Virtual KVM calls time on hardware access

At time of writing, the KVM (keyboard-video-mouse) market is divided into two primary segments; hardware and firmware. According to estimates, the value of the former is somewhere is around $400m worldwide, and whilst this number is in decline, hardware solutions are ubiquitous and found in almost all enterprise data centres. The market for firmware KVMs provided by server manufacturers such as Dell, HP, IBM and others, is a little harder to peg, but reckoned to be of the order of around $1 billion globally.

The idea of remotely controlling and managing IT devices has been around for decades in the form of KVM technology. But there are issues on both sides of the market, hardware and firmware. For example, industry commentators are critical that hardware versions have failed to keep pace with the fast rate of change and turnover in today’s ever more complex data centres.

On the other hand, firmware solutions are locked proprietarily to vendor hardware. The functionality tends to be bundled into the firmware stack, is not cross-platform and it therefore adds complication to the management and deployment requirement. The announcement by Intel of a software plug-in called Virtual Gateway represents an evolutionary shift from traditional approaches to control and management to a virtual solution.

Significantly virtual
Intel Virtual Gateway delivers expanded control and one-to-many functionality at much lower cost than hardware-based equivalents. In addition, Virtual Gateway provides a control and management solution for DCIM software which complements Intel’s Data Center Manager (DCM) plug-in, so that real-time power and thermal data can be drawn from individual servers, groups of servers, racks and IT equipment such as PDUs in the data centre.

The first commercial global integration of Intel’s Virtual Gateway technology is with Schneider Electric’s StruxureWare for Data Centers DCIM software suite, with the introduction of a new product module called Server Access for StruxureWare Data Center Operation. The new Server Access module provides full server life cycle access and power cycling for remote management.

“Intel and Schneider are bridging facilities and IT by offering vKVM [virtual keyboard video mouse] and DCIM in one integrated product suite,” said Jennifer Koppy, research manager for IDC’s Datacenter Trends & Strategies team. “Virtualization and cloud computing disaggregate IT from physical systems and make adding new workloads as easy as deploying a virtual machine. The connection between facilities and IT – enabled by StruxureWare for Data Centers - is critical because these new workloads affect power, cooling and connectivity, and have an overall impact on efficiency and capacity.”

Henrik Leerberg, Global Product Management Director, StruxureWare for Data Centers, Schneider Electric said, “This is a very significant announcement. By integrating IT device control developed and supported by a trusted brand like Intel, StruxureWare for Data Centers now provides a whole new layer of functionality which not only helps to further bridge the gap between IT and facilities management, but also drives additional benefits to IT users of our DCIM solution.”
The incorporation of Intel Virtual Gateway into Schneider Electric’s DCIM solution enables control of devices from a single console, as well as enhanced capability for diagnosing and troubleshooting data centre hardware. IT managers can securely configure or fix compatible components including servers, storage devices and network switches remotely across multiple sessions regardless of whether the device operating system is functioning or not. The new vKVM solution can support up to 10,000 managed devices and 50 simultaneous sessions of remote access.

Leerberg continued, “The ability to view and control multiple vendors IT devices in a single console is a compelling proposition to end users who are looking for a ‘single pane of glass’ approach to managing data centre assets. By integrating Intel Virtual Manager into StruxureWare for Data Centers, the DCIM software offers the capability to reduce costs by eliminating the need for hardware appliances in the data centre to aggregate management information. Server Access is a software-only application which requires no additional hardware or cabling.”

vKVM – the impact on markets and installations
“Virtual Gateway is an extension of Intel’s Data Center Management (DCM) software, and provides important technological advances for our middleware,” says Jeffrey Klaus, General Manager of Intel Software, and adds, “this joint effort with Schneider Electric broadens the use of our technology and will help data centres eliminate unnecessary hardware spend.”

In fact, the introduction of StruxureWare Data center Operation, Server Access has the potential to make a major impact on a market which has become so commoditised that industry analysts are not troubled to track it. However, KVM is another cost on the data centre budget which could easily be eliminated. Not such good news for manufacturers or firmware providers, it seems.
The new software module will not only reduce cost of the initial purchase, which also includes the connectors and cabling requirement, but also the opex impacts on space, power and cooling. From a retrofit point of view, the vKVM makes for much easier installation with no requirement to find room for the equipment, or provision power and connections for the deployment. In addition, there is the perennial benefit of less equipment in the white space which needs to be maintained. For a green field data centre development, the new vKVM technology will make for a significant reduction in first cost (IDC estimate that a virtual KVM will be between a third and half the cost of its hardware counterpart), plus the operation expense advantages as outlined above.

DCIM for IT management
Virtual gateway enables consolidated central access to data centre hosted servers with a rich and mature feature set for Remote Access. With vendor-neutral support for equipment manufacturers including HP, IBM, Dell, Oracle (Sun servers), Fujitsu and Lenovo, etc., Server Access gives the possibility for remote server diagnostics across the IT estate, the ability to check BIOS settings and configuration, analyze server logs and execute server changes or verification. Server Access enables both in-band and out-of-band access. Power cycling capability enables remote access to servers when they are offline, as well as powering up/ down or restarting equipment when the server operating system is down. Importantly, the software provides automatic discovery of servers for quick and accurate IT asset management.

Henrik Leerberg said, “Server Access offers instant control and reboot of servers. By providing access to BIOS settings and configuration directly from the DCIM software, IT professionals are able to solve a variety of hardware problems preventing a server operating normally. IT assets appear within StruxureWare Data Center Operation, and Server Access can be launched by simply clicking on the model. The software provides the actual location of the device, not just an IP address.”

Full details of the new product module from Schneider Electric include:
 Console access: Remotely control and manage IT devices through
software KVM for lights out data center management.
 One-to-many device control: View, configure and control multiple
vendors’ IT devices through one console for secure and easy
server management.
 Power cycling: Access servers remotely, whether they are turned
on or off, for instant control and reboot.
 Physical location: Provides visibility to exactly where servers are
placed within the data center for an accurate inventory and
overview.
 Software KVM: Reduce costs by eliminating the need for physical
KVM switches in the data center.
 In- and out-of-band management: Reach affected devices by
accessing the server operating system through a primary network
or utilize a secondary business-critical network accessed through
the base management card.
 Multi-vendor device support: Provides support for multiple types of
IT assets and hardware platforms.
 OS access: Connect to the operating system via Remote Desktop
Protocol (RDP), Secure Shell (SSH) and Virtual Network
Computing (VNC).

Data Center Operation: Server Access is available from Schneider Electric from 30st August 2013. Full details can be found at:
www.apc.com/struxureware