WSM Desktop and Application Virtualization – Dell Wyse http://dell.com
xStream - Virtustream Inc. http://virtustream.com
Zoho Business Applications - Zoho http://zoho.com
Zuora - Zuora Inc. http://zuora.com
Best Business Continuity Product“Business Continuity” really just means “backup and recovery.” In other words, what keeps you running when disaster strikes? This was another popular category, with nearly 60 products. And once again, VMware is what readers trust most, with vCenter Site Recovery Manager at the top of the standings; it was the only product with a double-digit percentage. The other fi nalists were Dell AppAssure and Veeam, whose Backup & Replication is specifi cally for vSphere and Hyper-V. IBM Tivoli wins Editor’s Choice for its enterprise abilities.
WINNER: vCenter Site Recovery Manager - VMware Inc. http://vmware.com
FINALIST: AppAssure - Dell Inc. http://dell.com
FINALIST: Veeam Backup & Replication - Veeam Software http://veeam.com
EDITOR’S CHOICE: IBM Tivoli Storage Manager - IBM Corp. http://ibm.com
Acronis Backup & Recovery - Acronis International GmbH http://acronis.com
Acronis Backup for VMware (formerly vmProtect) - Acronis International GmbH http://acronis.com
Altaro Hyper-V Backup - Altaro Software http://altaro.com
ARCserve Backup - CA http://ca.com
14 | December 2014/January 2015 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
COVER STORY 2015 RCAs/Buyer’s Guide
Asigra Cloud Backup - Asigra Inc. http://asigra.com
AvailabilityGuard/SAN - Continuity Software http://continuitysoftware.com
Backup Exec - Symantec Corp. http://symantec.com
Cloud Recovery/Auto Failover - Geminare Inc. http://geminare.com
Continuous Data Protector - FalconStor Software http://falconstor.com
CrashPlan - Code 42 Software Inc. http://code42.com
Data Recovery Services - Kroll Ontrack Inc. http://krollontrack.com
Double-Take DR - Vision Solutions Inc. http://visionsolutions.com
DRaaS - iland http://iland.comEVault Backup - Seagate Technology LLC http://evault.com
everRun MX - Stratus Technologies http://stratus.com
ExaGrid appliance - ExaGrid http://exagrid.com
FarStone Total Backup Recovery - FarStone http://farstone.com
HotLink DR Express - HotLink Corp. http://hotlink.com
MozyPro - EMC Corp. http://mozy.com
NetBackup - Symantec http://symantec.com
Neverfail IT Continuity Architect - Neverfail Ltd. http://neverfailgroup.com
nScaled Recovery-as-a-Service - nScaled (acquired by Acronis) http://nscaled.com
onQ series - QuorumLabs Inc. http://quorum.net
Paragon Drive Backup Server - Paragon Software Group http://paragon-software.com
PlateSpin Forge - NetIQ Corp. http://netiq.com
rCloud - Persistent Systems http://rcloud.persistent.com
Recovery-as-a-Service - Bluelock http://bluelock.com
Scout Cloud - InMage Systems (acquired by Microsoft) http://inmage.com
SEP sesam - SEP Software http://sepsoftware.com
ShadowProtect Virtual - StorageCraft http://storagecraft.com
SharePoint Backup - Metalogix International GmbH http://metalogix.com
StorageCraft Cloud Services - StorageCraft Technology Corp. http://storagecraft.com
STORServer Virtual Machine Backup - STORServer http://storserver.com
Stratus Avance - Stratus Technologies http://stratus.com
Tintri ReplicateVM - Tintri http://tintri.com
Unitrends Enterprise Backup - Unitrends http://unitrends.com
Unitrends Virtual Backup and Replication (formerly PHD Virtual Backup & Replication) - Unitrends http://unitrends.com
Veeam Backup Free Edition - Veeam Software http://veeam.com
WD Arkeia Backup - Western Digital Technologies Inc. http://arkeia.com
Zerto Virtual Replication - Zerto http://zerto.com
Zetta DataProtect - Zetta.net http://zetta.net
Best Virtualization Automation ProductAs virtualization and cloud computing permeates enterprises more and more, automation takes on greater importance. Without it, operational effi ciencies are almost impossible to achieve. This was another very tight category, with all three leading products bunched close together. In the end, though, Red Hat gets the gold, with Red Hat CloudForms. It was followed very closely by HP Cloud Service Automation and IBM SmartCloud Orchestrator. One of the companies in the industry doing some of the most interesting things is Puppet Labs, which is why it wins the Editor’s Choice here.
WINNER: Red Hat CloudForms - Red Hat Inc. http://redhat.com
FINALIST: HP Cloud Service Automation - Hewlett-Packard Co. http://hp.com
FINALIST: IBM SmartCloud Orchestrator - IBM Corp. http://ibm.com
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COVER STORY 2015 RCAs/Buyers Guide
EDITOR’S CHOICE: Puppet Enterprise - Puppet Labshttp://puppetlabs.com
BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management - BMC Corp. http://bmc.com
JAMS - MVP Systems Software Inc. http://jamsscheduler.com
vProfi le - Refl ex Systems (no longer available) http://fl ip.refl exsystems.com
Best Storage Virtualization ProductStrangely, the top vote-getter and champion is a product you can’t even buy anymore: VMware Virsto. It’s still in use in many datacenters, however, based on the vote count. VMware parent company EMC was next with VPLEX, and NetApp was the other fi nalist. IBM Storwize, with a large available range of systems, wins Editor’s Choice recognition for its options.
