Virtualization.com

News and insights from the vibrant world of virtualization and cloud computing

Search Results for: xsigo

Avaya Selects Xsigo Systems for Virtual I/O Scalability and Performance

by Leave a Comment

Xsigo Systems today announced that Avaya, a global enterprise communications systems provider, has deployed Xsigo virtual I/O as part of a recent virtualization deployment that supports the company’s software development teams.

Virtual I/O was seen as critical to meet the project’s server utilization and continuous uptime objectives that would help to accelerate the company’s engineering efforts while reducing costs. Compared with alternative solutions, Xsigo virtual I/O allowed the company to run twice as many virtual machines per server while delivering continuous uptime.

Avaya is a leader in voice and data communications services, with over 16,000 employees and 2,300 research and development professionals worldwide. The company’s communications applications, software, and services helps enterprise customers simplify complex communications systems and integrate technologies from other vendors. This virtualization project consolidated and streamlined the management of servers used to design and test applications software.

The company deployed multiple Xsigo VP780 I/O Directors to provide connectivity for their virtualized server environment that also includes Dell PowerEdge 1950 and R610 servers, VMware ESX software, and Fibre Channel-attached storage.

Benefits achieved with the Xsigo I/O Director include:

· Scalability: Up to 64 connections per server (1GE, 10GE, and Fibre Channel)
· Performance: Up to 80Gbps bandwidth to each server
· Flexibility: Dynamic connectivity management without server reboots
· Simplicity: 70% fewer cards, cables, and switch ports

PrimaCloud Taps Xsigo I/O Director For Cloud Strategy

by Leave a Comment

PrimaCloud announced today that it has deployed the Xsigo I/O Director as the foundation of its data center interconnect strategy.

The Xsigo I/O Director enables PrimaCloud to break the barriers of I/O throughput seen in existing cloud computing offerings, allowing end customers to experience application performance levels that would previously have been achievable only in purpose-built private datacenters. Additionally, Xsigo’s virtual I/O infrastructure allows PrimaCloud to automatically provision cost-effective virtual private datacenters for its customers within minutes.

With three years of experience providing cloud computing under the ENKI name, PrimaCloud management was seeing an increasing number of enterprise clients running database and transaction-intensive applications — such as Oracle — which required multi-gigabit connections to the vLAN and NAS storage to avoid I/O contention. In these applications the bandwidth required per virtual machine exceeded 3Gb/sec, which meant that a single cloud server running ten virtual machines required over 30Gb/sec total I/O bandwidth. Only Xsigo virtual I/O, with dual redundant 20Gb/sec I/O connections per server, provided the required performance. The Xsigo I/O Director’s low-latency bandwidth also serves to take maximum advantage of PrimaCloud’s SSD-cached NAS systems to delivery outstanding application throughput.

PrimaCloud’s automatically managed, hypervisor-agnostic cloud architecture requires a high level of automation to create and manage virtual private datacenters (VPDCs). The Xsigo I/O Director is able to automatically provision and manage virtual I/O and VLANs associated with virtual instances running VMWare ESX, Citrix, HyperV, and 3Tera’s AppLogic, under the control of PrimaCloud’s implementation of Enigmatec’s EMS, a cross-platform, policy-based automation engine. Using EMS to configure the I/O Director eliminates manual labor in managing VPDCs, as well as permitting automatic scaling of VPDCs to respond to changes in load, resulting in significant end-customer cost savings.

Xsigo virtual I/O is a critical element of the reference datacenter architecture PrimaCloud uses to deliver on the promise of cloud computing: cost-effective, on-demand computing delivered on a pay-as-you-go-basis while meeting enterprise requirements for performance and uptime. The simplicity of deploying Xsigo Virtual I/O has enabled PrimaCloud’s reference architecture to be deployed in any one of its 65 datacenters worldwide for public, or hosted private cloud computing, as well as at customer sites.

