Enabling the Always-On Enterprise
SQL Server Virtualization
"SQL server proliferation has forced too many organizations down the ugly path of SQL server sprawl. SQL sprawl exponentially increases DBA operational tasks and management to the breaking point. It's become a waking nightmare. Sanbolic's Melio software relieves that stress by consolidating their SQL ecosystem into something far simpler and more manageable."
- Marc Staimer, President and CDS of Dragon Slayer Consulting.
"Achieving true SQL server consolidation is much more than just virtualized SQL instances. SQL consolidation should also deliver clustering, high availability, and load balancing on top of the newly consolidated footprint. Users that wish to garner the best possible ROI from their SQL environment should look at solutions such as Sanbolic's Melio Enterprise which delivers this functionality embedded in its AppCluster solution."
- Laura DuBois, Program Vice President, Storage Software, IDC.
The Problem
Virtualization provides a tool for consolidating and simplifying SQL server environments b. running multiple SQL servers on a physical machine. Virtualizing the SQL instances does not address the complexity in provisioning, protecting, and managing performance and utilization of the storage resources where the databases reside. Physical deployments need to be managed separately from the virtualized SQL instances, and limit the ability to realize the full benefit of virtualization, consolidation and improved utilization, especially in environments where the workloads may be variable and unpredictable.
The Solution
Melio Enterprise consolidates, protects and manages physical and virtual SQL workloads, enabling a more agile, efficient and scalable shared cluster of critical SQL database instances.
Melio extends the flexibility of server virtualization to the storage layer, enabling SQL databases to be consolidated onto a single storage volume (or a small number of volumes) accessible to both physical and virtual SQL Servers. Thi. simplifies storage management, improves database availability, and simplifies the task of distributing workloads across the SQL server resource pool.
Key Benefits
Melio allows physical and virtual SQL server instances (including heterogeneous hypervisor environments) to be managed as a single shared resource. Databas. workloads are dynamically migrated across the mixed physical/virtual cluste. based on policy for availability and load distribution. The storage environment is consolidated, improving utilization and greatly simplifying the management and protection of these resources. Melio also provides "resource governor" capability for storage, allowing fine-grained QoS management for each workload on the shared storage resource.