VMware Log Insight Breaks Operational Data Log Jam
VMware has launched the latest version of its cloud management tool that incorporates machine learning to speed analysis of log data to break the growing log jam of unstructured data.
The company said vCenter Log Insight 2.0 targets physical, virtual, and hybrid clouds.
Big data analytics capabilities also include a claimed six-fold increase in query performance and simpler root cause analysis. The server virtualization specialist also claimed an eight-fold increase in data collection that could be used to monitor cloud performance.
A new data visualization tool is designed to allow administrators to, for example, scoop up unstructured data like log files, boil it down to a page or two that is Google searchable. The result, VMware's Bill Roth said in an interview, is "actionable insights" for IT administrators.
Roth, VMware's group product line manager, said vCenter Log Insight 2.0 has been running on vCloud private clouds and is "on the roadmap" to run on the company's vCloud Hybrid Service public cloud. He declined to elaborate on the roll out schedule for hybrid services.
Among the version 2.0 upgrades are a native Windows agent data collection framework and a Brocade storage area network tool that monitors syslog events coming from Brocade Fibre Channel switches. A package of Microsoft Active Directory, Exchange, and Windows "content packs" are also scheduled to be rolled out during the second quarter of this year, VMware said.
Part of the company's pitch for its cloud management services is that unstructured data contains valuable operational details about customers' IT infrastructure. "IT organizations continue to be overwhelmed with massive amounts of unstructured log data generated by their virtual and hybrid cloud environments," Ramin Sayar, senior vice president and general manager of VMware's Cloud Management Business Unit, noted in a statement.
The company said the updated version of vCenter Log Insight can be used to create structured data for detecting and trouble-shooting IT problems. Hence, it is promoting its automation tools as a way to monitor data from applications, virtualized infrastructure, and physical hardware to improve operational efficiency.
In one user case, Roth said an unnamed oil and gas company customer is generating about 8.5 million log files a day. VMware claims its cloud management tool can reduce the daily message stream to a single page overview with a search capability to streamline its IT operations.
The management tool "cuts through the clutter to manage the cloud," Roth said. "We do expect some larger deployments."
The company said vCenter content packs are free and can be downloaded at the company's Solution Exchange.
Roth said version 2.0 of vCenter Log Insight would be available in early to mid-June of this year. It is priced at $200 per operating system instance with no log data size limits. It is also available at $1,500 per CPU.
