Virtual Instruments Intros New SAN Monitoring Device Optimized for NetWisdom Enterprise

Virtual Instruments, a vendor offering complete end-to-end SAN (storage area network) monitoring solutions, has unveiled a new device, the Traffic Analysis Point (TAP).  Optimized for the company’s NetWisdom Enterprise SAN monitoring solution, the new device facilitates real-time fiber channel network transaction monitoring, analysis and diagnosis. This reduces the risk of storage and network down-time and also enables infrastructure optimization.

 

The NetWisdom Enterprise is a storage-area-network monitoring solution that provides cross-platform visibility, which is required to proactively manage complex enterprise applications and as well resolve problems quickly. It utilizes instrumentation hardware, Traffic Analysis Points (TAPs) and Fiber Channel ProbeFCX devices, in order to monitor and record SAN transactions. Its NetWisdom Portal helps manage the storage of the collected physical layer and operational data.

 

Enterprises are increasingly incorporating their business-critical data in the SAN. This results in a greater need for SAN visibility, performance and reliability. Virtual Instruments’ NetWisdom Enterprise solution, along with the new TAP device, enable enterprises to see their data flowing between SANs and business applications in real-time. This optimizes infrastructure utilization and also detects expensive problems before they occur, says Virtual Instruments.

 

The new TAP device, which is a core component of the NetWisdom Enterprise solution and a standalone monitoring appliance, provides a passive diagnostic layer for network maintenance activities. These activities require data visibility without interrupting the network. The device provides necessary access points that are required for monitoring equipment, detecting failures, and expanding the continuous monitoring solution.

 

Featuring periodic SAN Health Check, the new device not only monitors storage array ports but also optimizes storage infrastructure for maximum return on investment (RoI). The device offers four ports and has an optional, 1U rack-mountable chassis that has the capability to support up to 16 ports.

 

Mark Urdahl, CEO of Virtual Instruments, said, "IT administrators can find themselves in serious and expensive situations when the storage network experiences a problem or down time with limited visibility into the root-cause of the problem. Having Virtual Instruments' TAP device is like having a window into your SAN traffic. It provides unprecedented access to SAN transactions so that performance and troubleshooting issues can be proactively identified and resolved, allowing our customers to realize tremendous cost savings."

 

"Tapping the SAN is a best practice that solves a problem I hear about frequently: the inability to get data off of the fabric, and as a result, inability to quickly resolve network issues in complex and virtualized environments. The unique value of the Virtual Instruments TAP device is the quality and depth of data it collects to help IT administrators manage their systems and make the services delivery cloud transparent. The analytical engines work across multi-vendor platforms without disrupting IT operations or network traffic. The result is increased visibility; a better managed SAN and improved ROI," explained Arun Taneja, founder of Taneja Group.

 

According to Virtual Instruments, system and storage vendors such as IBM (News - Alert), HP and EMC leverage NetWisdom to design SAN solutions for enterprise customers.