PolyServe File Serving Utility Delivers First Distributed Performance Management System for Linux

BEAVERTON, Ore., March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Storage managers now have an unprecedented single point of management for file serving cluster performance with the enhanced PolyServe File Serving Utility for Linux, the company announced. The updated software package features a powerful performance dashboard tool, adding to the solution's advantages over isolated network attached storage (NAS) appliances.

Enabled by PolyServe's shared data clustering software, the performance dashboard tracks performance on individual servers and aggregates this information across the cluster to provide critical real-time performance statistics. A comprehensive set of data including I/O throughput, NFS traffic, and CPU and memory utilization is collected and presented into a consolidated view with easy-to-use graphical and command-line monitoring tools, adding to the cluster management features provided by Matrix Manager, PolyServe's integrated cluster management console.

Traditionally, performance management on Linux has been an arduous, manual task, requiring in-depth knowledge of Linux scripting and hours of digging through log files. The performance dashboard streamlines the performance analysis and decision support required for capacity planning. By automating performance collection across multiple servers, storage managers can focus on their jobs -- managing highly available and scalable storage -- instead of manually digging through log files and system directories.

PolyServe's performance collection framework is fully extensible. Storage managers can collect and export data across their IT environment through industry-standard management frameworks supporting industry-standard XML.

"Until now, storage managers who want to monitor and analyze the aggregate performance of their file servers have resorted to writing their own custom tools and performing their own analysis," said Clark Newby, vice president of marketing at PolyServe. "With the performance dashboard, not only is all essential performance information presented in an easy-to-use visual format, but for the first time, the administrator has the power to analyze and allocate resources from a single point of control."

This release also brings support for HP StorageWorks EVA Snapclones, the snapshot feature found on EVA storage arrays. Snapshots enable customers to achieve faster Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) and Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) in support of disaster recovery. Faster backups and faster recovery can save companies considerable money and assure compliance with application service-level agreements.

Other new features include updated support for Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 service pack 2, Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 4 release 2 and updated support for multi-path I/O.

The new performance dashboard and snapshot features add further capability to PolyServe's Matrix Server shared data clustering system. The core technology for all PolyServe utilities, Matrix Server provides the basis for the company's File Serving Utility, which allows customers to harness multiple industry-standard server and storage elements to replace and render obsolete self-contained NAS equipment. Users can now realize a six-to-one price- performance improvement over traditional NAS filers. Price and Availability

The PolyServe File Serving Utility For Linux Version 3.1.1 is available immediately. Contact PolyServe or a PolyServe reseller for product pricing. Learn More about the PolyServe File Serving Solution on Linux

Storage administrators and others who want to learn more about the PolyServe File Serving Utility on Linux and PolyServe's scalable NAS clusters can register to attend a live online demonstration at http://www.polyserve.com/products_demo.php . About PolyServe

PolyServe, Inc. is a leading provider of software for enabling utility computing on Microsoft Windows(R) in enterprise data centers. PolyServe's unique shared data clustering software virtualizes industry-standard servers and storage as a single system to set new price-performance standards for file serving and server consolidation. In addition to its headquarters in Beaverton, Ore., PolyServe has a Microsoft development center in Bellevue, Wash. It also has sales and support offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, London, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. For more information about PolyServe, visit http://www.polyserve.com, or call 877-476-5973. NOTE: PolyServe and Matrix Server are trademarks of PolyServe, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.