Virtual Iron Dangles iSCSI Savings

In adding iSCSI support to its virtualization software, Virtual Iron is working to to tap into user demands for cheaper data center kit. (See Virtual Iron Announces 3.5.)

Virtualization vendors are increasingly focusing their attentions on storage. VMware, for example, already offers iSCSI support and XenSource told Byte and Switch that an iSCSI-compatible version of its software is in beta tests and will be generally available later this month. (See XenSource.)

iSCSI is growing in popularity as a cheaper alternative to Fibre Channel. (See 10-Gig iSCSI SANs Set for Takeoff, The iSCSI Subtext to 10-GigE, and EqualLogic Tops Offs SAS Series.) Analyst firm IDC, for example, estimates that from now through 2010, iSCSI SANs will show a CAGR for worldwide revenue of 74.8 percent, compared to 4.1 percent for Fibre Channel. (See Connecting the iSCSI Dots.)

The big selling point of iSCSI virtualization is that users can link storage into their virtual infrastructure without buying additional kit. Firms looking to connect a Fibre Channel SAN, on the other hand, would have to invest in Fibre Channel HBAs, about $2,000 a pair. "It's all about reducing the cost and complexity," says Mike Grandinetti, Virtual Iron's chief marketing officer.

For many firms, it is simply too expensive to have a Fibre Channel SAN supporting their virtual servers, according to Chris Wolf, senior analyst at Burton Group. "For organizations looking at virtualization [for the first time] or mid-sized firms that don't have a SAN in place, iSCSI gives them inexpensive shared storage that can scale real easy."At the moment, VMware is still very much the 800-pound gorilla in the virtualization market, although Virtual Iron has recently been wielding price as a cudgel in an attempt to lure customers away from its rival. (See Virtual Iron and Virtual Iron Revises Platform.)

Spiraling costs have already been identified as a major virtualization challenge by users, although at least one firm has bought into Virtual Iron's message. (See Users Talk Virtual Tension.)

The PGA Tour Superstore, which uses both Fibre Channel and iSCSI in its data center is an early adopter of Virtual Iron 3.5, citing iSCSI support as a big plus. "It's easier to deploy because I don't have to get Fibre Channel HBAs for my blades -- I don't have to allocate ports on any Fibre Channel switches," says Gentry Ganote, the firm's CIO.

The superstore looked at VMware's ESX Server prior to deploying Virtual Iron 3.5, with the latter winning out on cost. Although he would not reveal actual figures, the exec says that his Virtual Iron licenses were about 80 percent cheaper than the cost of ESX Server licenses.

Virtual Iron has not changed its pricing with the launch of 3.5, charging around $1,000 for two server nodes with volume management and resource scheduling. Pricing for a comparable configuration of VMware's Infrastructure package, including the ESX Server hypervisor, volume management, and resource scheduling, starts at $5,750 for a two-way server. (See VMware to Spin Out and Liverpool Hospital Goes Virtual.)That said, Burton Group's Wolf warns that VMware still has the edge on Virtual Iron in one key arena: security. "The next big thing that Virtual Iron needs is integration with enterprise data protection applications like CommVault and CA," he says.

The analyst explains that VMware is much further down this road than the other virtualization vendors. "With CommVault I can install a VMware consolidated proxy agent on my server and use that to backup my virtual machines," he says, adding that this can be done from a single GUI.

Virtual Iron 3.5 is available today.

James Rogers, Senior Editor Byte and Switch