NetApp ApplianceWatch PRO 2.1 cloud computing accelerator

NetApp’s integration with Microsoft technology is claimed to streamline data centre management and accelerate cloud computing. Customers can use familiar Microsoft management tools to monitor and manage their virtual environments that include NetApp storage and build internal and public clouds.

The NetApp ApplianceWatch PRO 2.1 management pack enables Microsoft customers to manage NetApp storage efficiency technologies and basic self-healing capabilities with Microsoft System Centre (MSC) Virtual Machine Manager. It includes PRO Tips that provide granular control and include auto-remediation for common storage utilisation, replication and configuration issues that can affect Hyper-V virtual machines (VMs). In addition, Microsoft customers can now create automated reports, troubleshoot storage issues and view mapping of storage to individual VMs via MSC Operations Manager.

To help simplify the creation of self-service portals and automate management for public and private clouds, NetApp has integrated its technologies with Microsoft’s Dynamic Datacentre Toolkits (DDTKs). NetApp now offers rapid provisioning and cloning of Windows PowerShell (PS) cmdlets for the DDTK, which provides a foundation for building private clouds. For the DDTK for hosters (DDTK-H), which provides a foundation for building hosted clouds, NetApp can deliver scripts that leverage the NetApp Windows PS cmdlet library for automated failover and rapid provisioning and cloning. The NetApp Windows PS cmdlet library allows users to invoke the capabilities of NetApp storage solutions via MSC or similar tools.