VP780 I/O Director

Xsigo Hooks Up With Dell

February 5, 2009 by Robin Wauters 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

September 8, 2008 by Robin Wauters 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

Verari Systems Joins Forces With Xsigo To Deliver Integrated Compute and I/O Density Solution

May 28, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Verari Systems, a developer of blade-based computing and storage solutions and Xsigo today announced a high-density blade solution that offers virtualized network and storage connectivity. Available immediately and sold through Verari Systems, the new solution integrates Verari’s BladeRack 2 X-Series computing platform with Xsigo’s VP780 I/O Director.

The companies claims the integrated solutions increases up to ten times the I/O connections per blade as compared to other solutions available in the market today.

“Blade systems are an ideal complement for server virtualization,” said Mark Bowker, analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group. “When you add dynamic virtual I/O to this mix, it takes the value of the entire back-end to a whole new level, compounding all the benefits each derives independently. This kind of packaged functionality is exactly what is required to make the ‘virtual data center’ a reality. When you boil it down, these are root capabilities to make everything from Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) to ‘utility’ computing to ‘greening up’ the data center legitimate and not just marketing hype.”

According to the press release, the Verari and Xsigo solution supports green IT by increasing compute density, enabling complete lights-out management, and allowing users to run more virtual machines per blade. Server I/O infrastructure may be reduced by 70 percent, while overall data center efficiency is increased by 100 percent.

“The increasing demand for Web 2.0 applications in the enterprise is driving unstructured data at more than 100 percent growth,” said Dan Gatti, senior vice president of Marketing, Verari Systems. “These applications require more storage and I/O connections, and as IT managers virtualize more servers, system performance is stressed. By working together, Verari and Xsigo are providing the best solution available on the market to address the requirement of high density computing and I/O and redefine the standard in enterprise computing.”