WINNER: Virsto - VMware Inc. http://vmware.com
FINALIST: VPLEX - EMC Corp. http://emc.com
FINALIST: NetApp V-Series Open Storage Controller - NetApp http://netapp.com
EDITOR’S CHOICE: Storwize - IBM Corp. http://ibm.com
AssuredSAN Series - Dot Hill Systems http://dothill.com
Atlantis USX - Atlantis Computing Inc. http://atlantiscomputing.com
Avere FXT Series Edge Filer - Avere http://averesystems.com
BrickStor - Racktop Systems Inc. http://racktopsystems.com
Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones - Brocade http://brocade.com
Cloud Storage Assurance - Geminare Inc. http://geminare.com
Coraid EtherDrive Appliances - Coraid Inc. http://coraid.com
DNF FlexStor - Dynamic Network Factory Inc. http://dnfstorage.com
Drobo B1200i - Drobo Inc. http://drobo.com
FalconStor Network Storage Server - FalconStor Software http://falconstor.com
Gemini All-Flash Arrays - Nimbus Data Systems Inc. http://nimbusdata.com
Hitachi Unifi ed Storage VM - Hitachi Data Systems http://hds.com
Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform - Hitachi Data Systems http://hds.com
Infi nio - Infi nio Systems Inc. http://infi nio.com
Intelligent Storage Element - X-IO Technologies http://xiostorage.com
Isilon Scale-out Storage Platform - EMC Corp. http://emc.com
Nasuni Storage - Nasuni Corp. http://nasuni.com
Nexsan NST - Imation Corp. http://imation.com
Pure Storage FlashArray - Pure Storage Inc. http://purestorage.com
Sanbolic – Sanbolic Inc. http://sanbolic.com
SANsymphony - DataCore Software http://datacore.com
SSDNow Enterprise - Kingston Technology Corp. http://kingston.com
StarWind Virtual SAN - StarWind Software Inc. http://starwindsoftware.com
Stonefl y - Dynamic Network Factory Storage http://stonefl y.com
StorSimple Hybrid Cloud Storage - Microsoft http://microsoft.com
Tegile Storage Arrays - Tegile Inc. http://tegile.com
Tintri VMstore - Tintri http://tintri.com
Violin Flash Arrays - Violin Memory Inc. http://violin-memory.com
Best Network Virtualization ProductThese days, network virtualization increasingly means software-defi ned networking (SDN), an extremely complicated concept to pull off. VMware has been increasingly interested in this area, and that focus has been rewarded with the winner in this category, NSX, and a fi nalist, vSphere Distributed Switch. The other fi nalist is Cisco, with its Nexus 1000V, which also works with vSphere. A niche player here, F5 Networks and its BIG-IP Local Traffi c Manager Virtual Edition, is the Editor’s Choice winner for its innovate features.
16 | December 2014/January 2015 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
COVER STORY 2015 RCAs/Buyer’s Guide
WINNER: NSX - VMware Inc. http://vmware.com
FINALIST: vSphere Distributed Switch - VMware Inc. http://vmware.com
FINALIST: Nexus 1000V - Cisco Systems Inc. http://cisco.com
EDITOR’S CHOICE: BIG-IP Local Traffi c Manager Virtual Edition - F5 Networks Inc. http://f5.com
BlackDiamond X Series - Extreme Networks Inc. http://extremenetworks.com
Bluesocket vWLAN - Adtran Inc. http://adtran.com
Contrail - Juniper Networks Inc. http://juniper.net
Dell Networking S-Series - Dell Inc. http://dell.com
Ethernet Switch Systems - Mellanox Technologies http://mellanox.com
IBM RackSwitch - IBM http://ibm.com
IBM SDN VE - IBM Corp. http://ibm.com
NetScaler Insight Center - Citrix Systems Inc. http://citrix.com
QLogic Converged Network Adapters - QLogic Corp. http://qlogic.com
Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V - Microsoft http://microsoft.com
Best Virtualization Security ProductNetworking specialist Cisco dominates here, with its cloud fi rewall and virtual security gateway coming in at the top and as one fi nalist. Trend Micro Deep Security also places as a fi nalist here, and Symantec Endpoint Protection earns Editor’s Choice for its strong ability to eliminate malware.
