New operational capabilities include graphics acceleration, NVMe caching, and configurable in-memory storage to deliver an intelligent virtualization solution
HiveIO, Inc., a company that transforms commodity data center equipment into an intelligent virtualization platform, today released version 7.3 of Hive Fabricâ„¢, an Artificial Intelligence-ready fabric solution that enables organizations to deploy virtualization technology without the need for vendor complexity or specialists. The latest software release provides Hive Fabric users with increased operational capabilities to further reduce the time needed to support a virtualization environment while also maximizing the performance, capacity, and spend on existing infrastructure.
"Hive Fabric was developed with IT professionals in mind, helping them withstand common industry pain points like flexibility and usability," said Dan Newton, CEO of HiveIO. "The solution has helped IT in a variety of industries exceed their business goals by creating a virtualization solution that works with users, not against them. We're continuing to grow with a user-first mindset, and the launch of 7.3 delivers the new capabilities based directly on feedback and needs of current Hive Fabric users."
Hive Fabric combines KVM hypervisor, software-defined storage (SDS) and networking, and virtual desktop management, into an all-in-one virtualization solution, eliminating the need for a multi-vendor, multi-contract approach. The new features within the 7.3 solution include:
- Graphics Acceleration: The rise in augmented and virtual reality has increased the need for graphics acceleration. To seamlessly improve the performance of virtual machines (VMs), administrators can now install graphics processing units (GPUs) inside of Hive Fabric-enabled servers and then simply turn the acceleration on or off with a single click. Graphics acceleration is available via GPU Sharing or GPU Passthrough and supports NVIDIA, ATI, and Intel.
- Software-Defined Networking (SDN): Flexible networking is key to delivering a fully virtualized data center. With ethernet consolidating and the speed increasing, a need for IT Administrators to separate traffic and guarantee bandwidth for desktops and applications is becoming a necessity. Administrators can now add multiple physical and virtual SDNs giving them the flexibility to fit with any network architecture.
- Configurable In-Memory Storage: Balancing business requirements and the cost of infrastructure is challenging for any IT team. Memory is the most scarce, highest-cost resource in the data center and a key to meeting competing business objectives. The SDS capability extends to managing server memory, allowing it to be allocated to either storage or memory for virtual machines, with differing allocations possible on every server.
- Hive Sense: The comprehensive simplicity of setting up and running Hive Fabric extends to HiveIO Support. Introduced in 7.3, Hive Sense will allow HiveIO to proactively support customers by sending logs, metrics, and configuration information back to the company. This reduces the time needed to collect logs or understand how the infrastructure is deployed, so support engineers can resolve issues faster and remove the burden from your IT administrators.
Unlike legacy platforms that require specialists to operate overly complicated systems, Hive Fabric utilizes an Intelligent Message Bus and intuitive user interface (UI) to show an all-encompassing view of a data center and its connected components in real time. This makes it easy for administrators to find and act upon vital information and reduce downtime.
"The Hive Fabric UI, coupled with the easy-to-use enhancements in 7.3, empowers administrators of all skill levels to manage the entire data center," said Toby Coleridge, Vice President of Product at HiveIO. "Organizations can reallocate their highly-skilled specialists to other areas of the business to drive innovation rather than be bogged down with daily administrative tasks."
