SIOS launches iQ, seeks more intelligent analytics

Data protection software vendor SIOS Technologies is branching out into IT analytics.

The vendor this week launched SIOS iQ, an analytics platform developed for virtual machines and their infrastructure that collects data and runs algorithms to identify patterns and possible problems. It can be used to troubleshoot or project the effect of changes to the technology.

The initial release works only with VMware hypervisors, but SIOS COO Jerry Melnick said the platform is designed to work with any virtual environment and he expects it to be expanded in future releases. The application tracks performance, efficiency, reliability and capacity metrics in an infrastructure, and alerts customers if it detects a potential problem or a way to make improvements.

Melnick describes iQ Vision as “a simple way to get answers to difficult questions in a complex environment. A lot of customers have moved into these [virtual] spaces with good intentions, but they’re dynamic environments and they keep getting bigger and bigger.”

Customers download iQ, install it and it works without needing any configuration, Melnick said.

The software isn’t specific to storage, but does look at the storage as well as hosts, VMs, applications and networks.

“Storage is probably the most interesting space,” Melnick said. “There are more issues in that space than the others.”

SIOS iQ’s host-based caching analytics can help improve storage performance. It analyzes blocks written to disk and identifies the read ratio and load profile to identify the VMs and disk that will benefit from caching. The application uses that information to make configuration recommendations on how much cache to add and what size the cache blocks should be, and predicts the performance impact from implementing the recommendations.

SIOS iQ also identifies under-used VMs and unnecessary snapshots that can be eliminated to prevent snapshot sprawl.

Other features include performance root cause analysis and advanced analytics for Microsoft SQL Server.

Unlike newer array management software, iQ is not cloud-based but SIOS plans to automatically deliver product upgrades every four to six weeks in what Melnick calls a SaaS (storage as a service) delivery style. SIOS iQ is sold as an annual subscription, with a list price of $150 per host per month.