Data center management software maker SolarWinds Aug. 25 released a freely downloadable virtualization management tool for IT managers that enables automatic shutdown, restarting and usage tracking of virtual machines.
VM Console is SolarWinds’ second community-driven data center virtualization tool to be offered free of charge. VM Monitor, SolarWinds’ first such offering, and VM Console can be used through the same real-time desktop dashboard.
“IT professionals can use VM Console to bring a frozen or otherwise unresponsive virtual machine back to life,” SolarWinds Vice President of Technology Josh Stephens said.
VM Console enables IT managers to “bounce” VMs, track up/down status, take a snapshot to compare the VM before and after it’s bounced, and restart VMs without needing to log into VMware vCenter or vSphere, SolarWinds said.
“Logging into vCenter just to snapshot and bounce a VM is time-consuming and awkward,” Stephens said. “The VM Console provides an easy-to-use desktop widget for these types of tasks.”
SolarWinds is hosting an expert panel at the VMworld conference in San Francisco, “Virtualization 101: Best Practices on How to Manage Storage and Virtualized Environments.”
The panel, moderated by eWEEK Senior Writer Chris Preimesberger, includes SolarWinds’ Stephens; Lazarus Vekiarides, director of Software Engineering for Dell’s EqualLogic Storage Engineering Group; Symphonic Source President and CEO Ken Barth; and Bryan Bond, senior storage manager for Logitech USA. It will convene Aug. 30 at 10:30 a.m. PDT in Moscone Center, North Room 130.