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As data centers get refreshed, virtualization management of private clouds can get complicated in heterogeneous systems. As a result, the multi-hypervisor management micro-sector is earning more attention lately.
HotLink, which specializes in this, recently updated its frontline product, HotLink SuperVISOR for VMware vCenter by including new automation capabilities. In addition, HotLink has released a free edition with support for three hosts and 15 virtual machines.
HotLink claims that SuperVISOR 2.0 is the only software that extends VMware vCenter management capabilities to Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (Kernel-based Virtual Machine, or KVM).
SuperVISOR 2.0 is basically a virtualization clearinghouse. It centralizes virtualization control by enabling automation packages—such as VMware vCloud Director and PowerCLI—to directly connect their multi-hypervisor resources through their existing interfaces to VMware vCenter without requiring other consoles or integration points.
SuperVISOR 2.0 sets up VMware vCenter to serve as a multi-hypervisor administration and integration hub, eliminating the hassle of deploying, administering and managing heterogeneous private clouds, CEO Lynn LeBlanc said.
“Enterprises have many business and financial reasons for deploying heterogeneous virtual infrastructure in both traditional and cloud-based environments,” LeBlanc said. “On a practical level, the integration, administration and management of diverse platforms have always been hugely problematic. The ability to standardize on a single virtualization management solution, VMware vCenter, while seamlessly incorporating other virtual infrastructures is a powerful proposition, and HotLink is the first and only to deliver it.”
New capabilities of HotLink SuperVISOR for VMware vCenter 2.0 include the following:
Deeper VMware vCenter integration: Enhancements enable VMware vCenter infrastructure to be natively utilized for administering, provisioning and managing multi-hypervisor resources in cloud-based environments. This eliminates the need for users to deploy multiple consoles and enables full-featured, heterogeneous administration and management through VMware vCenter.
Expanded metadata collection: Extensions to HotLink transformation technology enable VMware vCenter-compatible automation tools, such as vCloud Director and PowerCLI, to support heterogeneous resources using VMware vCenter as the multi-hypervisor integration hub.
Support for Amazon EC2: The latest release is interoperable with HotLink Hybrid Express for fully unified management of all on- and off-premise cloud-based resources. Users can seamlessly and intuitively expand private cloud deployments to include Amazon EC2 resources, using VMware vCenter as the single point of administration and integration.
Expanded platform support: HotLink SuperVISOR 2.0 adds support for VMware vCenter 5.1 and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012, enabling the functional and operational enhancements these versions provide.
HotLink SuperVISOR for VMware vCenter 2.0 is available now in both the free and standard editions. The standard edition list price starts at $26,700.