NextIO Updates vNET Solution for Streamlined Server I/O Management

NextIO, the pioneer in I/O consolidation and virtualization solutions, today announced significant enhancements to its vNET I/O Maestro solution with the release of nControl Version 2.2. The nControl management software, which is a standard feature in vNET I/O Maestro, includes new functionality to simplify assignment of resources to virtual machines, along with support for VMware vSphere 5, three additional new operating systems and new hardware. The vNET I/O Maestro – which can achieve up to 40% CapEx and 60% OpEx savings versus conventional datacenter networking approaches – is the only top of rack I/O fabric solution that provides seamless integration with existing and future servers, networks, and storage fabrics without requiring proprietary drivers and/or changes to existing governance processes.

NextIO’s nControl management software, initially launched in October 2011 on the vNET I/O Maestro, provides remote centralized management of complex server I/O. nControl provides multiple interfaces to control NextIO appliances, including a secure web interface, command line interface, API, and SNMP traps. With nControl, the I/O resources of the vNET I/O Maestro (10Gb Ethernet and 8Gb Fibre Channel) can be assigned to connected servers with drag and drop simplicity.

“We decided to use vNET because it would reduce our cost per virtual machine and get new customers up quicker than we could achieve with traditional datacenter networking technologies, improving our competitiveness in the Managed Services Provider market,” said Brian Form, managing director for Blue Chip. “The addition of support for VMware vSphere 5 ensures that we will be able to realize these benefits on all of the X86 servers across our datacenters. This allows Blue Chip to continue to provide the best technologies and highest levels of service to our customers.”

“Our organization has to provide consumers with more ways to access information about the quality of healthcare in the United Kingdom, while keeping budgets in check,” stated Tim Palmer, head of IT operations at Dr. Foster Intelligence. “We looked to NextIO as a way to reduce costs in our next-generation server clusters. The latest version of nControl on vNET allows us to achieve these goals.”

New features of nControl 2.2 include support for VMware vSphere 5, Citrix XENServer, Linux KVM Hypervisor, and Microsoft Hyper-V. nControl 2.2 also includes new hardware support for 10Gb Dual Port Ethernet Module with Long Reach Media and Direct Attach Media. Other new features include enhanced I/O statistics for virtualized Ethernet and Fibre Channel connections.

“Our goal as a company has always been to simplify the implementation and management of I/O in enterprise datacenters,” said Steve Knodl, director of product management for NextIO. “The latest version of nControl allows us to apply this simplicity to more environments, enabling more users to realize the CapEx and OpEx savings that vNET can provide.”