DataCore intros virtualised server solution

DataCore has released its SANmelody and SANsymphony products as virtual machines, reports Techworld.

With these products organisations can have a virtualised and thinly-provisioned storage area network (SAN) in a total virtual server and hardware-independent environment, according to DataCore. Virtual server environments from VMware, Xensource, Microsoft and Virtual Iron are supported.

Previously, the DataCore products would run as standard applications in physical servers. They could have been installed in virtual machines by skilled system administrators. Now DataCore has made that work unnecessary.

If virtualisation was a hot topic before the financial crisis, discussion has now reached fever pitch, thanks to the potential cost savings it offers end-users, writes ITP Net.

But it is one that warrants further investigation, over and above the rhetoric, as to where the region is in terms adoption and what the major considerations are when embarking on virtualisation of the data centre.

The potential upside of data centre virtualisation is clear and evident. It involves taking one server, creating a golden image, and having a virtualised server ready to use, essentially letting one bank the cost of a second server.

One in four companies in the UK would like to cut the amount of their external IT costs, according to research states OneStopClick.

The study by FastHosts Internet, which suggests firms may turn to server virtualisation in the coming months, found 25% are keen to reduce their spend on such needs.

However, it was also found that 22% have not updated or changed their server solution for three years, despite 29% of firms reviewing their budgets in the past six months.