The company's storage management "dashboard" for Oracle applications gives managers better visibility into what's happening behind the system scenes.ORLANDO, Fla.—Storage management software maker Onaro announced Nov. 2 that database and IT infrastructure giant Oracle has joined its Service Connections program, which develops solutions to help businesses get new storage service management installations up and running.
The Boston-based company revealed the new partnership at Storage Networking World here. Oracle joins Cisco Systems and Hitachi Data Systems as members of the Onaro initiative.
As its part of the deal, Onaro is delivering SANscreen Storage Dashboard for Oracle, a management plug-in between its Onaro SANscreen storage service management software and Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control, aka Oracle Grid Control.
Application managers are key consumers of storage resources, yet storage continues to remain a black hole because most storage management applications do not provide adequate information for these managers, Onaros vice president of marketing, Bryan Semple, told eWEEK.
The combined solution from Onaro and Oracle will help large enterprises by providing real-time visibility into the underlying storage infrastructure that supports Oracle applications, Semple said.
Using this visibility, application managers can speed up problem resolution, service provisioning and resource planning, he said.
Oracle Grid Control automates four critical management activities: application service levels; deployment and configuration; enterprise administration including provisioning and patch management; and heterogeneous extensibility and interoperability.
The management software is used primarily in Windows grid server environments, Semple said.
With SANscreen Storage Dashboard for Oracle, grid users will be able to see the status of all storage services from within Oracle Grid Control. Onaros SANscreen Storage Dashboard for Oracle is available for early release via immediate download at either Oracle.com or Onaro.com.
In September, Onaro introduced Service Connect, a Web services API that gives ISVs, application providers and internal development teams access to the service-related data in Onaro SANscreen.
Users of the API can quickly and cost-effectively provide SANscreens storage service insight to all of their key storage and infrastructure management applications. Cisco Systems and Hitachi Data Systems currently use the SANscreen Service Connect API to provide service-centric information to their respective infrastructure management applications.
APIs are defined as a set of routines, protocols and tools for building software applications and are the building blocks for a service-oriented architecture.
Click here to read more about Oracles upgraded SOA offerings.
"Infrastructure teams have traditionally viewed storage as a black-hole environment that is costly and difficult with which to work," said Steve Duplessie, founder and senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group, of Milford, Mass.
"Device and element information contained in most storage management applications is rarely useful beyond storage-specific management applications. Onaros service view of the storage environment combined with the Service Connect API will enable other applications to get an actionable view of the storage environment. This is a significant step forward in the integration of storage into the IT service delivery chain," said Duplessie.
Onaros customer list includes AOL, CareGroup Healthcare System, Countrywide Financial, JetBlue Airways, Priority Healthcare, State Street Global Advisors and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.
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