Dell gets virtual with Xsigo

DELL HAS just discovered the wonders of virtualisation, partnering up with virtually unknown Xsigo, provider of I/O virtualisation extraordinaire.

Dell has just signed up to be the first tier-one server partner and distributor for Xsigo, the firm's first since launching its in-band I/O virtualisation appliance back in September 2007. Xsigo's product effectively cuts the hard-coded links between servers, storage, and networks, completely virtualising them.

Dell seems to only just be catching on to what its rivals, HP and IBM, caught on to a while ago, although, partnering with Xsigo is still not quite as good as having its own I/O virtualisation tech like its competitors.

But Xsigo does have an advantage over the competition's in-house virtualisation gadgetry, with the firm's I/O Director being a rack-mounted appliance, meaning it's not just restricted to blade servers, like HP's and IBM's.

Xsigo will provide Dell with the I/O virtualisation it needs to connect servers to multiple networks and storage. This means Dell can now offer Xsigo's I/O Director product as an option on its own servers and storage, allowing users to manage I/O resources cross platform from just one console.

Xsigo's base VP780 appliance comes in a 4U rack chassis and costs $30,000. That may sound steep, but the app can purportedly reach out and touch up to 24 server ports and 15 I/O modules slots, with four Gigabit Ethernet each, one 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and two 4 Gb Fibre Channel ports. The I/O modules also apparently sport an SSL offload module.

In addition, the Ethernet modules can apparently support iSCSI disk links, whilst the Fibre Channel links go out to SANs. As far as servers are concerned, each one linking into the appliance has to be hooked up with a virtual NIC and HBA, which uses InfiniBand to transport back into the appliance.

Doing a bit of dodgy maths, Dell reckons that without Xsigo, linking up 120 servers should cost somewhere in the region of $1.4 million in I/O, but with Xsigo's thing, it drops to just $316,000. Throw in a load of operating expenses, like power and admin costs, and firms can apparently wrangle another $489,000 in savings, totaling about $1.6 million in saved cash over three years for the pleasures of a virtual I/O.

Xsigo must be ecstatic to have Dell singing its praises, the firm only has 30 customers and 40 trials lined up. Also, the partnership with Dell is non-exclusive meaning it could sign with the likes of HP, IBM, EMC or even Cisco any time it wants. µ