System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 PRO Partners
Performance and Resource Optimization (PRO) is a feature of System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 that enables dynamic management of virtualized infrastructure. To encourage partners to utilize this new technology, PRO provides an open and extensible framework for the creation of management packs for virtualized applications or associated hardware. In building these management packs enabled for PRO, partners can create a customized solution combining their offerings with the comprehensive monitoring and issue-resolution capabilities of PRO.
How SCVMM PRO Partner Solutions Add Value
Partners incorporate deep product and process awareness of their solutions in their PRO-enabled management packs as realized in rules and policies that PRO will act upon in the event of poor performance or a pending failure. With these pre-determined watch points and resolution steps, PRO can react dynamically to adverse situations and avoid poor system performance or worse. Utilizing PRO’s realtime monitoring and remedial capabilities allows vendors to create value for customers by offering solutions that assess and correct ongoing issues—which can differentiate them from their competitors’ offerings.
PRO Partners
Microsoft’s Get Virtual Now Launch event, Bellevue, WA, several companies demonstrated PRO-enabled management packs. Learn more about them and their offerings below:
BrocadeThe Brocade Management Pack for Microsoft System Center monitors the health and performance of data center SAN infrastructure and works with the PRO framework in Virtual Machine Manager to provide intelligent recommendations that allow IT administrators to dynamically optimize the performance of their virtualized workloads. The Brocade solution is built on the innovative Brocade Data Center Fabric (DCF) architecture and HBA management capabilities. Brocade’s SCVMM PRO Alert for “Link Congestion” will monitor IO performance from the server to the data in the SAN. If the link congestion exceeds a set threshold, System Center will generate a PRO Tip recommending VM migration from that host, or have VMM automatically reassign the VM and its applications to another physical server—avoiding any significant downtime for the application and users.
Virtualization Solutions Catalog
DellDell integrates Dell PowerEdge™ server knowledge within Microsoft’s System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 to provide a comprehensive virtualization management solution. The “PRO-enabled” Dell Management Pack ensures that host machines operate under normal power and temperature thresholds. Dell's SCVMM PRO Alert for temperature will monitor the chassis temperature; if the monitor exceeds normal operations the administrator can automatically trigger a quick migration from one host to another. For power monitoring, if one of the redundant power supplies fails, an alert is sent giving the option to also perform a quick migration of all Virtual Machines to another host in the cluster. Other PRO alerts include memory, storage controller, and disk remediation.
Virtualization Solutions Catalog
EmulexEmulex has been the preferred supplier of SAN connectivity solutions for more than a decade. Emulex quality, experience and breadth of line put Emulex at the core of infrastructure virtualization. Emulex LightPulse® Virtual HBA technology allows you to move, manage and store data more securely and efficiently than ever. Emulex’s new “PRO-enabled” management pack will alert customers to excessive CRC errors and monitors I/O rates across the HBA. The “PRO tip” will notify customers to take corrective actions, to either move the VM to a different physical server or reduce the link speed, once the issue is resolved, the VM can be migrated back manually and/or link speed restored.
Virtualization Solutions Catalog
HPHP will be adding “Performance and Resource Optimization (PRO)” features in their ProLiant management pack to help customers manage their virtual environments via System Center VMM 2008. The PRO Pack will monitor the following attributes of their servers: hard drive, array controller, power, temperature, processor, memory, fans, and will alert on degradation or critical errors providing the appropriate recommended resolution via a PRO tip. Should the customer decide to take advantage of the recommendations provided by HP, then HP will execute the appropriate resolution on the customer's behalf in conjunction with System Center VMM 2008.
Virtualization Solutions Catalog
QuestQuest Software enables organizations with heterogeneous IT environments to leverage System Center as the platform for managing and optimizing their IT environments—both physical and virtual. Quest enables administrators and system integrators to ensure applications and services are available and operating at optimal levels to meet the demands of the enterprise at the lowest possible cost—regardless of platform. Quest’s new “PRO-enabled” management pack solution works with Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 for non-Windows Operating Systems and non-Microsoft application technologies. The solution enables intelligent virtual machine tuning based upon Non-Windows CPU, memory, hard disk and network monitoring based on user-definable numeric thresholds. This solution affords customers with heterogeneous application and operating system environments the ability to manage both their virtual and physical environments via a single console across their enterprise.
Virtualization Solutions Catalog
TripwireTripwire’s integration with the Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 enables customers to monitor the state of their physical and virtual infrastructure with System Center Operations Manager with prescriptive actionable remediation guidance to provide you with security and compliance expertise across the enterprise infrastructure from a single point of control. The “PRO enabled” management pack will include Tripwire’s ability to maintain a secure, compliant, and consistent VMware ESX environment. Tripwire Enterprise (TE) has a policy of approximately 90 "tests" it performs on VMware ESX, each with configurable severity and responses upon violation. When monitored infrastructure becomes out of compliance with these tests, Tripwire will escalate the exception to System Center Operations Manager 2007. Specific recommendations for each exception will be populated from remediation guidance and appear in Virtual Machine Manager with step-by-step remediation instructions to correct non-compliant settings. Customers will have the choice of remediating manually or automatically from within the Virtual Machine Manager console.
Virtualization Solutions Catalog
