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Review: Levanta Raises Linux Virtualization To New Heights

Posted by Mario Morejon
August 08, 2006

Tags: CRN Test Center, EMC, Fibre Channel, Intrepid M, Intrepid M 4.2, Linux, Linux Management Appliance, MapFS, Mario Morejon, NAS, NetApp, OnStor, RPM, SAN, Storage, VMware, Virtualization, iSCSI, Custom Programming, Data Networking & Management, Data Protection, Data Security, Database Management Services, Disk Management Utilities, Ethernet, Fibre channel, File Management Utilities, Hard Disk Drives, Hardware, Interactive Applications, Levanta, Linux, Management, Network Cards, Network/Systems Management, Other, Physical Security, Remote Access, Remote Access Software, SAN , Scripting, Security Appliances and Hardware, Serial, Servers, Servers & Storage, Software, Software and Web Development, Storage Networking & Management, Tapes and Disks, Web Servers, Web Standards

Channel: Storage & Mgmt, Tapes and Disks, Other, Networking & Mgmt, Servers & Storage, Data Protection

Levanta on Tuesday released the Intrepid M 4.2 Linux management appliance, which can virtualize entire Linux configurations in minutes through a unique kernel plug-in technology.

In a close-up look at the Intrepid M 4.2, the CRN Test Center found that the appliance uses a simple process that abstracts provisioning servers and Linux applications from server deployments.

San Mateo, Calif.-based Levanta found in market research that about 40 percent of Linux-based applications in small and midsize enterprises are deployed as line-of-business or departmental applications and middleware. These systems aren't supervised by Linux specialists and data center administrators but by more general developers, who take Linux administration as a secondary responsibility.

That led Levanta to contain the application in an appliance that requires almost no maintenance. Users don't have internal access to the core software, but the Intrepid M can be upgraded in the field via a Web connection or a CD. Installation is easy, so users only need to step through a simple set-up guide to get up and running in minutes.

Users interact with the appliance through a Java-based Web interface that divides administrative activities into three steps: Templates, Machines and Vservers. Templates are Linux-based configurations that users might want to create. Besides a Linux kernel, a configuration must include all of the application packages that need to run on a machine, including any file dependencies for these packages.

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