Acquired by Novell in March of 2008, the PlateSpin product line focuses on the ability to move or copy server workloads--both physical or virtual--from their existing location to a new location, primarily for purposes of performance optimization or disaster recovery. Originally consisting of the primary offerings PlateSpin PowerConvert and PowerRecon, the re-vamped Novell version of the products is now referred to collectively as PlateSpin Workload Management, and consists of PlateSpin Migrate, PlateSpin Protect, PlateSpin Recon, and PlateSpin Orchestrate--the last of which Novell describes as "...the evolution of ZENworks Orchestrator." An additional offering--PlateSpin Forge--is a drop-in appliance providing disaster recovery for multiple (10 - 25) server workloads.

The actual PlateSpin Server (provides the actual workload management functions) and Client (the interface to the server itself) are Windows based; but the PlateSpin platform is able to manipulate server workloads over multiple operating systems/environments. These supported platforms include Windows and Linux servers as well as Windows desktops; as well as multiple virtualization technologies including VMware ESX, VMware ESXi, Hyper-V, Xen, and Citrix XenServer, among others. Contact Novell for current requirement differences from product to product.

PlateSpin Migrate leverages technology from the former PlateSpin PowerConvert and provides the ability to migrate server workloads from location to location, streaming the workloads to and from actual physical or virtual servers using drag and drop techniques. Workload migrations can be physical-to-physical, virtual-to-virtual, or any combination (physical-to-virtual, etc.), as well as supporting the movement of workloads to or from image formats (Acronis TrueImage, Symantec Backup Exec, CommVault, and Tivoli Storage Manager are among the image formats supported). Other features of PlateSpin Migrate include support for the live (online) transfer of Windows workloads, the ability to convert the workload to work on the target environment (source and target environments needn't be identical), support for block (delta) or file-level data replication, support for target server testing and synchronization (after the workload is transferred to the target it can be tested while the source continues to operate; with a final synchronization performed when the target server is ready to go live), and automation/remote management features (the vendor states that no agents, boot CDs, or physical contact with the source or target machines is required).

PlateSpin Protect also leverages the technology of PlateSpin PowerConvert, but focuses specifically on the protection of workloads for recovery purposes. Support is provided for the storage of multiple workload snapshots as well as one-click failover to the replicated copy. PlateSpin Protect also includes the block or file level replication and testing/synchronization features of PlateSpin Migrate, among other features.

PlateSpin Recon is primarily a planning tool, based on the product formerly known as PowerRecon. PlateSpin Recon collects software and services inventory information as well as usage statistics from current server environments for the purposes of visual analysis and workload forecasting.

PlateSpin Forge is essentially a hardware version of PlateSpin Protect, providing the drop-in ability to protect from 10 - 25 server workloads (physical or virtual) via snapshot-like methodology.

Finally, the vendor's PlateSpin Orchestrate provides the ability to interact with configuration and storage resource management servers, providing life-cycle management features.

The PlateSpin Workload Management components are available now; with the exception of PlateSpin Orchestrate which is expected to be available in 1Q/2009. Pricing for PlateSpin Migrate is listed at $330 per workload; while PlateSpin Protect ranges from $954 to $1794 per workload (both the Migrate and Protect quotes include a 20% support charge). A 120-day subscription to PlateSpin Protect is available for $474 to $894. PlateSpin Recon pricing ranges from free (inventory capabilities only for up to 100 servers) to $479/server for the full product plus support.

Visit the PlateSpin Web site for further information.

product submission by EITPlanet Staff

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