EMC Ionix Storage Configuration Advisor 2.0

EMC Corporation announced EMC Ionix Storage Configuration Advisor 2.0.

The new software automates the validation of storage configuration best-practices in physical and virtual environments, utilizes agentless discovery to simplify storage deployment and management, and provides detailed reports and trend analysis that improve storage change and configuration management processes.

Virtualization is the first step on the journey to a private cloud. A virtualized data center increases flexibility by streamlining server and storage provisioning processes, but it also changes the way IT organizations manage storage in critical ways:

Virtualization accelerates the pace at which capacity can be allocated to new applications, and
Live migration capabilities like VMware VMotion and VMware Storage VMotion enable the dynamic movement of applications from one server to another or virtual disks from one array to another.

If not managed appropriately, this increases the difficulty of complying with configuration best practices, putting service levels at risk.

"Visibility into the Storage Area Network (SAN) has always been challenging, but this dynamic is accentuated in virtualized environments where applications, virtual machines, and server resources are engaged in a continuous game of hide-and-seek with the storage environment," said Bob Laliberte, Senior Analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group. "EMC Ionix Storage Configuration Advisor v2’s ability to provide end-to-end visibility, change management, and policy control will help keep business-critical applications running, drive operational efficiencies, and minimize risk in today’s increasingly dynamic data center."

As a core piece of the EMC Ionix Storage Resource Management (SRM) portfolio, Ionix Storage Configuration Advisor 2.0 performs near-real-time discovery, change tracking and best practice validation of the virtual SAN environment. The solution significantly improves the efficiency of the change process, can raise service levels and accelerate/optimize planning and control as adoption of VMware-virtualized environments increases.

"As customers accelerate their adoption of VMware virtualization technologies, they can realize even more substantial efficiencies and achieve greater levels of agility," said Bogomil Balkansky, vice president, product marketing, Virtualization and Cloud platforms, VMware. "Complementing the strengths of the VMware portfolio, EMC Ionix Storage Configuration Advisor enables customers to holistically manage their physical and virtual storage environments in an automated fashion. Working together, EMC and VMware are helping customers realize the full power of virtualization."

Core to Ionix Storage Configuration Advisor 2.0
is the software’s ability to:

Offer complete coverage of the storage infrastructure from the virtual guest, to the VMware vSphere™ host, and down through the storage array;
Use agentless discovery to simplify management and reduce deployment times by eliminating the need for host agents;
Proactively detect infrastructure vulnerabilities to ensure customers are maintaining compliance with internal configuration policies, vendor guidelines, or industry best-practices;
Provide an audit trail of SAN changes and rule violations, flagging potential service-affecting events as they occur;
Offer extensive reporting capabilities that present customers with a detailed analysis of configurations, compliance breaches, and service levels.

"Enterprises today want to minimize operational costs within the data center by reducing the time spent planning and validating changes to the storage environment and resolving configuration issues," said Jay Mastaj, Senior Vice President and General Manager, EMC Ionix. "The key is to eliminate downtime associated with human error and improve the maturity of the change and configuration management processes in virtualized environments. EMC Ionix Storage Configuration Advisor meets these challenges head on, enabling our customers to more easily make their journey to the cloud."

Ionix Storage Configuration Advisor 2.0 is available now.

For a whitepaper by industry analyst firm Enterprise Strategy Group