Storage boost as Westcon loves VDI like X-IO

Storage industry innovator X-IO Technologies has launched X-Pod for VDI, a new converged, flash enabled infrastructure solution developed with Cisco UCS and VMware Horizon View.

The new validated architecture aims to take the guesswork out of correctly sizing VDI solutions, while delivering predictable and consistent performance – from the first desktop, to the last.

“When discussing VDI architectures with our customers, we found the same concerns time and time again," says Gavin McLaughlin, VP of Worldwide Marketing, X-IO.

"The market is a confusing jumble of over-hyped statistics that do not necessarily provide the real world, true use case figures needed by end users.

"With this in mind, we have worked with real-world benchmark tools such as Login VSI to ensure that any benchmarks carried out are true reflections of user actions rather than synthetic workloads.”

X-Pod for VDI has been specifically designed to help customers ensure their virtual desktop environments are operating at optimum and consistent performance and reliability levels, overcoming some of the more pressing issues affecting the implementation of successful VDI projects.

It is the result of extensive benchmarking of the X-Pod core components including Cisco UCS server and networking hardware together with X-IO’s flash-enabled Intelligent Storage Element (ISE) systems.

Recent real-world testing of X-Pod for VDI found the solution delivered an ultra-high performance desktop experience to 1,500 users at up to 97% concurrency.

“As one of Cisco’s largest distributors, X-Pod for VDI is a compelling proposition for our partners and their customers and it fits perfectly with our portfolio of solutions," says David Grant, Senior Vice President EMEA, Westcon Group.

"More and more organisations are looking at deploying VDI, but are faced with the challenge of managing all the different components to underpin the infrastructure.

"This new validated solution stack eliminates all of those headaches, and gives our customers a platform to ensure a successful VDI deployment.”

The launch of X-Pod for VDI comes hot on the heels of the introduction of X-IO’s VDI Emergency Response program that aims to diagnose, treat and heal VDI deployments globally.

With many VDI deployments failing due to a lack of storage capacity provisioning and poor performance, X-IO and its channel partners are already seeing many examples where its Intelligent Storage Element solution has helped eliminate those threats and get VDI implementations back to full health.

X-Pod for VDI utilizes X-IO’s unique, patented Continuous Adaptive Data Placement (CADP) software that automatically places hot spot data onto faster solid state drives in near real-time in order to deliver high performance at full capacity utilization.

Westcon Group is the exclusive distributor for X-IO in New Zealand and Australia.