Xsigo Systems, Inc., the technology leader in data center I/O virtualization, today announced that it has joined the Microsoft System Center Alliance Program to enhance and support Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 (VMM). Xsigo will extend VMM management capabilities, allowing customers to monitor and manage network and storage connections, eliminate performance bottlenecks, and optimize virtual machine placement -- all from within the Microsoft management framework.

"By extending the flexibility and enterprise-scalability of Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager, Xsigo virtual I/O helps further reduce costs and centralize management of both the physical and virtual IT infrastructure," said JD Marymee, director of strategic partner alliances, Management and Services Division, Microsoft. "We are pleased to work with Xsigo to extend the capabilities of the System Center solutions and help our mutual customers further improve data center efficiency."

The objective of Xsigo's partnership with System Center Alliance is to extend the capabilities of Microsoft's System Center products by providing continuous monitoring and proactive management for server connectivity. As the program's first I/O virtualization provider, Xsigo is uniquely positioned to monitor network and storage connections and to recommend parameters such as optimal virtual machine placement and quality of service settings to help ensure application performance and availability.

The Microsoft System Center Alliance selects partners with the best knowledge of specific applications, platforms, systems, or devices, and then provides the framework to embed that knowledge into System Center products. As an innovator in I/O virtualization, Xsigo offers a unique platform to enhance System Center Products and to ensure that customers have a holistic solution for managing their environment.

"IT managers must assimilate huge amounts of information and make critical operating decisions, sometimes in seconds. The System Center Alliance provides a unique opportunity to assist those managers with real-time recommendations," said Bruce Fingles, Xsigo's vice president of product management and IT. "By joining the System Center Alliance, Xsigo can now give IT managers the tools and information they need, from within the VMM framework, to optimize data center operations by making well-informed decisions about infrastructure management."

Xsigo's flagship product, the Xsigo I/O Director, is purpose built to deliver dynamic connectivity, allowing data center users to connect any server to any network or storage device in seconds, without the restrictions of I/O cards, cables, and switch ports. Benefits of the solution include:

--  Dynamically configures storage and network connectivity to any server in real-time
--  Provides 1G Ethernet, 10G Ethernet, and Fibre Channel connections
--  Eliminates 70% of the cards, cables and switch ports
--  Reduces I/O capital costs by 50%
--  Allows connectivity changes to be completed in seconds rather than hours or days
    

Xsigo virtual I/O also eliminates performance bottlenecks with dynamic bandwidth allocation that delivers performance on-demand to I/O connections over a high-speed 20Gbs fabric. Embedded quality-of-service features enhance application performance by reducing the risk of I/O resource contention.