The good and the bad on server virtualization
Few technologies have had as profound an effect in the evolution of the data center as virtualization. The increased flexibility and reduced cost that a virtualized environment offers are well documented. Server provisioning times, for example, have been significantly reduced with the ability to roll out a new virtual server as compared to a full bare metal deployment. And as more data centers are moving to cloud, virtualization lays the foundation and gives businesses even more flexibility to get new servers up and running when needed.
However, with all the benefits that come from virtualization and cloud, there’s also increasing complexity. To deal with this complexity, IT teams are using a combination of non-integrated tools to manage their physical and virtual resources. Routine tasks like configuring and deploying a virtual server can involve using multiple tools that don’t talk to each other and often times require administrators to do things manually. All this can result in an increased risk of errors and IT teams that are strapped trying to keep up with all of the different tools.
The skills required to be proficient in all the tools that are needed to manage complex virtualized environments, along with the lack of integration amongst tools, puts increasing pressure on IT teams and makes it even more difficult to maintain clear visibility across physical and virtual resources.
For example, in VMware environments, administrators have already spent considerable time in training and practice to become skilled users of VMware vCenter. Why should they need to spend time learning how to use yet another new tool to get the critical information required to keep their virtualized servers up and running?
There’s light at the end of the tunnel
Dell offers systems management solutions designed for use with all of the leading virtualization platforms with one goal in mind….making the IT administrator’s job easier. These tools are fully integrated, allowing IT administrators to manage their servers directly from the virtualization console that they are already familiar with. This helps reduce the need for learning a new tool. Dell also provides administrators with detailed, actionable intelligence on the status of their Dell servers so they can focus on meeting SLAs and be proactive in avoiding downtime.
At the heart of the Dell PowerEdge server brand beats the integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) with Lifecycle Controller. This 100% agent-free server management technology is the core of Dell’s enterprise infrastructure management solutions. This technology enables management at the server and remotely via a traditional console or mobile device as well as integrating with leading virtualization platforms like VMware vCenter.
Leveraging the inherent benefits of iDRAC with Lifecycle Controller technology, Dell’s OpenManage Integration for VMware vCenter is a native VMware vCenter plug-in that enables administrators to monitor, manage, configure and deploy Dell PowerEdge servers — all from within their vCenter console. This gives administrators easy access to hardware-level monitoring and alerting. Tasks like bare-metal discovery and deployment can be automated, allowing admins to do 80% of their physical server administration from within their virtualization management platform.
Dell OpenManage Integration for VMware vCenter delivers streamlined platform management with seamless integration into the VMware vCenter Server console, providing a single pane of glass to manage both virtual and physical environments. Alert integration is also available with custom alarm definitions that enable administrators to remediate failures in an automated fashion.
With OpenManage Integration for VMware vCenter, IT teams can dramatically reduce complexity, speed deployment and minimize risk in IT operations. By providing cluster-level hardware views directly within vCenter, the OpenManage Integration for VMware vCenter plug-in enables easy scaling and a streamlined process for applying updates to multiple Dell hosts in a single, cluster-aware workflow. Administrators can use the six-step wizard tool to automate and schedule updates for all Dell PowerEdge servers in a cluster without losing any workload productivity.
Watch the video below and visit http://www.Dell.com/OMIVV to see how you can bridge the physical and virtual gap and simplify IT operations in your datacenter with Dell OpenManage Integration for VMware vCenter.
If you are attending VMworld, stop by the Enterprise Systems Management area in the Dell booth (booth #1431) to discuss your needs and see how we can help!
