FireScope announced availability of FireScope Unify for FlexPod, enabling converged management and automation of the complete FlexPod for VMware stack from a single, dynamic interface.

At the heart of the solution lies an HTML5/Canvas visualization of a FlexPod for VMware that takes advantage of direct API access to the NetApp Filers, Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) blades and VMware vSphere to provide unparalleled visibility into health and utilization across domains.

Additional data collection capabilities for business metrics, application and user experience analysis provide extra dimensions to these views to put events and performance in context of their impact on the business.

FireScope's approach to FlexPod for VMware offers 4 compelling advantages:

* A Top-Down Approach - By starting with the business service being delivered and working down through dependencies, organizations can more effectively prioritize workloads based on their impact on business services.

* Integration of the Complete Infrastructure Stack - FireScope's multiple data collection methodologies encompass the entire infrastructure stack with a particular focus where layers intersect and interact. In the case of FlexPods, organizations need to understand how a switch issue can impact storage performance, or mis-provisioned computing resources have become a bottleneck for the users' experiences.

* Rapid Deployment, Rapid Scalability - FireScope Unify is shipped as a virtual or physical appliance with the complete solution pre-installed and ready to start. This reduces deployment times to a few days, rather than the months required by traditional solutions. And as organizations grow, scaling the solution is as easy as connecting multiple appliances together via the solution's multi-site aggregation feature.

* Dynamic, Auto Configuration - Built-in connectivity to NetApp Operations manager, VMware vCenter, Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) Manager and other API's enables FireScope Unify to discover and inventory current configuration and automatically apply best-practice data collection, dependency mapping and event analysis, as well as visualization.

Rapid deployment and automation in configuration are critical elements organizations need to manage today's highly dynamic cloud infrastructures. The speed of deployment of new virtual machines, storage volumes and applications has recently outstripped many organizations' ability to manage these resources after they reach production. FireScope Unify's ability to identify new resources or scaled resources, as the changes happen, empower IT operations with greater agility throughout the application lifecycle. This has the added benefit of reducing the workload on IT operators, enabling them to focus on business-driving projects.

Additionally, FireScope Unify for FlexPod features a drag-and-drop rack builder that further simplifies the process of configuring and scaling FlexPod for VMware racks. Administrators simply drag hardware resources into a rack, specify the appropriate API integration point for data collection, and configuration is complete.