While the benefits of cloud computing may be universally attractive, many enterprises will look to the private cloud to meet their security, regulatory and other restrictions. However, private cloud technology requires in-house expertise that's beyond the abilities of many enterprises. An improved virtual machine management platform and a new initiative from Reflex Systems should simplify the back-end management of private clouds for enterprises. The release of the Reflex Virtualization Management Center (Reflex VMC), a cloud-management platform, adds a number of features including enhanced self-service functions enabling IT or cloud providers to offer the specific capabilities needed by each customer.
More specifically, Reflex VMC has now improved cloud portal integration and extension, easy integration and increased script automation, networking management and visibility, and storage management and visibility. The company expects to further enhance automation, provisioning and management of private clouds over the next year. As part of the Reflex Private Cloud Initiative, VMC helps enterprises to build out private clouds. "Reflex's Private Cloud Initiative brings together technologies and best practices to make it as easy for IT to build and manage private clouds as it is for end-users to use them," says Rachel Chalmers, Research Director, Infrastructure Management for the 451 Group.
Reflex's demo at VMworld last week showed that even enterprises with modest resources can create a fully-functional internal cloud infrastructure. Entry-level users were able to create, configure and manage dynamic infrastructure elements as well as perform simple troubleshooting and performance improvement activities. They could also set security policy and connect with public clouds, no matter where machines are hosted.
To date, Reflex has attracted a number of blue-chip client enterprises. "As we continue to expand our use of virtualization, both on premise and in the cloud, we wanted a partner that could grow with us and support our audit and compliance needs, no matter where our virtual machines and data reside. Reflex's Private Cloud Initiative aligns well with that vision, " says Lee Marks, director of Cyber Security and SaaS Systems, Infor.
In addition to its growing list of clients, Reflex has found important venture partners, including Savvis, CSC, and Cisco. HP, another industry major collaborating with Reflex, integrates Reflex's VMC with the HP TippingPoint Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) to provide customers with comprehensive security, visibility and performance across both physical and virtual infrastructures. Finally, Reflex and Arista networks have partnered in an integration of Reflex VMC and Arista VM Tracertm. Pricing for the Reflex Virtual/Cloud Infrastructure Management Platform is priced at $595 per socket per function.
