Those of you who attended VMworld this year will remember the stack of servers and storage on display happily serving VM’s to the vistors, exhibitors and Staff at the conference, well one of the key components of that stack was provided by Xsigo. Their product the I/O Director offers significant savings in large environments by effectively virtualizing the I/O stack. I am not going to go into the ins and outs of I/O virtualization in this article. Well it now appears that they are expanding their partnerships.
They have joined with CTC and Hitachi to offer joint facilities for Cloud computing architectures below is the extract of their press release on the matter.
Xsigo Partners with CTC and Hitachi for I/O Virtualization
Joint offering facilitates cloud computing implementation up to 2X faster than with other infrastructure solutions
SAN JOSE, Calif., February 9th, 2010 — Xsigo Systems, a technology leader in data center I/O virtualization, today announced that Xsigo Systems Japan partnered with Itochu Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and Hitachi, Ltd.（NYSE：HIT / TSE：6501) to jointly offer I/O virtualization solutions to the Japanese market. The companies offer immediate availability of a jointly developed solution that will allow enterprise customers to rapidly implement cloud computing environments. The combined solution includes Hitachi storage and integrated system management software; the Xsigo I/O Director; and pre-configured templates that facilitate deployment in as little as half the time required for custom made systems.
This joint offering is the first product of an ongoing agreement among the three companies to develop, sell and support solutions designed specifically to meet the needs of cloud infrastructures. CTC, a leading systems integrator, will develop and sell the solutions; Hitachi will provide storage, system operation management software and technical support; and Xsigo will provide I/O virtualization products and technical support. The three companies will also cooperate on marketing, technical verification and training.
Benefits of Xsigo I/O virtualization in cloud computing environments
Xsigo’s virtual I/O technology addresses multiple server I/O issues encountered in cloud computing deployments. When servers run large numbers of virtual machines, server I/O can become a bottleneck, slowing system response time and degrading memory and CPU utilization. Compared with alternative Ethernet approaches, Xsigo virtual I/O provides:
• Two to four time more bandwidth to each server, thus optimizing the use of server resources
• Dynamic bandwidth allocation that delivers performance on-demand to I/O connections
• Embedded quality of service features that enhance application performance by reducing the risk of I/O resource contention
Cloud architectures also require that all data center resources be available to whichever servers require those assets. Xsigo virtual I/O delivers the needed “any-to-any” connectivity while eliminating the constraints of traditional I/O cards and cabling.
Benefits of the combined Xsigo/CTC/Hitachi solution
The combined Xsigo/CTC/Hitachi solution facilitates rapid deployment of an enterprise cloud environment with pre-certified configurations that include Hitachi storage, integrated system management software, and the Xsigo I/O Director. Templates allow users to install the platform up to 2X more quickly than is possible with custom made systems. The fully virtualized infrastructure also reduces equipment costs by up to 50% when compared with traditional I/O.
Other solution benefits include:
• End-to-end support, from design, to installation, to operation
• Comprehensive training programs
“We are very pleased to work with CTC and Hitachi to create this groundbreaking solution,” said Lloyd Carney, CEO of Xsigo. “Cloud computing is the logical extension of server virtualization, and promises to do for the data center as a whole what server virtualization did for the servers themselves. Together, CTC, Hitachi, and Xsigo have paved the way with easily implemented, proven configurations that will help data center managers save time and money.”
So what exactly does this mean for Virtualization ecosystem, well the obvious answer is that it is a vindication for the market space, I/O Virtualization is now an accepted part of the platform. Admittedly this solution is currently only available in Japan, but the interesting part of the release is the Benefits section, at first glance this appears to be a possible competitor to the vBlock alliance of VMware Cisco and EMC. It is however missing an integral part the hypervisor.
It does however vindicate the alliance mode of going to market with pre-certified configurations as first shown by the VCE alliance