Virtualization Manager 8.0 is Now Generally Available!!

In continuance of the great Q3 release from SolarWinds (NPM, NTA, NCM, UDT, IPAM, DPA, & SRM), I am excited to announce the Generally Availability of Virtualization Manager (VMAN) 8.0.  Over time, Virtualization Manager has incrementally evolved from a stand-alone virtual appliance to providing advanced integration to the SolarWind's monitoring stack. VMAN Orion allows for a single pane of glass for troubleshooting (AppStack ), root cause analysis (PerfStack), and VMAN features found only on Orion (predictive recommendations).  In VMAN 8.0 we have taken this a step further by providing native VMAN functionality in Orion while removing the virtual appliance requirement.  Our goal with the release was to improve ease of use while strengthening VMANs ability to find and resolve problems in the virtual infrastructure.  The VMAN 8.0 download can be found in the SolarWinds customer portal.

Native VMAN Polling on Orion

It is now possible to download and install VMAN much like you would for SAM & NPM without upgrading and maintaining the VMAN appliance.  If you are currently integrated, it is extremely simple to migrate your VMAN polling to Orion by going to Virtualization Settings VMware Settings (or Hyper-V Settings).  Just select the vCenter or Hyper-V host to switch polling over and choose VMAN Orion Polling from the Polling Method drop-down menu.  In VMAN 8.0 there are 3 different polling methods that you will notice.

• Basic - This is the general polling performed by SAM & NPM and does not require a VMAN license but it will require a SAM or NPM node license. ***Note - you can still use the basic polling method if you only have VMAN polling since the VMAN license is allocated node licenses equal to the socket count in your VMAN license, (e.g. 64 socket license = 64 node licenses).
• VMAN Appliance - This is the traditional VMAN polling which occurs from the virtual appliance and requires that the appliance is integrated with Orion to get full VMAN functionality in Orion.
• VMAN Orion - Full VMAN polling that occurs from Orion and does not require the VMAN appliance but does require a VMAN license

In addition to the new polling method in VMAN 8.0 we have added the ability to scale out your VMAN polling using the Additional Polling Engine (APE) framework for free.  No additional polling engine license is required to run with VMAN infrastructure monitoring.

Batch Execution of Recommendation Actions

The time it takes to optimize your environment has been drastically reduced with the ability to quickly select and batch multiple recommendations to execute immediately or schedule for a later time through just a few clicks.

VMAN will automatically configure the correct order of operations in which to perform the actions based on your selections.

Management action based recommendation policies

New policies in Virtualization Manager allow for greater control and precision over the recommendations which optimize your environment.  Create granular policy exclusions based on recommended actions for CPU, Memory, VM & Storage Migrations.

The new policy becomes available by selecting the Disallow Actions for Recommendations and then selecting the scope (vm, host, cluster, or datastore) to apply the policy against.  Then select the actions to exclude from recommendations for the scope chosen above.

• Move VM - Actions based on VM movement/placement to a different host or datastore.
  • Move VM to a different host
  • Move VM to a different Datastore
• Configuration - Modification of the VM memory or vCPU configuration
  • Change CPU Resources
  • Change Memory resources

PerfStack 2.0 - New Features & Improvements

With VMAN 8.0 we also get a new and improved version of Perfstack that continues to build on the tenants of SolarWinds to help dig into problems faster and identify true root cause across different IT disciplines.

• • Links from VM & Host Details that populate the PerfStack palette
  • Zoom into PerfStack charts to view more detail for the selected time period
  • Data ExplorerAlert visualization improvements
    • Export PerfStack data to Excel
  • Alert visualization improvements
    • Each individual alert start/end time is now visualized separately in PerfStack
    • Existing aggregate alert visualization against an object is retained
  • Export PerfStack data to Excel
  • Easier to share PerfStack dashboards with the new ‘Share’ button.
  • PerfStack 2.0 - Real-Time Polling

You can get to PerfStack from within the VM details page in three different spots (we wanted to make sure you didn't miss it.)

• Virtualization Manager Tools
• Virtual Machine Details
• Resource Utilization

View of the PerfStack palette pre-populated with metrics of the VM.

WEB INTERFACE IMPROVEMENTS

• • Radically Improved Dashboard View Customization Workflow
  • Manage Nodes
  • New, Enhanced Version of the Active Alerts Widget

NEW INSTALLER UPGRADE EXPERIENCE

• • Install and upgrade one or more Orion Platform products simultaneously
  • Modern interface with a simplified design and intuitive workflow
  • Downloads and installs only what is needed
    • Reduces download size & accelerates installation

Windows Authentication & SSL Encryption for Orion Microsoft SQL Database connectivity

Documentation

Virtualization Manager (VMAN) - SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. Help and Support

VMAN 8.0 Release Notes - SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. Help and Support