WINNER: Cisco ASA 1000V Cloud Firewall - Cisco Systems Inc. http://cisco.com
FINALIST: Cisco Virtual Security Gateway - Cisco Systems Inc. http://cisco.com
FINALIST: Deep Security - Trend Micro Inc. http://trendmicro.com
EDITOR’S CHOICE: Symantec Endpoint Protection - Symantec Corp. http://symantec.corp
Barracuda Spam Firewall - Barracuda Networks Inc. http://barracuda.com
Bitdefender Gravity Zone - Bitdefender http://bitdefender.com
Catbird Security - Catbird Networks Inc. http://catbird.com
Certes TrustNet Manager - Certes Networks Inc. http://certesnetworks.com
Check Point Security Gateway Virtual Edition - Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (checkpoint.com)
Digital Guardian - Digital Guardian http://digitalguardian.com
ESET Endpoint Solutions - ESET http://eset.com
FortiGate Virtual Appliances - Fortinet http://fortinet.com
GigaVUE Series - NextGig Systems Inc. http://nextgigsystems.com
Invincea Enterprise Edition - Invincea Inc. http://invincea.com
Ixia BreakingPoint - Ixia http://ixiacom.com
Kaspersky Security for Virtualization - Kaspersky Lab http://usa.kaspersky.com
Porticor for VMware - Porticor Ltd. http://porticor.com
PowerBroker - BeyondTrust Inc. http://beyondtrust.com
Qualys Cloud Suite - Qualys Inc. http://qualys.com
Retina Network Security Scanner - BeyondTrust Inc. http://beyondtrust.com
Safe Access - StillSecure http://stillsecure.com
SRX Series Gateways - Juniper Networks Inc. http://juniper.net
Symantec Critical System Protection - Symantec Corp. http://symantec.com
Tripwire VIA Platform - Tripwire Inc. http://tripwire.com
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COVER STORY 2015 RCAs/Buyers Guide
VM Fortress - Tresys Technology LLC http://tresys.com
WatchGuard XTMv - WatchGuard Technologies Inc. http://watchguard.com
Websense TRITON - Websense Inc. http://websense.com
Best Converged Infrastructure ProductThis is a new category for 2015. Converged infrastructure—products that combine all aspects of virtualization, including compute, networking and storage, into a single box—has taken off in the past year, and promises to grow quickly. Cisco scores another win here, with its Vblock systems combining EMC storage with Intel processors and VMware plumbing. HP makes its only entry in our winner’s circle this year, making it as a fi nalist along with NetApp FlexPod. The IBM FlexSystem was named the Editor’s Choice winner.
WINNER: Vblock - Cisco Systems Inc. http://cisco.com
FINALIST: ConvergedSystem - Hewlett-Packard Co. http://hp.com
FINALIST: FlexPod - NetApp http://netapp.com
EDITOR’S CHOICE: Flex System - IBM Corp. http://ibm.com
Active System - Dell Inc.http://dell.com
Forward by Unisys - Unisys http://unisys.com
FusionCube - Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. http://huawei.com
HC3 - Scale Computing http://scalecomputing.com
Nutanix Virtual Computing Platform - Nutanix http://nutanix.com
Simplivity OmniCube - Simplivity Inc. http://simplivity.com
Unifi ed Compute Platform - Hitachi Data Systems http://hds.com
Virtual Compute Appliance - Oracle Corp. http://oracle.com
Best Virtualization TrainingTraining is a critical piece of the puzzle for virtualization, as the technology changes so rapidly. But the favorite vendors don’t change as rapidly, as last year’s winners were also this year’s champions, starting with Global Knowledge. New Horizons and PluralSight, which is gaining a lot of industry momentum, were the fi nalists. ITT Tech deserves an Editor’s Choice for its breadth of programs and longevity in the industry.
WINNER: Global Knowledge Training LLC http://globalknowledge.com
FINALIST: New Horizons Computer Learning Centers http://newhorizons.com
FINALIST: Pluralsight http://pluralsight.com
EDITOR’S CHOICE: ITT Technical Institute http://itt-tech.edu
Ascolta http://ascolta.com
Capella University http://capella.edu
DeVry Institute http://devry.edu
Learning Tree International http://learningtree.com
Fast Lane http://fastlaneus.com
Hatsize http://hatsize.com
InfoSec Institute http://infosecinstitute.com
Intense School http://intenseschool.com
Kaplan http://kaplan.com
MeasureUp http://measureup.com
NetCom Learning http://netcomlearning.com
QuickStart http://quickstart.com
University of Phoenix http://phoenix.edu
18 | December 2014/January 2015 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
FEATURE | 2015 Virtualization Predictions
VirtualizationReview.com | Virtualization Review | December 2014/January 2015 | 19
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Chris Wolf, CTO, Americas, VMware Inc.1. Network Virtualization’s Rapid Growth ContinuesI have a lot of conversations with senior IT leaders about network virtualization, and the outcome is al-most always the same—network virtualization isn’t a matter of if, but when. For many enterprises, “when” will arrive in 2015. We are continually pressed to im-prove time-to-value through greater agility and au-tomation. For most organizations, networking and security remain the primary bottlenecks to workload provisioning. Many mature enterprises take two weeks or longer to provision all of the necessary net-work and security resources to bring a new service online, and some enterprises take as long as six to eight weeks. Network virtualization and its associ-ated automation capabilities can reduce provisioning delays from weeks to less than a day. That represents a signifi cant gain in business agility.
Beyond speed, network virtualization can also free
IT security professionals to do the kind of work that got them excited to join the industry in the fi rst place. Many network security administrators that I speak with describe a workday that mostly consists of open-ing a service ticket, creating or modifying fi rewall rules, and so on, and then closing a service ticket. They feel like factory workers. When network virtualization automates mundane security tasks, security profes-sionals are freed to focus on more important work, like actually getting time to research emerging threats—a job they might only get a chance to do one week a year at a security conference.
