Background
Xsigo for those who aren’t aware of the company are a I/O virtualisation company, that’s right you have already virtualised your servers maybe even your storage we’re now going to start virtualisation your I/O.
I/O is classified as the data coming to and from your server whether this be network traffic, iSCSI traffic or FC storage traffic.
Xsigo works conventionally by having two heads (I/O directors) for redundancy from these directors you are given a number of infiniband connections which connect to 2 infiniband cards in your traditional servers or blades.
Benefit 1, is a reduction in cables from maybe 8-12 network connections and 2 FC connections per ESX host to only 2 inifiniband CX4 connections per host.
Benefit 2, you are able to manage and hot add I/O devices to all your hosts centrally through the Xsigo graphical user interface browser that is available from inside the vSphere client
Benefit 3, Cost savings, you no longer have the requirement to buy the additional FC and Ethernet cards for your servers and the switches to support them, so not only is there a capital expense saving but also power saving.
From Xsigo’s site
Eliminate up to 70% of the cards, cables, and switch ports Save 50% on capital expense Reduce power consumption by 30% Leverage smaller, more cost effective servers
Plus lots more, check out their site for full details http://www.xsigo.com
The Announcements
So after a very long introduction what are the new announcements from Xsigo at VMworld?
Xsigo have introduced two new models into their range, what is different in these models compared to their existing ones is that they virtualise your I/O over ethernet! Whilst there are obviously performance benefits with infiniband, the new technology, uncommon interface cards and cabling may have been a stopping point for a lot of people when it came to the adoption of virtualised I/O. By utilising the 1Gb and 10Gb ports already in your servers you are saving money on the cost of adoption and installation time. Check out Xsigo’s blog for more information >> http://www.xsigo.com/blog/?p=1080
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However this wasn’t their only announcment they have also announced Xsigo Management Solution 3 with 40Gb infiniband connectivity that’s 80Gb per host. They also announced an iPad app to manage your entire IO estate!
If you would like to learn more about Xsigo head over to their website at http://www.xsigo.com or if you are lucky enough to be at VMworld 2010 in San Francisco this week head to booth #1031 near VMware.
A big thanks to Nick Dyer a Systems Engineer for Xsigo in the UK for filling me in on the product and the latest announcements.
Virtualised Reality 