Dell and CloudVolumes targets more agile, cheaper, platform

Dell is likely to become one of those companies that is worth watching, for I suspect that if Michael Dell gets his way and takes the company private again, it will undergo a significant transformation into a cloud services delivery platform of some considerable clout in the marketplace.

This is, of course, dependent on the company being taken out of the world’s stock markets, for what needs to be undertaken with the company would scare most stockholders so much they would flee en masse, scuttling the share price in the process. Out of the market however, Dell can be re-structured without outside interference, though no less painfully, I am sure.

But some signs are already appearing of the direction in which the company will be heading. The latest announcements show that cloud delivery platform is a key focus for the company, with the delivery of increased business agility and better cost control being two of its important goals.

The announcements are something of a matched pair, with Dell itself introducing Dell Wyse WSM desktop and application virtualisation software, and CloudVolumes, which specialises in Instant Workload Management (IWM) solutions for virtualised servers, desktops and cloud, announcing a `Virtual-State’ solution to complement it. This will be available through the Dell Technology Partner Program.

The CloudVolumes is the more interesting part of the pair from the point of view of anyone interested in the delivery of cloud services. It aims to bridge the virtualisation gap by managing both physical and virtual servers in a new and more efficient way. It provides dynamic deployment of workloads, including all required applications, services, data and settings, by applying a `virtual-state’ to servers. This can also be used to provide in-place updating and patching of server applications, which it can apply seamlessly and instantly to running servers.

It allows servers to dynamically change their roles within seconds, a significant break with the traditional approach where servers tend to be dedicated to a single static task. This can offer significant improvement to the utilisation of compute resources and make workload management a more efficient and more flexible task. In addition, when used with shared storage, CloudVolumes can save on the storage required, as it can allow hundreds or even thousands of servers to share a single workload or application.

This has the potential to reduce operational costs because instances of cloud bursting to additional resources can be greatly reduced, if not removed entirely for many businesses.

Dell’s half for the pair, Dell Wyse WSM, delivers operating systems and applications separately to stateless, diskless clients on demand, with the goal of providing a manageable, reliable and scalable PC computing experience from the cloud.

It differs from traditional VDI,by enabling the desktop OS and applications to execute locally on the client while storing all OS, applications, and data in the datacentre. This gives the client system the same look, performance, feel and function of a traditional desktop PC, but in an environment where security as at whatever level set for the datacentre itself.

With no OS residing on the client, management, support and updates, including Windows XP and Windows 7 migrations, are done centrally and take considerably less time than with a traditional distributed environment.

“Dell Wyse WSM software adds a new server streaming capability to help organisations harness the benefits of virtualisation through their physical servers,” said Param Desai, Director of Product Management at Dell Cloud Client Computing. “The partnership with CloudVolumes allows us to give users the capability of changing identity and nature of a server instantly, which will provide agility in server management.”

According to JP Gagne, president of Cloud Service Provider, Baremetalcloud, the ability to treat a physical server as though it has been virtualised, coupled with creating non-persistent physical servers, creates the potential to unlock several benefits for IT.

 “CloudVolumes is now providing the benefits of virtualisation without the costs associated with it. We have gone through a very successful beta testing period and are looking forward to our continued engagement with CloudVolumes,” he said.

By virtualising everything above the OS, CloudVolumes enables these servers to be managed seamlessly, and deliver additional applications onto servers, while continuing to operate current workloads. This allows enterprises to be far more responsive to increase or decrease in demand. In addition, it requires no changes to existing infrastructure, hypervisor, application, licencing or policy. It supports all Windows desktop and server apps, including those that have been custom developed.

“We are breaking new ground in the world of servers by providing capabilities that were only previously available when they were virtualized. CloudVolumes reduces management complexity by injecting a “virtual state” into any server, giving IT the ability to manage both physical and virtual servers in the same way and change their roles on demand,” said Raj Parekh, president and CEO at CloudVolumes. “Our partnership with Dell further validates our solution and the benefits that it can bring to the enterprise.”