Free Tool Manages Virtual Environments

September 8, 2008: Virtualisation lifecycle management firm Embotics is aiming to bring better oversight and decreased virtual sprawl to VMware environments with the release of its new insight tool.

Called V-Scout, Embotics says the free tool gives virtual machine administrators detailed oversight of their virtual environment, enabling them to assess growing virtualisation deployments, gain better control over infrastructure and avoid common problems like virtual sprawl.

The company says that V-Scout makes life easier for administrators by replacing commonly used tracking spreadsheets, automating data collection and providing consistent and effective reporting on demand.

“Virtual machines are dynamic by nature. Gaining insight and reporting in real-time on a virtualised infrastructure is the first step towards controlling the environment,” says Cameron Haight, Research Vice President at Gartner. “Control is one of the keys to preventing VM sprawl, which can act to negate some of the benefits of a virtual environment.”

Embotics says that V-Scout’s automated and real-time population reports are complete with historical trending and costing, enabling users to associate costs to virtual machines, and determine how they are changing over time.

Administrators can also associate custom information such as business owner, application, expiry date, project name, and more.

“V-Scout will help administrators better understand their environments, which in turn leads to improved control, allowing organizations to take better advantage of the value that virtualization brings,” says Jay Litkey, president and CEO of Embotics.

V-Scout is currently available for download from the Embotics website.

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