Xsigo I/O Director now available in a 2U and 4U ChassisAs of May 10, 2010, the 2U VP560 has joined the 4U VP780 in the Xsigo I/O Director Family providing a competitive price point for entry level environments with the same high-end capabilities designed for private cloud infrastructures. Xsigo virtual I/O can dramatically reduce capital and operational costs necessary for server connectivity. By dynamically connecting any server to any network—both Ethernet and Fibre Channel—Xsigo virtual I/O enables a simple, low-cost infrastructure that helps avoid the limitations of cards, cables and switch ports.
Using Xsigo virtual I/O, connectivity can be moved, added or changed on demand. Configure up to 64 separate connections per server through a single cable, and manage I/O in software, not hardware. Re-purpose servers or add I/O connections in seconds, not hours.
See Xsigo in Action, Up Close and Personal - On the Road in 2010Xsigo is on board the VMware Express in 2010. Locations and dates are being added, so keep checking for a stop near you. See firsthand how Xsigo complements vSphere, plugs into Virtual Center and integrates with Dell and other sponsors. Dell Sales Teams can check out Xsigo at the Dell Executive Briefing Center and Dell TechCenter in Round Rock.
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Top Ten Reasons to NOT Buy a Xsigo VP780 I/O Director10. No one you’ve heard of uses Xsigo. OK, so EMC, VMware, Accenture, Microsoft, Hitachi, Capgemini, and Technicolor all use Xsigo today. But you don’t want to take chances. Nobody does. So don’t take their word for it! 9. InfiniBand is a flash in the pan. Sure InfiniBand has been around for a decade, is available from all leading server vendors, has shipped over 5M ports (at speeds 10G or higher), is embedded in servers from two major vendors (with more coming!), and is growing at 35% per year. But Cisco doesn’t offer IB, so that’s reason enough to doubt it.
8. InfiniBand is just too darn fast. You’ve seen the signs: “Speed kills!” If man was meant to be moving data around at 40Gbps (soon to be 80Gbps!), Cisco would be doing it.
7. Isn’t that InfiniBand stuff just for HPC? InfiniBand is the dominant interconnect in high-performance computing. Why? Because it delivers 4X the bandwidth of 10G Ethernet, at 1/3 the latency, and at less cost. But why would you want high performance in your data center?
6. Who knows where InfiniBand even came from! Wasn’t IB dreamed up in some government lab or something? Well, no. InfiniBand was actually created by IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Microsoft, Sun, and Compaq. But what do those guys know about systems?
5. With IB, you’d have a new interconnect in your data center. InfiniBand means you might have to learn something new. Of course FCoE is new, too. But Cisco tells you that’s OK. It’s good to have someone do your thinking for you.
4. Cost savings aren’t a priority. Sure Xsigo can save you 50% to 60% on your connectivity capital costs, but you don’t need the cost savings (and your switch vendor needs the money!).
3. Cisco promised you BIG discounts! Xsigo showed you how to eliminate 70% of your switch ports, and amazingly Cisco came back a day later with a 70% discount, “guaranteed for life.” Wow! That was a coincidence, but you’ll take the discount. Clearly Cisco has your best interests at heart.
2. You like vendor lock-in! Your favorite vendors have been with you for years and they give you great service. As well they should. They know you, and know what they can get away with. They never mentioned that the expression “one throat to choke” can work both ways.
And the TOP reason to not buy a VP780 I/O Director…
1. The new VP560 I/O Director is much cuter! At just 2U height, the new VP560 is sized and priced for smaller deployments. So NOW you have a choice in open, standards-based, enterprise-proven virtual I/O: the VP560 or the VP780. Something you did not have before.
from the May 9th, 2010 Blog posting by Lloyd Carney, Xsigo CEO See other Blog Postings.
Xsigo I/O Virtualization TCO CalculatorXsigo I/O Virtualization TCO Calculator - Virtual I/O cuts data center costs by reducing complexity and accelerating management. Click Here. Use this TCO calculator to estimate the capital, power and management costs savings of deploying Virtual I/O.
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Xsigo E-Seminar Available for Replay
Copyright 2010 Ziff Davis Enterprise All Rights Reserved. Ziff Davis Enterprise, 28 East 28th Street, New York, NY 10016 |
Xsigo at VMworld 2009
Xsigo was a Silver Sponsor at VMworld 2009, where VMware utilized the I/O Capabilities of Xsigo to optimize the VMware® vSphere™ environment in the VMware booth and ran all 52 of the VMware booth demos. See
Faan DeSwardt - Senior Technical Marketing Architect for VMware describe the solution.