Reading about major IT security incidents is practi-cally a daily event. Most organizations have reached the conclusion that their traditional approach to net-work security simply cannot scale in the cloud era. Vir-tual networks can provide dedicated stateful virtual fi rewalls to every application in a datacenter—a con-cept known as microsegmentation. Segmentation at the VLAN or network subnet level has proven ineffec-
Predictions can be tricky things, especially in the fi eld of virtualization and cloud computing,
as everything changes so quickly, and innovation can come out of nowhere. For example, just a few
years ago not many folks would’ve predicted the rapid ascent of containers, with virtual machines so
fi rmly established as a core technology.
Yet here we are, trying again. For this article, Virtualization Review reached out to various industry
experts—writers, vendors, industry analysts—to get their take on what they expect to see coming in
2015. If you have your own predictions, and would like to see them on the Web site, send an e-mail to
Editor in Chief Keith Ward ([email protected]) with the subject line: 2015 Predictions.
Keith Ward
20 | December 2014/January 2015 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
FEATURE | 2015 Virtualization Predictions
tive. However, microsegmenation that delivers comprehen-sive security at the application container (a virtual machine, for example) level provides a level of protection beyond what enterprises have ever been able to achieve.
There are many mature network virtualization options on the market today, and as a result 2015 will see network virtu-alization achieve signifi cant penetration into the enterprise datacenter.
2. Our Building Blocks Will Get BiggerMost IT professionals are builders at heart. Designing and building complex IT systems lets us fl ex our brains, but at the same time often slows down business agility. We can still fl ex our brains, but we need to redefi ne our value, which is no longer about who can build the best architec-ture from scratch. Our value is in how can we solve prob-lems quickly and safely.
To that end, more organizations will deploy hypercon-verged or converged infrastructure solutions in 2015. It’s not because they can’t build their own integrated systems. It’s because IT administrators have better use of their time. Take infrastructure integration off the table and suddenly we all have more time to focus on the delivery and optimization of critical business applications. Our inner nerds will always want to build everything, but by the time 2015 comes to an end, more and more organizations will come to realize that simply buying pre-integrated solutions gives them more time for innovation and lets them spend less time on maintenance. IT administrators will lose their obsession with having to build everything and, instead—like the infamous Walter White—will obsess over speed.
Andi Mann, Vice President, Offi ce of the CTO, CA TechnologiesI hope you didn’t come here for the same old 2015 predictions: Docker kills VMware sales; VMware debuts a public PaaS; Docker doesn’t survive the year; Amazon launches
a DevOps Cloud Platform; or Docker IPOs for <DrEvil.gif> a billion dollars. Instead, I wanted to go with something a little more thought-provoking.
So here it is: I predict 2015 is the year virtualization goes mainstream!
Sure, to many in our industry, this may seem absurd. Vir-tualization has been mainstream since 1960! Or was it 2005? Yet virtualization has only been “mainstream” within IT and perhaps a relative handful of low-level “process” workers. If you want a business exec to glaze over, talk to her about software-defi ned anything!
In 2015 I predict virtualization moves into broad main-stream business and consumer use cases, not just IT main-stream use cases, in the following fi ve ways:
Virtual devices enable bring your own device (BYOD). Mobile VMs seem to have come and gone, and with good reason. However, in 2015 new virtual-ization approaches like containers (backed by indus-try heavyweights like Samsung and CA Technologies) will appear in the hands of millions, perhaps billions, of consumers and business users with more fl exible, personal and effi cient approaches to enable BYOD.Virtual security enables BYOD. With new data breaches revealed almost daily, mainstream users are increasingly concerned about password risk, yet annoyed by heavy-handed solutions, especially on mobile devices. In 2015, business users and consum-ers will increasingly exchange abstracted identity with virtual single sign-on (SSO), powered by tech-nologies like OAuth, OpenID, and WS-Federation.Virtualization goes upstream. At CA Technolo-gies, we already see huge interest in service virtual-ization, as much for its business impact as its IT impact. Abstracting composite applications from their environment—infrastructure, middleware, databases, APIs and so on—will see huge growth in 2015, allowing upstream teams like dev, test and QA to deliver business solutions better, faster and cheaper. Virtualization goes downstream. As Agile, DevOps and service virtualization accelerate upstream activities in application delivery, busi-nesses will need to remove more bottlenecks. In 2015 we’ll see virtual approaches increasingly used by more downstream activities like training, marketing and support, just as we have with documentation.Virtual catches up to reality. For three days at the recent CA World, there was a constant queue for a
“Game of Thrones” “experience” using Oculus Rift VR. In 2015, we’ll see augmented and virtual reality (for-merly the [non-exclusive] province of truly awful mov-ies) improve UX in manufacturing, real estate, health care, hospitality and many other businesses.
Oh, and one last thing: A certain vendor we all love to hate will fork Docker into a commercial distro. Guaranteed! Remember, you heard it here fi rst.
Simon Crosby, Cofounder and CTO Bromium Inc.2015: The Rise and Fall of the Docker Security EcosystemDocker is awesome. Developers love its powerful, simple abstractions for packag-
ing and deploying application code. Develop and package once, then deploy anywhere, from your PC to any cloud with many choices for automation frameworks. The Linux distros
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FEATURE | 2015 Virtualization Predictions
are fawning over Docker, and it’s also a key building block for enterprise PaaS. Of course, something this popular is also a threat to almost every incumbent: Who needs VMs with Docker? Who needs a Linux distro?
