Server virtualization is a great way to improve server utilization & availability, speed up provisioning of servers etc. However there is a risk of not being in control of the IT-infrastructure. Too many virtual servers to handle because of server sprawl leads to jumping from issue to issue. IT departments becoming reactive instead of proactive.
There are quite a few software vendors active in the space of operations management helping IT to keep their infrastructure healthy.
CloudPhysics is one of those. It is a young company founded by a former VMware employee. CloudPhysics is unique because it is cloud based. The company uses data collected from its customers datacenter to improve the intelligence of the software. The company receives a daily stream of 100+ billion samples of configuration, performance, failure and event data from the global user base. The data is then compared to best practises, do health checks and report back to the customer.
CloudPhysics is deployed as an appliance running on VMware ESXi. It is very easy to setup and takes about 5 minutes. Functionality delivering analysis, reporting, health check and planning is delivered in the same way as apps on tablets and smartphone are delivered. CloudPhysics uses cards to add functionality.
Cards can be downloaded from the Card Store.
Some of those card are built by CloudPhysics, some are built by third parties and some are built by the community. Cards can easily be created using the Card Builder. Community built cards are free to use. CloudPhysics is available in a free version and two subscription based versions. Per ESX server a monthly fee is charged.
Some examples of cards are: HA Health Check, Latency Sensitive VM Locator, SSD Cache Performance Simulator, Knowledge Base Advisor and Datastore IO contention.
CloudPhysics for example can be used to assist in the upgrade process to VMware vSphere 5.5. It has cards available to select the most appropiate host to start the upgrade process. An important check before upgrading is to make sure the devices in a server are compatible with the VMware Hardware Compatibility List. Instead of manual checking CloudPhysics can do that automatically.
CloudPhysics provides help in the upgrade process and this is completely free. Read this blog for more information.