Locking disks on KVM using libvirt-lock-sanlock

When you are managing a huge number of virtual machines with a shared datastore, it could be very dangerous for different virtual machines to access the same disk file or volume. This can lead to data consistency problems, and in a worse case scenario, the loss of all information on the disk.

We all know that things that should never happen sometimes do. That’s why it’s good practice to add an extra security layer, to ensure that disk access will always be controlled.

A tool for this purpose is listed on the libvirt webpage:
http://libvirt.org/locking.html

With libvirt-lock-sanlock, we create a connection between libvirt and sanlock. Whenever libvirt is using a disk or volume, sanlock will create a lock, so other virtual machines that would be using the same disk won’t be able to start up.

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Abiquo 2.4.0 EE is here!

It is a pleasure to announce in our technical blog the release of Abiquo 2.4 (internally called King Piccolo). I don't think it's necessary to go over all the features included in this release because you can read about them on our public site and I'm sure that Abiquo's business associates will make an announcement of them on their websites.

However, I do want to highlight some exciting technical solutions included in this release that will move the platform to a new stage of scalability, reliability and robustness (even more so than previous versions).

I think the major change in this release, ahead of other internal improvements, is the full Load Balancing capability of the Abiquo Management Server, enabling you to put Abiquo behind any load balancer and horizontally scale based on the needs of your business.

Implementing load balancing may seem easy, but it isn't when you have a distributed environment orchestrated by queues, which sometimes needs a coherent job order, or when it isn't evident when your scheduler engine must maintain the integrity of resource data, so you must ensure one allocation at a time.

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Abiquo launches new enterprise edition Cloud Management platform

Abiquo today announced the latest edition of its award winning Cloud management platform; Abiquo Enterprise Edition 2.4.

The platform update will allow users to create High Availability virtual appliances, achieve faster set up times, have greater control of storage tiers and improve scalability and performance of their cloud offering. Improvements have also been made to the image lifecycle, self-service features and to accounting systems.

Abiquo has extended its virtual appliance builder to enable users to create High Availability virtual appliances through its self-service interface.  A new concept of “application layers” alllow users to define virtual machines within a virtual appliance that must reside on different physical hosts, this ensures true High Availability.

Abiquo’s policy based deployment rules have been extended to ensure that virtual machines in the same application layer are deployed to different hosts. In VMWare environments the anti-affinity rule in Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) will also be set.

Another feature within the latest edition will allow users who are deploying Abiquo for the first time, with a new configuration wizard allowing the Cloud administrator to quickly and easily carry out the initial configuration for their cloud platform, accelerating the time taken to get familiar with the Abiquo technology.

Within the 2.4 edition Abiquo has also enabled Cloud administrators to have greater ability to manage storage tiers by extending its policy based control. Cloud administrators can now determine which Cloud tenants have access to certain storage tiers within a datacentre. For service providers this allows for greater control of the storage based services that may be provided through the Abiquo platforms and for enterprises this allows IT to remain in controls of the storage platforms whilst still offering controlled self-service to the platform users.

Another key feature to the Abiquo 2.4 platform is the new and improved accounting system. Cloud administrators can now extend and consolidate the accounting system and ultimately improve management and control The extensions include additional resources and custom accounting resources, such as a new range of accounting metrics, different sizes of accounting periods and resource unit granularity. The new changes also allow for greater flexibility in charging for Cloud resources and the ability to easily charge for additional services that may be part of the Cloud platform.

Download Abiquo Enterprise Edition, Version 2.4

Abiquo v2.6 will be releasing in Summer 2013.

Abiquo chosen as a 2013 Red Herring Top 100 Europe

Amsterdam, Netherlands – Red Herring announced its Top 100 award winners today, recognizing Europe’s leading private companies and celebrating these startups’ innovations and technologies across their respective industries.

Red Herring’s Top 100 Europe list has become a mark of distinction for identifying promising new companies and entrepreneurs. Red Herring’s editors were among the first to recognize that companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, Skype, Salesforce.com, YouTube, and eBay would change the way we live and work.

“Selecting startups that show the most potential for disruption and growth is never easy,” said Alex Vieux, publisher and CEO of Red Herring. “We looked at hundreds and hundreds of candidates from all across the continent, and after much thought and debate, narrowed the list down to the Top 100 Winners. Each year, the competition gets tougher but we believe Abiquo demonstrates the vision, drive and innovation that define a Red Herring winner.”

Red Herring’s editorial staff evaluated the companies on both quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as financial performance, technological innovation, management quality, overall business strategy and market penetration. This assessment was complemented by a review of the track records and standings of similar startups in the same verticals, allowing Red Herring to see past the “buzz” and make the list a valuable instrument of discovery and advocacy for the most promising new business models in Europe.

Abiquo short listed for Data Centre Solutions Award

Abiquo has announced that it has been shortlisted for Datacentre Management Product of the Year

The DCS awards reward the products, projects and services as well as honour companies and teams operating in the datacentre arena. Franziska Priebe, marketing manager of award organisers Angel Business Communications, said: “This year we have had a significant increase in the overall number of nominations. It was a tough decision for the judges but Abiquo’s entry clearly stood out with its Virtual Data Centre Management solution. Therefore, I’m happy to confirm that Abiquo is shortlisted in the ‘Datacentre Management Product of the Year’ category. With voting open until 9th of May, it is down to the industry to decide if Abiquo can stand out now from the shortlist and be a clear winner in this category.”

Oxford Capital leads Abiquo funding round

US$5 million growth capital investment positions enterprise cloud management software leader for accelerated commercial growth.

Specialist growth capital investor Oxford Capital has led a US$5 million funding round into Abiquo an award-winning enterprise cloud management software provider.

Oxford Capital joins existing investors Balderton Capital and Nauta Capital as major backers. The investment will enable Abiquo to accelerate the commercial roll-out of its award-winning technology, generate global sales and increase worldwide marketing activity.

Abiquo develops software that provides a management platform; a thin unobtrusive layer that sits over various technologies allowing businesses easier and more effective access to the Cloud. Companies using the software are able to monitor and control all of their applications from a unified platform. By integrating virtual IT services in this way, Abiquo can simplify business processes.
Abiquo’s customers include major multinational companies from a range of industries, as well as cloud infrastructure providers who can use Abiquo to enhance the services they offer to their clients.

Colin Watts, Partner, Oxford Capital said:
“Cloud computing gives businesses far greater control over their software and systems, benefitting from a more flexible IT framework. Abiquo is at the leading edge of this change, the software essentially allows businesses to not only utilise Cloud computing but to also effectively manage it through its easy to use portal. With the Abiquo solution businesses are not required to remove their current IT systems which can be costly and time consuming. Instead, the management platform that Abiquo provide integrates easily with most technologies, making it an exceptional product in the market.”

“Abiquo already has a well-developed customer base which includes global enterprises, government contractors and leading managed service providers. We see excellent growth prospects for the business.”

Jim Darragh, Chief Executive, Abiquo said:
“The Abiquo cloud management platform is recognised by customers and analysts alike for delivering the industry’s most advanced enterprise cloud software solution. We appreciate this recognition which is endorsed by the continued support from our investors.

“This latest funding round led by Oxford Capital will allow us to accelerate our global distribution and marketing and marks an important step in our commercial development.”