Xiotech Ships New Virtualization Optimization Package

Xiotech, which positions its storage software as "intelligent" because it can store files automatically across different networks, March 18 released a new virtualization optimization package that it claims improves the speed and scale of its products.

The Eden Prairie, Minn.-based company's Virtualization Performance Pack is optimized to work with the three major hypervisors-VMware ESX, Citrix XenServer and Microsoft Hyper-V-and remove I/O bottlenecks that can slow down such deployments.

Data gets scrambled as if in a blender when it travels from servers through pipelines to a hypervisor and then into storage containers. Reassembling increasing amounts of data wears heavily on a conventional system because it takes extra time-and ultimately more cost-for unoptimized systems to straighten all the bits out and get them put back together so they can be used.

Pure-play storage virtualization optimization company Virsto, which eWEEK profiled on Feb. 16, is a new company that specializes in this. Xiotech is one of the first established storage companies to come out with its own brand.

New components within the Xiotech package include broader support within Xiotech ICON Manager's Virtual View, storage adapters for Citrix XenServer and VMware, and best-practice tools, Xiotech said.

Xiotech claims that with the launch of the Virtualization Performance Pack, its Intelligent Storage Environment (ISE) software has more power and is simpler to operate. Prior to the new pack, it required more than a dozen steps and three interfaces to run; now it requires only three steps and one interface.

Specifically, the new components are ICON Manager's Virtual View, which enables auto-provisioning and reporting of storage resources from ISE directly to any virtual environment; StorageLink Adapter for Citrix XenServer, which offers tighter integration with XenServer and the ability for direct management of ISE from Citrix; and VMware vCenter Storage Replication Adapter, a plug-in for direct recovery of data from ISE.

A Lot More to Learn About Virtualization Value

"We've only scratched the surface of value to be derived from virtualization," said Arun Taneja, consulting analyst and founder of Taneja Group.

"Unfortunately, storage performance is too often the limiting factor as businesses struggle to virtualize their mission-critical applications. The time has come for storage to not only participate in the virtualization journey, but also to unlock its true potential." 

Also on March 18, Xiotech unveiled a next-generation storage architecture it calls Intelligent Application Storage Architecture. The new features in the Virtualization Performance Pack are built on this architecture, Xiotech said.