Virsto Introduces First Hypervisor-Based Storage Virtualization Software Designed To Meet The Evolving Demands Of Virtual Servers

Virsto Software recently introduced its innovative storage virtualization software, Virsto One. Designed to increase the agility of storage in virtual environments, Virsto One is the first and only hypervisor-based storage solution that can anticipate the evolving demands, barriers and opportunities native to server virtualization. Initially supporting Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V, Virsto One is architected to be storage- and hypervisor-agnostic and enable users to virtualize storage-intensive workloads, maximize consolidation of server and storage hardware, reduce storage management complexity and significantly reduce overall storage costs.

Most data storage technologies deployed with virtual servers today were not designed specifically for server virtualization, and were designed based on assumptions that are true for physical servers, but are false for a virtual data center. Virtualization exposes new challenges for storage, creating a barrier to the full virtualization of data centers. These challenges include virtual machine (VM) sprawl which can consume 30% more storage than physical servers, storage performance problems that can reduce server I/O throughput by up to 80%, an increase in storage management complexity that leads to increases in administrative headcount and application performance issues, and excessive storage capital and operating costs.

"We're well past the 'try it' stage for virtualization, but still haven't made it truly mainstream yet. One of the biggest remaining obstacles is the imbalance between what server virtualization technologies enable and their associated I/O requirements," said Mark Bowker, senior analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG). "Virsto was built to take on these challenges directly at the hypervisor - where the issues are created. This combination creates a much more complete and effective solution for the datacenter."

Making Virtual Storage as Empowering as Virtual Servers
Specifically designed for IT professionals to take advantage of current and future opportunities brought about by virtualization, Virsto One drastically reduces the complexity of storage for virtual servers and delivers innovation and benefits by:

• Reducing storage sprawl - cutting VM image space consumption by up to 90% through unlimited high-performance, thin provisioned, VM-optimized snapshots and clones.
• Simplifying storage management - enabling quick, simple automatic VM storage provisioning, instantaneous clone creation and off-host snapshot backup.
• Increasing storage performance - providing VM-optimized flow control to eliminate the performance-sapping I/O blender, potentially more than doubling I/O rates.
• Eliminating excessive storage costs - improving the economics of virtualization by reducing the number of terabytes and disk spindles required for VM application support, enabling use of low cost commodity storage hardware, and reducing the operating expense of VM storage management.

Virsto One is delivered as a simple plug-in to Hyper-V, and offers a seamless user interface with PowerShell integration and standard Windows interfaces.

"Companies want to use server virtualization to take full advantage of the power and innovation of Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V without compromising performance and manageability," said Zane Adam, general manager of Virtualization and System Center tools, Microsoft Corp. "We are pleased to have a growing ecosystem around Microsoft virtualization and Hyper-V products. Hypervisor-based storage virtualization companies like Virsto play a key role in delivering business agility and choice, and help Microsoft customers obtain more value from their investments."

"As deployments of server virtualization mature, storage problems unique to virtual servers are impacting data centers of all sizes - whether they are internal IT organizations or cloud service providers," said Mark Davis, CEO of Virsto Software. "Our mission is to make storage virtualization as empowering as server virtualization by removing the challenges and significantly improving the capabilities of VM storage. We chose to release Virsto One first on Hyper-V because of it rapid market adoption and Microsoft's active support of our adding significant features for customers who need advanced storage capabilities."

What Customers are Saying About Virsto
"We believe that server virtualization is most economical when scaled up rather than out, leading us to look for ways to run up to 100 VMs per server," said Roger Johnson, team leader of the Enterprise Systems Group at Crutchfield, a leading North American electronics retailer. "I have extensively tested Virsto software and am excited about how Virsto improves the already excellent economics of Hyper-V. With Virsto, we can support greater server consolidation with a smaller storage budget. Additionally, we can run three times as many virtual machines per disk spindle, without any special hardware, while providing consistently high application quality of service and minimizing storage management headcount burdens."

"As a provider of managed hosting services on the Microsoft platform, we rely on virtualization to make us dynamic and flexible when responding to customer needs," said Ryan Jones, virtualization product manager at MaximumASP. "Virsto creates value on top of our existing storage investments, and can help us drastically reduce VM image sprawl, allowing us to reduce capital expenditures. Virsto allows us to improve application performance and availability, while at the same time keep our storage capital and operating expenses in check."

Availability and Pricing
Virsto One will be generally available by the end of February. Pricing is per server socket. Hyper-V users may download a free 30-day evaluation from www.virsto.com/buy.

Supporting Resources
Follow Virsto Software on the web for the latest news and information at:

• Virsto One
• Virsto blog
• Virsto Software on Twitter @virsto
• YouTube
• Join the Community

About Virsto Software
Founded in 2007 by storage and virtualization experts, Virsto has pioneered an entirely new approach to improving storage in virtual datacenters. Virsto's hypervisor based storage virtualization software helps IT professionals take advantage of current and future opportunities brought about by virtualization, and creates a world where virtual storage is as empowering as virtual servers. Virsto is backed by leading Silicon Valley venture capital firms. For more information, visit www.virsto.com.

SOURCE: Virsto Software