The fundamental question to consider is whether or not Astute’s ViSX solves the server virtualization I/O bottleneck. The answer, according to Walt Thinfen, VP and
Chief Information Officer for Visioneer, is an unqualified yes. Visioneer sells scanning products and uses a variety of common business applications in-house, such as SAP
for ERP, as well as Microsoft Exchange and SharePoint running on a 24x7 basis.
In an interview, Thinfen noted that Visioneer jumped on the server virtualization bandwagon three years ago, consolidating 165 physical servers onto just 4 physical
servers and reaping significant benefits, including green energy efficiency. Unfortunately, along the way, performance started to degrade, which was serious since one of the systems supported revenue-generating order entry processes.
A number of critical problems arose, including system timeouts and unacceptably slow response time for key applications. Thinfen didn’t want to go backwards and revert to more physical servers. Instead he sought an alternative that would eliminate the chokepoint on the I/O freeway and found it in Astute Networks’ appliance.
With the Astute Networks’ appliance, the bottleneck literally dissolved and Visioneer’s IT nightmare was over. Help desk tickets have gone down about 80%. Jobs that took four to six hours are now taking less than two hours. As Thinfen said to me, Visioneer is a happy camper because of Astute.
The world of IT is not an alternative reality, but it can offer a positive antidote to the reality of today’s news. IT technology has long delivered on numerous promises that
lead to a better world (at least from an unapologetic IT technologist’s perspective). Yet the promises of some technologies, such as server virtualization, can run into
unexpected problems that have to be overcome.
The I/O bottleneck problem that occurs when businesses go after too much of a good thing (VMs on a physical server) often leads to the knee of the curve queuing problem and degraded service levels. Astute Networks’ ViSX G3network-based flash memory appliance leverages the company’s own home-grown software to reduce or eliminate I/O bottlenecks. With the help of Astute Networks, businesses can push I/O roadblocks
out of the way and continue adopting and gaining the benefits of server-virtualization.
At the time of publication, Astute Networks is not a client of David Hill and the Mesabi Group.
