Stratus Technologies, world leader for Fault Tolerance solutions, continues its "battle" against downtime: here are the new releases for the Everrun Software solution and a new upgrade for the ZTC Edge solution
zTC Advisor
The full set of features introduced in this release includes:
- Improved RESTAPI handling (provides VM-level information)
- Security patches and updates released after the release of SRL 2.1 that address a number of Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) and fix a number of flaws
- Enabling ztC Advisor: One-click automatically sets up the corresponding ztC Edge platform to be visible and present data through the ztC Advisor, minimizing setup and configuration time.
ztC Advisor is a systems management solution for delivering connected value-added services from Stratus to customers and partners. Through a secure, web-based portal hosted by Stratus, customers can centrally monitor and manage all of their owned ztC Edge platforms – including those not yet provided – quickly and easily. Using an easy-to-use, intuitive dashboard, customers can get instant insight into the health, resource usage, and software releases associated with all their ztC Edge platforms, saving time and helping them mitigate risk.
Features and benefits of ztC Advisor
Comprehensive asset management
ztC Advisor provides a comprehensive overview of all customer-owned ztC Edge platforms, including systems that have been deployed and systems that are inventoried but not yet shipped. Individual ztC Edge platforms are further identified by hardware type and software version. Having accurate, up-to-date, and complete asset information available through a central facility makes it easier for administrators to maximize the holistic utilization of assets and optimize their hardware upgrade and software patch programs.
Real-time system status
ztC Advisor also provides a centralized view and dashboard of individual system status and resource usage – in real time. Six different “statuses” – Critical Alert, Communication Lost, Warning, Information, OK / Healthy, Non-Provisioned – allow administrators to easily see at a glance which platforms require their immediate action and which ones can wait. Resource usage metrics offer more insight. With the ability to quickly assess system health and resource utilization in real-time, administrators can operate efficiently and mitigate risk by taking the necessary actions.
For customers who have not yet implemented or configured automated alerts and notifications for their individual ztC Edge platforms, ztC Advisor offers another way to stay informed about their health. While it requires administrators to log in, having a portal that can be accessed remotely from any Internet-connected web browser to get a quick snapshot of system status (even from a mobile phone or tablet) gives customers additional assurances. and comfort.
User defined groups
Customers can define their own user groups, assign individual systems to groups, and use the sorting and filtering functions built into the ztC Advisor dashboard to quickly get to the information they need, even drilling to identify groups or individual systems for more information and actions. A one-click connection from ztC Advisor to the ztC Edge Console for a single platform provides a shortcut to its administrative interface, eliminating the need to retrieve/remember DNS names or IP addresses and resume troubleshooting.
Secure push technology
The link between ztC Advisor and ztC Edge platforms is based on superior push technology, which makes it more secure. The web-based solution is architected so that ztC Edge platforms initiate sessions and periodically "push" information to ztC Advisor, rather than having ztC Advisor "pull" information from ztC Edge platforms. This pub/sub (publish/subscribe) model works well with firewall implementations and small exit points. Combined with the strict limitation of transferred data (e.g. system data and metadata only) and the use of secure and encrypted channels for data transmission, ztC Advisor minimizes the cyber-security risk.
Integration with Stratus Service Portal and ztC Edge platforms
Unlike other centralized monitoring and management tools, ztC Advisor is easy to set up and use, helping administrators of all skill levels get up to speed quickly and be productive. Tight integration with other Stratus tools such as the Service Portal allows customers with access to the portal to use their own credentials to access ztC Advisor. One-click enablement from the ztC Edge Console automatically sets up the corresponding ztC Edge platform to be visible and present data through the ztC Advisor, minimizing setup and configuration time.
Release 7.8 for everRun
The following features are new in everRun Release 7.8:
- Support for presenting volumes to guest operating systems as a 512e disk type. When storage groups and volumes are properly configured to expose the underlying 4K physical sectors of 512e disks to the guest operating system, the guest and its applications can take advantage of the 4K physical sectors to operate more efficiently.
- everRun Availability Console and AVCLI changes to display more detailed information about 512n, 512e, and 4K disk types, as well as logical sector size, physical sector size, and volume sector size of storage devices.
- Improved REST API that now provides VM level information (vs. platform level). More detailed resource information (e.g. CPU, memory, allocated storage) and state information (e.g. running, stopping, synchronizing, etc.) allows administrators to optimize infrastructure performance and utilization.
- Hardware support with Intel's latest Cascade Lake Refresh (released February 2020). More and more companies are using hardware computers with Cascade Lake Refresh processors. everRun 7.8 can now be deployed on more systems, giving customers more choice.
- Host OS Support – Support for CentOS 7.8 as the host OS for the everRun system
- Security patches that fix many common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs)