Vendors Chase Data Center Space

The next-generation data center will require specialized technologies, as well as high-level management software for a unified view.

By: Robert L. Scheier

One of the stronger companies is Opsware Inc., says IDC analyst Stephen Elliot, which has "done a good job in [the] niche market" of server and network configuration and provisioning. Another firm cited by Elliot and Gartner is OpTier Ltd., whose CoreFirst "autodiscovers, tracks and monitors unique transactions" and enables policies that give specific transactions more access to CPU, memory or other sources, according to a March 2006 Gartner report. 

Another firm cited by both research groups is Cassatt Corp. Gartner says its Collage software creates virtualized hardware and software resources running on Linux, Solaris and Windows and then lets administrators scale capacity as needed. Cassatt's focus is on scaling a specific layer of an application environment, such as the J2EE application server tier, according to Gartner, rather than on optimizing a specific function such as inventory lookups.

Splunk Inc. uses search technology to help IT managers find the causes of problems from unstructured data such as server and event logs, and integrates with CA's Unicenter NSM R11.

IBM is driving several key standards for capturing and sharing data about the IT environment, says Ric Telford, vice president of autonomic computing at IBM's Tivoli unit. They include the Solution Deployment Descriptor Standard, which describes the specifications for deploying an operating system, server or application; and Configuration Management Databases, which describe the state of all the components within the IT infrastructure.

Hewlett-Packard Co. has a proven set of management products and a large installed base with its OpenView management suite, says Elliot. It has also developed products such as Business Process Insight, which focuses on automation.

CA Inc. "has really put a lot of work into integration" within its Unicenter suite of management applications, Elliot says, "but with a recent spate of acquisitions" has yet more integration work to do.

BMC Software Inc. provides a number of infrastructure management tools, such as its BMC Virtualizer line, which provides automated, policy-based provisioning of additional capacity for applications running on virtual machines or physical servers.

EMC Corp., owner of VMware, has bought network manager vendor Smarts Inc. With its presence in large firms, EMC "is one acquisition away from changing the game for a lot of players," says Elliot.

Microsoft Corp. is a "sleeping giant" — aggressive with rollouts "but late to the game in virtualization and still Windows-centric," he says. Microsoft is developing its own virtualization management software, code-named Carmine, says Eric Berg, a director in the Windows and enterprise management division. Next year, the company plans to release Systems Center Service Desk, which will link people, processes and technologies to solve problems, manage assets and provide change management.

Scheier is a freelance writer in Boylston, Mass. Contact him at rscheier@charter.net