EMC, a provider of
information infrastructure in VMware virtual and cloud environments, introduced
the next generation of Virtual Storage Integrator (VSI) 5.0, a free VMware
vCenter plug-in designed to enable IT organizations to run their data center
operations more simply and efficiently, and to accelerate the move to cloud
computing.
With this version of VSI,
EMC is providing end-to-end integration with the VMware vCenter that is
designed to simplify the management of virtualized storage with the ability to
map virtual machines to storage and to self-service storage provisioning across
EMC Symmetrix VMAX and EMC VNX families of storage platforms from the VMware
vCenter with support for the VMware vSphere 5.
VSI 5.0 provides a single
VMware vCenter integrated-management tool for Symmetrix VMAX, Symmetrix VMAXe,
VNX and VNXe storage platforms. EMC's storage platforms have built-in API
integration with the VMware vCenter, eliminating the need for any agents or
additional software, and offers integrated self-service provisioning of storage
over Block and File protocols across EMC storage platforms, such as Symmetrix
VMAX, Symmetrix VMAXe, VNX, VNXe, EMC CLARiiON CX4 and EMC Celerra.
“VMware vCenter plays an
important role in simplifying IT management, streamlining operational
efficiency and ultimately driving down costs,” said Mark Bowker, a senior
analyst with IT research firm Enterprise Strategy Group. EMC's investment in
its Virtual Storage Integrator plug-in "to extend the power of the VMware
vCenter is signaling it not only understands customers' needs to be able to
have a VMware administrator see, map and provision storage from one single
console but also that it intends to protect their investments in EMC
platforms."
Storage administrators can
now granularly control the availability of storage platforms and storage pools
on those platforms that can be self-provisioned by VMware administrators
directly from vCenter, and VSI can also reduce storage needs with virtual
machine-level compression and array-based cloning and virtual provisioning. In
addition, VSI supports VMware vSphere, EMC VNX family and Symmetrix VMAX
storage platforms, and utilizes VMFS 5 to provision multi-terabyte data stores
on the VNX Series and Symmetrix VMAX.
"One of the biggest
drivers for virtualizing an environment is to gain efficiencies through
simplifying the data center. The EMC Virtual Storage Integrator extends the
benefits of both VMware vCenter and EMC's storage platforms with deep
rules-based automation that enables VMware administrators to view and easily
manage their virtualized storage and the rest of their virtualized environment
from one single screen," said EMC's Chad Sakac, vice president of the
VMware technology alliance. "This free plug-in and our focus on further
innovation for it are proof points to EMC's commitment to accelerating our
customers' journey to the cloud to gain business agility and competitive
advantage."
Virtualization 