PrimaCloud Deploys Xsigo Virtual I/O To Deliver Enterprise-Class Cloud Computing

by Leave a Comment

Xsigo Systems announced today that PrimaCloud, a leading managed cloud computing services provider, has deployed the Xsigo I/O Director as the foundation of its new service offering.

The virtual I/O architecture allows customers to provision a complete virtual private data center in just five minutes, a task that would otherwise require days or weeks. With Xsigo, PrimaCloud maintains 99.99% uptime at 50% less cost and in 85% less physical data center space than would otherwise be possible. Capital and operational cost savings enabled by Xsigo virtual I/O are expected to exceed $1 million in the company’s first year of operation.

Xsigo virtual I/O allowed PrimaCloud to deploy a fault-tolerant architecture based on highly-dense, quad server systems that package 48 processing cores within a compact 2U high chassis, reducing data center space requirements by 85% compared with conventional 4U high servers. By providing 40 Gb of bandwidth to each server while consuming only two PCI slots, Xsigo virtual I/O allowed PrimaCloud to deliver superior performance from more than 200 virtual machines per 2U system, a compute density that is believed to be the industry’s highest.

Xsigo virtual I/O was deployed in conjunction with VMware ESX software and Enigmatec’s EMS cross-platform policy-based automation solution. The combination allows configuration changes to be completed entirely in software — either manually or automatically — eliminating the need to visit the data center. When adding physical server resources, installation only requires connecting two I/O cables, reducing configuration time by 90%.

Xsigo Systems To Support New Intel Xeon Processor Family

by Leave a Comment

Xsigo Systems today announced support for Intel’s next-generation Xeon processor family. The new Intel processors offer enhanced performance and throughput capabilities that are expected to increase the need for Xsigo virtual I/O as users migrate to high-density computing environments that demand greater I/O capabilities.

The new Xeon processors include architectural enhancements that increase both processing power and memory bandwidth. When users add workload to capitalize on these features, there is an elevated risk of I/O bottlenecks unless there is a commensurate increase in I/O capabilities. Xsigo virtual I/O eliminates I/O bottlenecks with dynamic bandwidth allocation that delivers performance on-demand to I/O connections over a high-speed 20Gbs fabric. Xsigo virtual I/O also incorporates quality of service features that reduce the risk of I/O resource contention, an issue that arises when multiple virtual machines compete for bandwidth on a single I/O link.

Increasing compute density frequently exacerbates I/O issues since high-density devices may lack the physical space to accommodate the needed I/O, particularly when blade systems or compact 1U or 2U servers are deployed. Xsigo virtual I/O eliminates this concern by providing up to 40Gbs of bandwidth to each I/O card or mezzanine card, or 2X to 40X the bandwidth density of conventional I/O.

Customers using Xsigo’s I/O virtualization products can reduce both the operational and capital costs associated with server I/O. Xsigo consolidates the I/O infrastructure and replaces physical network and storage interfaces (NICs and HBAs) with virtual resources that can be deployed on-the-fly. Compared with traditional server I/O, benefits of the Xsigo virtual I/O infrastructure include:

  • 100 times faster I/O configuration management
  • 30 percent less power consumption
  • 70 percent fewer I/O cards, cables, and switch ports
  • Predictable I/O bandwidth to applications via hardware-enforced QoS

This open standards-based solution, interoperable with servers and storage across most leading platforms, is designed to remove the constraints imposed by traditional I/O cards and cables that otherwise limit the flexibility to re-deploy assets. The result is a wire-once infrastructure where configuration changes are completed in minutes rather than days, are executed in software rather than hardware, and can be remotely managed. Eliminating the need to re-cable can help reduce operational costs and remove the risk of cabling errors that may cause unplanned downtime.

Xsigo Hooks Up With Dell

by Leave a Comment

Xsigo Systems, the I/O virtualization specialist, today announced that Dell has selected the company as a provider of I/O virtualization solutions — a critical technology necessary for optimizing data centers. In addition to reselling Xsigo’s virtual I/O solutions, the companies will work together on technology roadmaps and the development of reseller resources, allowing Dell to further expand its data center offerings.