But developers dictate the future, and what’s not to like about a write-once-run-anywhere developer framework?
Well, we’ve seen this movie before: Java + Security anyone? In 2015, the giddy fl ock of Docker devotees will have to start to deliver differentiated products, and Docker security will be high on their list. This is a big mistake, and they will fail.
First, is there a Docker security issue? This is the wrong question. The right way to phrase the question is, “Is Linux/Windows secure?” We all know the answer to that question already. A malicious container can easily compromise a vul-nerable host OS, and an already compromised host OS com-
pletely owns the container. This is no different from the failed experiments in sandboxing on PCs.
The Docker security challenge therefore relates to the secu-rity of the infrastructure that runs Docker containers. Is it multi-tenant safe? Can your container share a Linux instance with containers from other customers of the cloud? Very clearly the answer is no—not with any confi dence, anyway.
In 2015, the Docker acolytes will make many implausible promises, instead of focusing on empowering developers with better tools, and leaving security to credible infra-structure vendors, who understand the full complexity of application isolation.
For enterprises to safely adopt Docker and operate it at scale in private or public clouds, what’s needed is a simple extension of the most robust isolation structure in computing today—the hypervisor. The extension is called micro-virtualization, and it confers on Linux, Windows or even Mac OS X an ability to instantly hardware-isolate an individual application or task.
The Docker ecosystem should focus on adoption of Docker by app developers. The hypervisor and cloud infrastructure vendors will, in 2015, deliver technologies that make Docker deployments safe for app developers and cloud infrastructure operators.
Dave Bartoletti, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research Inc.1. The App Drives the Hypervisor Choice This trend has already started, but it’ll be the primary way server virtualization platforms are chosen in 2015. With ef-fective parity between the leaders—VMware and Microsoft—
companies should choose the hypervisor that’s easiest to deploy, has the broadest feature set and is easiest to integrate for the app they plan to virtualize. That might mean Oracle VM—yes! That might mean KVM. With such a mature market, the action moves to the app layer. Pick the VM container that makes the app easier to deploy, manage, support and upgrade.
2. Multi-Hypervisor Management Capabilities Are Table StakesEvery management tool must support multiple hypervisors—don’t pick one that doesn’t in 2015. Virtualization management and cloud management are converging (or already converged, for many products), meaning your future virtualization man-agement toolset must support multiple on-premises and cloud virtual machines today—not in the next release. Look for vendor tools that support other hypervisors with the same fea-ture breadth they have for their own.
3. Containers Will Become a Viable Deployment Option for More Apps Docker is new, but containers aren’t. Still, the huge spike in interest in lightweight, effi cient containers as the deployment method of choice for hyper-scale Web apps means every virtualization vendor is either already on board or will be in early 2015. What does it mean? You have another option for app deployment, more granular than a full VM. Start learning about Docker’s current strengths and limitations as compared to full VMs—you’ll need to offer them to your dev and apps teams by the end of next year to keep up with your nimble cloud competitors.
Taneja Group Inc.The analysts at Taneja Group got together and came up with our top predictions for 2015. We believe 2015 will be a pivotal year for the datacenter as some of the nascent technologies we’ve been watching are starting to mature and become mainstream. We feel that 2015 is just a jumping off point for the datacenter of the future, and that the datacenter of the next decade will bear little resemblance to today’s datacenter.
Software-defi ned (SD) will become a commonly expected feature (or available form) for most arrays, rather than con-tinue as a special separate category of storage.
SD will become less of a resource-specifi c concept and more of a common technology checkmark. SD will be inter-preted as a broader cloud-like concept as a growing number of vendors come to claim SD capabilities simply because their solutions are delivered in the form of software. The original, fundamental idea that there be an identifi ably separate “con-trol” plane (that is, master application) that can dynamically defi ne (through software APIs) and confi gure distributed
“data” plane resources (hardware, fi rmware or software) will only be a secondary concern of the vendors. Despite the obvi-
2015 will see network virtualization achieve
significant penetration into the enterprise datacenter.
24 | December 2014/January 2015 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
FEATURE | 2015 Virtualization Predictions
ous value in having an open, remotely programmable infra-structure that can be optimized by third-party intelligent controllers (that might even incorporate knowledge from out-side the system itself), we’ll continue to see completely closed systems presented as “Software Defi ned” simply because they come packaged as virtual appliances.
Many IT folks, however, will continue to prefer buying pre-packaged stacks of integrated IT infrastructure, rather than attempt to deploy pure SD solutions. This will muddy up the defi nition of software-defi ned even further, becayse not all converged or hyperconverged solutions are software-defi ned. In any case, we feel certain that more and more datacenter functionality will become dynamically and elastically provi-sionable, whatever the name or form of implementation.
Data protection will increasingly become directly part of primary storage.
Unfortunately, data protection has taken a back seat in the software-defi ned datacenter. We feel that in 2015, VM-centric and profi le-driven data protection will take its right-ful place in the datacenter—directly as part of the storage solution. To enable this, the storage used for data protection can no longer be a discrete component, but instead an inte-grated yet abstracted component used to protect a datacen-ter’s most valuable component: data. Many users are moving to VM-driven snapshots and replication as primary approaches for protecting their data. Several vendors are already offering data protection solutions integrated with primary storage: examples include Microsoft StorSimple, which combines backup, archive and DR with primary stor-age; and Nimble Storage. As a larger trend, we see more hyperconverged systems and storage vendors adding embedded data protection features that will not require, or rely on, traditional backup software. Data protection will simply be another attribute to set when an object is being created and the storage will implement these attributes.