Jon Toor talks about the buzz around Virtual I/O at VMworld 2009 and how 40 Gbps connectivity is available through a single cable enabling 32 virtual machines on a single 1U server with Fibre Channel and Ethernet capability, available now with Xsigo. Eric Novikoff from PrimaCloud talks about Xsigo I/O as an integral part of their solution in the same video.
Xsigo's Virtual Win – August 31, 2009: virtualization gear from Xsigo Systems is being used in the VMware booth at this week's VMworld tradeshow, which seems like a nice bit of startup bragging rights, considering VMware is the star of VMworld.
I/O Virtualization Shines at VMworld 2009 - September 22, 2009: VMware embraced Xsigo at VMworld. Every server in its impressive 32-rack data center and every server in its booth used Xsigo virtual I/O.
Dell PowerSolutions Article
Strategies to Optimize Virtual Machine Connectivity with Xsigo Virtual I/O - by Scott Hanson - Dell Techcenter (
download PDF)
Xsigo E-Seminar - $5 Billion in Data Center Savings: Stake Your Claim with Virtual I/O - July 23, 2009
$5 Billion. That’s how much data center managers will overspend on server I/O in 2009. For each server, the cost of connecting to networks and storage can exceed $10,000. And operations costs can double that expense over three years. This webcast demonstrated how to cut those costs IN HALF while getting more performance and more management agility at the same time.
The hidden costs of server I/O - Limits on server virtualization imposed by I/O - How I/O restricts server choices Traditional I/O was designed for static data centers. Inflexible and expensive, it segments resources and limits data center efficiency. This webcast discussed next-generation Virtual I/O solutions from Xsigo and Dell that let you do more with the equipment you have.
Although this webcast is no longer available, contact Xsigo to learn how Virtual I/O can streamline your server I/O with: 70% fewer cards, cables, and switch ports - 30% less power consumption - 50% less capital expense. Ask how Xsigo and Dell have worked together to create rack and blade server solutions that let you dynamically configure up to 64 network and storage connections to each server, deliver 40-80Gb/s of bandwidth to each server, and use QoS controls to deliver I/O performance exactly where it is needed. All at 50% less cost than conventional I/O.
Xsigo Blogs
I/O Unplugged - Read the latest conversations about Virtual I/O
Notable BlogsAnalyst Names Three Reasons to Deploy Virtual I/O - posted Oct 27, 2009
- Clean the Mess
- Get More Bandwidth
- Flexibility
Virtual I/O vs. I/O Fabric Technologies - the distinction between “fabric” and “virtual I/O” becomes important. - posted Oct 23, 2009
Three Ways Virtual I/O Helps You Get More from VMware vSphere - posted Oct 16, 2009
- Bandwidth
- Scalability
- Flexibility
Xsigo Hardware Specifications
VP780 I/O Director Data Sheet - downloadable PDF
VP780 I/O Director Specifications - downloadable PDF
IS24 Expansion Switch Specifications - downloadable PDF
Xsigo Certified Compatible Solutions - downloadable PDF
Xsigo News & Articles
- January 19, 2010 - Xsigo's I/O virtualization approach: Software virtualization via I/O Director
- December 10, 2009 - Virtual IO takes off in 2010
- December 6, 2009 - Raising the I/O virtualization bar with Xsigo Systems' VP780 IO Director
- October 23, 2009 - Hiding the I/O Bottleneck
- October 8, 2009 - Virtual I/O: Bringing Data Center Connectivity Into the Virtualization Era
- Octover 6, 2009 - Not Your Father's Virtual Machine
- September 22, 2009 - I/O Virtualization Shines at VMworld 2009
- August 3, 2009 - Overcoming the Storage I/O Limitations of Virtual Servers
- July 20, 2009 -Virtualized I/O Takes Cloud Computing to the Next Level - PrimaCloud
- July 13, 2009 - Video Site Virtualizes I/O, Servers - Pixorial
- May 27, 2009 - Seven Ways to Tackle Unexpected Server I/O Costs
- May 2, 2009 - Companies Push The Limits Of Virtualization - Accenture
- April 20, 2009 - Vendor Agnostic on the Unified Fabric
- April 14, 2009 - A Five Billion Dollar Data Center Bailout Strategy
- Feb 3, 2009 - Dell Adds Xsigo I/O Virtualization to Servers
White Papers & Case Studies
Training Videos
Demonstration
This approximately 10-minute technical overview shows the Xsigo solution in action on Dell™ PowerEdge™ servers utilizing the VMware vSphere virtualization infrastructure.