A few months ago I was lucky enough to spend time with a couple of the founders of Runecast, Stanimir Markov and Ched Smokovic and got to know a little more about their real time analytics platform for VMware based infrastructure. Soon after that I downloaded and deployed it in my lab and have been running it for a few months. In that time I’ve come to understand and appreciate the value that it adds to the operations and management of any vSphere platform.

Having been part of, and led teams that operated and managed large vSphere based cloud platforms one of the challenges of managing any platform of size is how to stay on top of issues operationally…not only when and as they happen, but also before then happen. Proactive monitoring and alerting that pinpoints issues before they happen is invaluable and up to this point I haven’t found a product that focuses in as specifically as Runecast does to help solve that challenge.

In the past I have researched and used more than a few tools on the market and probably the closest comparison that I can make with Runecast is what CloudPhysics tried to do with their Knowledge Base Adviser feature. For those that have used CloudPhysics in the past Runecast will feel somewhat similar in theory, however Runecast have taken what CloudPhsyics had done and taken it to the next level.

By using a number of resources within VMware’s knowledgebase Runecast is been able to deliver a platform that looks at best practices, log information and security hardening guides to monitor your vSphere infrastructure which in turn brings to your attention through a simple yet intuitive interface to issues that may exist.

Runecast for Service Providers:

Proactive analysis is the name of the game and it’s one of the holy grail’s for any operations team. Prevention of an issue before it occurs is what Runecast sets out to achieve and for service providers that are running critical line of business applications for their clients (which is all service providers) the ability to prevent service disruption is huge.

Apart from the obvious benefits around proactive analytics, one of the best features for service providers is the security hardening feature. Lots of service providers these days are being governed by specific regulations and compliance and security has become front and center of any platform owner. With the security hardening feature it points out specifically what passes and what fails as per the official VMware hardening guide.

I can also see how the specific inventory feature for vCenter objects can be developed in the future to allow service providers to expose certain information via the Runecast APIs to their tenants. I’d love to see some integration with vCloud Director, NSX and vSAN among other VMware platforms…there is serious potential here.

The API endpoints that are being exposed version to version means that service providers can take the information presented and manipulate it their hearts content. It providers a powerful way for service providers to take full advantage of the data that’s being collect and analyised.

Final Thoughts:

This is, for the most a targeted analytics system that focuses on getting you the relevant information quickly and without fuss and allows you to ascertain issues and work towards their resolution. I’m looking forward to seeing what the guys come up with over the next twelve to eighteen months as they further enhance the capabilities.

For your free 14 day Trial register here and if you are heading to VMworld this year make sure to visit them at Booth #832

Disclaimer: Runecast are sponsors of Virtualization is Life!

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