Marc Malizia, CTO, RKON TechnologiesThe Move to a Hybrid Model Cloud providers will make a big effort to support the hybrid cloud model in 2015. Currently, there are three typical cloud
deployments: public, private and hybrid cloud. The public cloud is a commodity cloud service, where customers spin up workloads at the cloud provider’s datacenter, typically for a specifi c application.
Little integration exists between those servers and the customer’s internal compute platform hosted on-premises, and physical compute resources are shared across all users of the public platform.
On the opposite side of the spectrum is the private cloud, driven by dedicated hardware on a per-customer basis, and
can exist at a cloud provider’s or customer’s premises. The scenario that merges both concepts in an effort to meet real-world challenges is the hybrid cloud. Most companies cannot fully relocate to a public cloud due to limitations, constraints, security and compliance issues. A compromise is to leverage the benefi ts of the public cloud, where possible, while using a private cloud to overcome the remaining challenges.
One of the current issues of the hybrid model is that enterprises want a common management platform to man-age their myriad compute resources, wherever they may be. Today, many of the cloud providers have proprietary inter-faces, which makes for a diffi cult task of managing different vendors from a single console. In an effort to grow market share, cloud providers must give customers the ability to manage their internal (private cloud) compute with their systems and even their competitors’ systems.
Signs of this shift can already be seen with the recent pur-chase of Eucalyptus by HP and MetaCloud by Cisco. Both of these acquisitions were aimed at building a management platform with integration hooks to other providers and pri-vate cloud networks.
The Explosion of the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) MarketWith SaaS being a win-win for both manufacturers and its customers, the SaaS market will grow dramatically in 2015. From the manufacturer’s standpoint, hosting their soft-ware allows them to maintain and support a single code train, greatly reducing support efforts and development costs. All support volume associated with software instal-lation and software confl ict issues, due to local installations, also goes away. The manufacturer builds in a recurring revenue stream and assures the newest code is always in use. This platform also allows the manufacturer to easily let customers try new products or modules, due to the fact they continuously have a captive audience on their Web site.
Customers also see great benefi ts in SaaS, because it typi-cally provides a lower cost than the customer hosting the application internally. Customers are alleviated from the tasks and associated cost of deploying and upgrading the applications, as well as maintaining the systems needed to run the software. The ability to change license count on a monthly basis is another big advantage.
Doug Hazelman, Vice President of Product Strategy,Veeam SoftwareThe Always-On Business Will Become the Norm Across the GlobeImmediacy will be pivotal across many lev-
els; users will continue to demand unfettered access to appli-cations and data 24x7 from wherever they’re located, and this trend will only accelerate as device innovation progresses and
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26 | December 2014/January 2015 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
FEATURE | 2015 Virtualization Predictions
the roll-out and proliferation of higher speed networks (4G, LTE, 5G and so on) continues. Business users will have even more aggressive requirements for ubiquitous access to appli-cations and data than consumers. Network agility and reliabil-ity will come under the spotlight as virtualization continues to gather pace, but availability will become a strategic concern to business leaders. No longer will recovery time or point ob-jectives of hours or days be acceptable. IT will be expected to deliver recovery time and point objectives in minutes.
Data Explosion Continues to AccelerateData volumes will explode even further over the next few years (some commentators think to as much as 400ZB by 2018). Organizations will make new investments and lever-age existing modern datacenters in an attempt to manage their exploding data footprint during 2015.
The “Internet of Things” Becomes a Reality … and IT Will Need to Wake up to This FactIDC forecasts that the worldwide market for Internet of Things (IoT) solutions will grow from $1.9 trillion in 2013 to $7.1 trillion in 2020. Such is the appetite for IoT, that more than two-thirds of consumers plan to buy connected technology for their homes by 2019, and nearly half say the same for wearable tech-nology. This rapid pace of adoption will cause IT departments immense problems over the next 12 to 24 months. Users will expect always-on services and IT will be under scrutiny to deliver, and with the cost of downtime already into six fi gures per hour, downtime in the IoT era could be far costlier. 2015 will be the year where we’ll see IT step up to the plate and embrace availability, or it will be the year where we’ll see businesses fall on their swords. Only time will tell.
Garret Grajek, Chief Security Offi cer, dinCoudIn 2014 and even some of 2013, we’ve already seen the acceptance of hosted virtual desk-tops, seeing many advances in virtualiza-tion and graphics in VDI products. This was
an important breakthrough, in helping both enterprises and users alike know that virtualization of desktops can help the enterprise in key pain areas like provisioning, manageability and security. What the market needed to see was that VDI was actually workable (for example, users could actually get real work done on a Windows desktop through a virtual interface).
Enterprise communities in various sectors are begging for a more cost-effective solution to end-user desktop support; this has been proven with VDI.
VDI Was the Provisioning Ground; DaaS Is the FutureBut switching from a user-centric cost of PC and software to a thick cloud client on a user’s desktop, and then forc-ing the enterprise to support the whole network, software and infrastructure burden of VDI is not seen as enough of a solution for many enterprises. What they’ve asked the in-dustry is, “If you can move burdensome software packages such as ERP, CRM, e-mail and collaboration to the cloud, why can’t VDI be offered as a cloud service?”
