Virtual Instruments Expands Real-Time Monitoring

Virtual Instruments, Inc. announced the high-density VirtualWisdom SAN Performance Probe, ProbeFC8-HD, and enhanced support for FCoE switches, extending the capabilities of the VirtualWisdom product family.

With the ability to monitor up to 16 FC links per unit, the ProbeFC8-HD reduces the cost per monitored link while also reducing the associated environmental resource requirements.

With the enhanced FCoE support, the VirtualWisdom platform provides visibility into converged storage networks. The Virtual Wisdom SAN Performance Probe provides real-time, full line rate monitoring of FC SANs. It analyzes every frame on monitored links, recording hundreds of metrics every second to provide vendor-agnostic insight into the health, utilization, and I/O performance of the SAN.

The ProbeFC8-HD provides the same functionality as the current ProbeFC8 at double the density, with 16 links versus 8 in the same 2U height. With the ProbeFC8-HD, organizations can expect to reduce the cost of real-time monitoring of mission-critical applications by 25% and lower power consumption by 40%.

FCoE-specific enhancements for the existing SAN Availability Probe module improve monitoring of top-of-rack FCoE switches, extending visibility into infrastructure performance, health and utilization across converged network environments.

"The ProbeFC8-HD meets the needs of customers who require real-time monitoring of mission-critical and customer-facing applications," said Skip Bacon, CTO, Virtual Instruments. "The enhanced support for FCoE meets customer demands for visibility into the end-to-end system in highly virtualized, converged networking environments. With these new product extensions, customers are able to drive broader deployment of the VirtualWisdom platform and gain even more comprehensive visibility into their infrastructure."

The SAN Performance ProbeFC8-HD is part of Virtual Instruments’ Infrastructure Performance Management platform, VirtualWisdom. Metrics from the SAN Performance ProbeFC8-HD are aggregated with metrics from other VirtualWisdom probes, including the enhanced ‘FCoE-aware’ SAN Availability Probe, providing a deep view into the performance, health and utilization of large-scale, heterogeneous infrastructures. VirtualWisdom helps drive improved performance and availability while lowering the total cost of the infrastructure supporting mission-critical applications.

"Organizations rely on their IT infrastructure to drive business growth, yet at the same time are very conscious of every dollar spent on IT," said Bob Laliberte, senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group. "The Virtual Instruments solution provides a real-time, end-to-end view of mission-critical IT environments to ensure availability, and the new probe technology enables them to do so in a very cost-effective manner, reducing both capital and operating costs."

The VirtualWisdom SAN Performance ProbeFC8-HD has completed beta testing with customers in the retail, telecommunications and financial services markets. The ProbeFC8-HD is available since October 31, 2012. Enhanced support for FCoE switches in the SAN Availability Probe is scheduled for general availability in early 2013.