As a result of this agreement, Dell will offer the Xsigo I/O Director as an option with its PowerEdge servers and storage solutions, creating a simple path to creating fully virtualized data centers. The combined Xsigo – Dell solution lets IT professionals manage I/O resources across multiple vendor platforms from a single console, instead of being restricted to a single vendor solution. In addition, the combined system eliminates the restriction of physical I/O ports, letting users deploy new I/O resources to servers on-demand.

Dell customers using Xsigo’s I/O virtualization products can reduce both the operational and capital costs associated with server I/O. Xsigo consolidates the I/O infrastructure and replaces physical network and storage interfaces (NICs and HBAs) with virtual resources that can be deployed on-the-fly.

This open standards-based solution, interoperable with servers and storage across most leading platforms, is designed to remove the constraints imposed by traditional I/O cards and cables that otherwise limit the flexibility to re-deploy assets. The result is a wire-once infrastructure where configuration changes are completed in minutes rather than days, are executed in software rather than hardware, and can be remotely managed. Eliminating the need to re-cable can help reduce operational costs and remove the risk of cabling errors that may cause unplanned downtime.

Included within the agreement is the full range of Xsigo products, including the VP780 I/O Director. The Xsigo offering complements Dell’s product families by enabling universal connectivity across all I/O types, which simplifies and accelerates the adoption of heterogeneous solutions such as Dell PowerVault, Dell/EMC and Dell EqualLogic storage. The Xsigo I/O Director provides a scalable I/O solution interoperable with most currently available Dell servers, including the Dell PowerEdge M-Series Blade Systems.

Pricing for the Xsigo Virtual I/O System begins at approximately $30,000, and is immediately available.

Xsigo Upgrades VP780 I/O Director

by Leave a Comment

Xsigo Systems (previous coverage), provider of data center I/O virtualization solutions, today announced the availability of an enhanced version of the company’s VP780 I/O Director. The enhanced product, called the VP780 x2, is designed to set new performance and ease-of-use standards for data center customers using virtual I/O technologies.

The new VP780 x2 offers all the benefits of its predecessor — greater data center agility, up to 50% less capital cost, and 70% fewer cables — now with a 100% increase in server connectivity speed. The VP780 x2 delivers 20Gbs of bandwidth to each server, making it the world’s fastest converged I/O fabric. The product also offers industry-first features that allow users to quickly monitor and manage their I/O topology with a single view that extends from the virtual machines to the physical switch ports.

The enhanced data center I/O management capabilities of the VP780 x2 include a single-screen view of virtual machines, virtual switches and I/O topologies. This view enables end-to-end visualization of resources extending from the virtual machine to a physical switch port. Enhanced performance monitoring now includes traffic statistics accessible through third party tools.

The faster server connection speed delivers greater throughput and increased VMotion performance for faster deployment of virtual resources.

Also new in the VP780 x2 are enhanced SAN and iSCSI boot capabilities that allow users to boot any server from any Fibre Channel or iSCSI LUN for fast re-purposing of server resources. Customers can now adapt to dynamic workloads, deploy resources on demand, and boost utilization by rapidly changing both a server’s I/O personality and its application workload, all within the Xsigo virtual I/O environment.
Xsigo is the only vendor to combine virtual I/O technology, a unified fabric, and a hardware-based platform to deliver data center-wide scalability and a single point of management for all I/O resources.

Xsigo launched its first virtual I/O product in September of 2007 specifically to address the I/O complexity and performance bottlenecks found in today’s data centers. Xsigo consolidates the I/O infrastructure and replaces physical network and storage interfaces (NICs and HBAs) with virtual resources that are remotely manageable from a single console. The Xsigo solution works with today’s existing infrastructure, and incorporates a modular design that is easily adapted to accommodate new networks, servers, and interconnect standards.

The beta version of the VP780 x2 is available immediately and sold directly through Xsigo Systems, Inc. and its qualified resellers.

Xsigo Systems