This is where Desktop as a Service (DaaS) comes into play. Enterprises want to realize the cost, manageability and secu-rity of the cloud—for desktop virtualization. They understand that the technology exists to virtualize the user desktop; the problem is they just don’t want to do it themselves.
The marketplace is open to the industry players bold enough to offer desktop virtualization as a cloud service. This should consist of a fully hosted and provisioned set of desktops that allows enterprise users access with their existing enterprise (read Active Directory) credentials. In addition, the space is open for the vendors who can meet the modern authentication/access authentication chal-lenges (for example, two-factor for PCI DSS, NCUA, FFIEC environment, HID/NFC for health care and HSPD-12 [CAC/PIV] for federal markets).
The access and desktop virtualization needs to be offered in a cloud package; in a bundled, quantifi ed manner that allows the enterprise to pick, choose, and scale to both local departmental and global requirements.
New Technologies Must be Supported by DaaS VendorsThe move to the cloud will be driven not only by manageability of the cloud resources, but also by the freedom of device fl ex-ibility for the VDI platforms. Of course, support for mobile, iOS and Android will be required, but the real growth will come in using thin clients as the “window” to the DaaS environment.
The most promising looks to be the support of Chrome extensions from all platforms. With the advancement of thin-client technology, users can choose which device they want for VDI access—including the exploding Chromebook market. Chromebook desktop access looks especially prom-ising, especially in the education market.
The Complete PackageEnterprises looking to move their desktops to the cloud should also expect cloud vendors to be able to support their storage and server requirements. The cloud vendors savvy enough to meet both desktop virtualization and other traditional server and storage requirements will be situated correctly to take advantage of the market trends.
2015 will be the year for DaaS, cloud growth and adoption. The technologies exist, but the challenge (and opportunity) will be for vendors to put together a complete package for their users. VR
Data volumes will explode even further over the next
few years.
VirtualizationReview.com | Virtualization Review | December 2014 / January 2015 | 27
TAKE
VDI: It’s All About the Apps, StupidDell Inc. VP and General Manager of End User Computing Steve Lalla and I enjoyed a lively conversation about end users needing to access desktop and corporate apps using many different types of devices. End users want access to these apps regardless of whether they’re using a desktop PC, Mac, laptop, tablet, smartphone or something new that we don’t know about yet.
Here are the types of delivery mechanisms Dell supports, broken down using the Kusnetzky Group model of virtualization (see bit.ly/1vrdYwr for more on the model).
1. Full Desktop Environments Today, this usually is delivered by loading a desktop OS on a PC or laptop, along with the necessary apps. This is the traditional approach and is familiar to most end users and IT. While it does offer end users the experience they’re used to, it poses quite a number of challenges to admins in the areas of confi guration management, security, OS and app updating. Little or no virtualization technology is in use in this confi guration. Dell offers the Latitude or Optiplex systems to support this use case.
2. Encapsulated Desktop Environments This is delivered by encapsulating an entire desktop environment, including the OS and all apps and tools, and executing it on either a PC, Mac or laptop system. The data being developed or used may reside on the local system or be stored back in the datacenter. End users are allowed to have their own unsecured, self-managed environments side-by-side with managed, secured enterprise environments. The enterprise environments can be managed, secured and updated by corporate IT while the personal environment can be managed by the individual. Typically this means deploying virtual processing software, such as VM software (also known as a hypervisor) or OS virtualization and partitioning software. Dell offers Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) to support this use case. EMM, by the way, is a product of Moka5.
3. Streamed or Delivered Desktop Environments This type of system is given to the end user as a bare system. When the user logs in, the appropriate desktops are delivered down the network to the system. As with the encapsulated desktop environment, corporate IT is responsible for managing the virtual environment, and the data may reside on the local system or back in the corporate datacenter. In this case, virtual processing software is combined with management tools for virtual environments that allow delivery of virtual images to
remote devices. Dell recommends vWorkspace for this use case.
4. Encapsulated Apps Individual apps can be encapsulated and loaded on PCs, Macs or laptop systems. The data can reside either on the local system or back in the datacenter. IT admins can manage these individual apps. This is the use of application virtualization technology. Dell suggests customers use either Citrix XenApp or VMware ThinApp to address this use case.
5. Streamed Encapsulated Apps Individual apps can be encapsulated and streamed down to PCs, Macs or laptops on demand. The data can reside either on the local system or back in the datacenter. IT admins can manage these individual apps. This is also the use of application virtualization technology, but management of virtualized environment tools have been added. Dell suggests customers use either Citrix XenApp or VMware ThinApp to address this use case.
6. Remote Desktop Access Desktop or app images, in this type of environment, actually execute back in the datacenter. The data they develop or use is also back in the datacenter. IT admins manage and secure these environments. These desktop or app images can be accessed by the end user using a PC, Mac, laptop, or properly equipped tablet or smartphone. This is the use of access virtualization. Optionally, application virtualization and processing virtualization could be in use to encapsulate individual apps or desktop images. Dell offers several solutions to this set of requirements, including vWorkspace, Citrix XenDekstop or VMware Horizon View.
