NexGen Storage Unveils NVMe Ready VM-level QoS to Guarantee VM Performance

NexGen Storage, Inc. announced its QoS Manager for vCenter Server 6 and VM-level QoS, a VM-level QoS designed for VMware Virtual Volumes and PCIe flash.

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NexGen’s 3.5 software provides IT administrators with the management simplicity of a converged solution and VM-level software-defined performance, reducing the need to storage vMotion. NexGen’s 3.5 software, with VM-level QoS, is Non Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) ready to ensure compatibility with next generation flash devices from industry providers such as Intel, Micron, SanDisk and Samsung, and to avoid SAS/SATA bottlenecks inherent with SSDs.

“Having simplified, intelligent VM data management has become an imperative for virtualized environments. In our recent VVol Storage Vendor Landscape report, NexGen came out on top as the only vendor with vSphere 6 VVol integration that eliminates storage silos, delivers scalable performance management and incorporates industry-leading QoS capabilities, even under contention,” said Arun Taneja, founder and president, Taneja Group.

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Simplified, converged VM data management
Designed to deliver predictable, consistent VM performance in a shared storage environment, QoS Manager allows customers to change VM performance without a Storage vMotion while avoiding the creation of multiple storage containers and guaranteeing VM performance, even when the storage system experiences contention. In addition, company’s VM-level QoS Manager for vCenter Server 6 provides converged management via a single pane of glass for IT infrastructure administrators. As a long-term VMware development partner, NexGen worked with VMware to tightly integrate Storage QoS and virtual volumes (VVols).

NVMe is a standard interface for flash devices deployed on the PCIe bus developed by a consortium of industry leading flash device manufacturers including Intel, Micron, SanDisk and Samsung. The specifications optimize accessing data on flash devices and remove bottlenecks inherent with SAS/SATA connectivity exposed with first generation SSD solutions.

“NexGen’s NVMe ready QoS engine allows for a greater overall workload with the same flash capacity,” said Mark Peters, practice director and senior analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group. “By simply knowing what data needs to be in flash and what data doesn’t, our testing shows NexGen’s ability to handle a 23% greater workload. With NexGen, QoS can be said to have two definitions – QoS and quantity of service.“

The QoS Manager delivers a comprehensive set of off-loaded ‘per VM’ data services that includes QoS, snapshots, thin provisioning, cloning, automated VVol provisioning, and software defined VM storage performance.

Enhanced VM-level QoS
NexGen’s 3.5, VM-level QoS combined with VM-level QoS Manager, provides the management simplicity of a converged solution with cost-effective scale by allowing users to source the compute, network, capacity and performance needed.

“The ability to modify a VM Storage QoS policy without the need for storage vMotion is impressive and provides the ability to speed-up or slow down VMs in real time. For organizations looking to dynamically manage application performance based on well-defined QoS policies NexGen’s 3.5 software aligns customer expectations with application performance SLAs, making NexGen Storage worthy of consideration,” added Peters.

Within a VM there are a multitude of different types of I/O. NexGen’s enhanced VM-level QoS delivers VM data path control on a per I/O basis, improving infrastructure utilization and scale.

ESG Lab Review, NexGen Storage: Delivering QoS with vSphere 6 and Virtual Volumes, June 2015 (registration required)
Taneja Group landscape report, vSphere Virtual Volumes (VVols) VM-Centric Storage, May 2015 (registration required).