This is a partial list of Dell mechanisms. For the complete list, see bit.ly/11kcjMj. VR
Daniel Kusnetzky, a reformed software engineer and product manager, founded Kusnetzky Group LLC in 2006. He’s literally written the book on virtualization and often comments on cloud computing, mobility and systems software. In his spare time, he’s also the managing partner of Lux Sonus LLC, an investment fi rm.
DAN’SBy Dan Kusnetzky
End users want access to apps regardless of whether they’re using a desktop PC, Mac, laptop, tablet or smartphone.
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30 | December 2014 / January 2015 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
VIRTUALIZATION
Follow the Rules: Using DRS GroupsIf you’re using vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), you’ll eventually get to a point where you need to set some rules. Rules for doing things such as keeping VMs together, keeping VMs off of a particular host or even keeping VMs separated. The DRS rules are a great way to set some preferences for how your virtualized datacenter runs, but they can get a little complicated.
When it comes to scaling the rules, it’s an easy task; but keeping a cluster clean and organized is a challenge. Before vSphere 5.1, DRS rules were focused on two object types: hosts and VMs. Thus, a rule can apply to multiple VMs and possibly multiple hosts, causing a situation that spirals out of control.
Specifi cally, there can be a situation where a rule prevents DRS from balancing out the cluster. Since vSphere 5.1, the concept of a DRS Group Manager has been introduced to help with this situation. Consider, for example, Figure 1.
This cluster may be a multi-tiered application, the development systems, or the most important VMs in the cluster; it can be any logical collection.
DRS Groups can specify that the yellow VMs must be placed on the yellow hosts in one rule with two groups (a group of hosts and a group of VMs). This saves some signifi cant clutter in the DRS properties page, compared to a single construct approach. This is especially important as hosts and VMs come and go.
Making DRS Groups is easy; they’re a property of the cluster. In the vSphere Web Client, it’s a setting that can easily be made and edited. Note that the name of the group can’t be changed after it’s created, but the containing objects (VMs or hosts) can be modifi ed.
Note that DRS Groups work with vSphere
Client for Windows. Figure 2 shows a DRS Group.
An important thing to remember is that even with DRS Groups in place, VMware High Availability will not be inhibited by these rules. My good friend Frank Denneman has more on that in his blog at bit.ly/1t1ERkV.
The DRS Group is a great way to keep a vSphere cluster clean, while still maintaining the right rules structure VR
Rick Vanover (vExpert, VCP, MCITP) is a software strategy specialist for Veeam Software based in Columbus, Ohio. His areas of expertise include virtualization, servers, storage and Windows systems.
By Rick VanoverEVERYDAY
ESXi Host
VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM
VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM
ESXi Host ESXi Host
Figure 2. The Distributed Resource Scheduler Groups UI.
Figure 1. A sample situation that would be helped by the use of Distributed Resource Scheduler Groups.
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Tips for a Hyperconverged ApplianceIs the Scale Computing HC3 all-in-one virtualization box a good choice for a small to midsize business?
Simple storage.Don’t go looking for complicated storage policies because an HC3 system offers only one: mirrored data, striped as widely as possible. I tested the storage and found it more than adequate for the tasks I ran against it.
TAKE
2Send in the Clones.An HC3 cluster uses linked clones by default, so
a VM clone won’t take up any space until data has
changed. Since it takes mere moments to create a
clone, use them rather than installing from scratch,
when possible. You’ll save time and storage space.
TAKE
3Take snapshots like you’re on vacation. HC3 supports more than 5,000 snapshots per VM. They use very little overhead, and can be deleted in a matter of moments, no matter how large they are.4 TAKE
Tom Fenton is a senior validation engineer and lab analyst with IT analyst fi rm Taneja Group.
Quick and easy setup. Scale Computing
has worked hard to make its systems as
easy to work with and as quick to set up
as practical. The company has done a good
job with it. You should be able to set up a
four-node cluster in less half an hour; that
includes removing the packaging and racking the
system. After installation and confi guration, it took
another fi ve minutes to instantiate a VM.
TAKE
1
Swift support. Scale Computing has a world-class U.S.-based support
organization with an extremely knowledgeable staff .
If you have an issue or can’t quite fi gure out how to do
something, drop them a line. It worked for me: I had an
issue and called support. Within three minutes, I had a
workaround and was up and running again.
TAKE
5Bonus Take!Group hug. Hyperconvergence appliances like the HC3 are gaining in popularity.
They’re designed to be easy to set up and quick to use, while providing
scale-out functionality. If you have a small deployment, don’t waste
your time fooling around with hardware compatibility lists and multiple
vendors to build your datacenter infrastructure; instead, embrace the
appliance.
I had the opportunity to go out to Indianapolis, Ind., and work with a true hyperconvergence appliance: the Scale Computing HC3 system. After working with if for a while, I wanted to share my top fi ve impressions.
Scale Computing has sold more than 900 HC3 appliances and was an early implementer of hyperconvergence systems. The company builds and maintains its own software stack, based on a KVM hypervisor with VM-centric storage and a built-in management system. Its market is small to midsize businesses (SMBs) that don’t have the desire or expertise to support and operate a complicated virtualization solution.
32 | December 2014 / January 2015 | Virtualization Review | VirtualizationReview.com
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