In today’s challenging environment and tight economies which of the CIOs would not like to deploy a software that reduces the cost and complexity of implementing mission-critical Windows and Linux applications like SQL Server to do better things in their organization with their time and IT Budget. That is why it is important to learn how containerization is influencing the future of Cloud computing. DH2i (http://www.DH2i.com), a software company, founded in 2010 by Don Boxley and OJ Ngo in the United States. The mission was clear. To design a software that reduces the cost and complexity of deploying mission-critical Windows Server applications. The initial focus was on SQL Servers for two valid reasons. It’s expensive to license and it’s mission-critical. That gave birth to DxEnterprise.
DxEnterprise is container virtualization and management software that decouples new and existing SQL Server instances from the underlying infrastructure to make them portable. CIOs can stack these containerized instances to up their server utilization and reduce the number of OSes they need to license and manage as well. In addition, an automated, instance-level high availability engine is built-in to the software with QoS controls to ensure that all SLAs are met. In total, DxEnterprise is a cost saving, consolidation, HA, and management solution that can help virtually anyone with SQL Server under management.
DH2i provides Microsoft Windows Server application portability and management solutions. Its flagship solution, DxEnterprise, containerizes and decouples Windows Server applications, such as SQL Server, from the host OS and underlying IT infrastructure. Customers can simplify and dramatically improve the management of their data center environment. In addition, they can ensure SLA compliance and lower costs by 30%-60%. DH2i is on Gartner’s list of Cool Vendors in the “Cool Vendors in Servers and Virtualization, 2015” report.
As we learned, DxEnterprise is a powerful tool. It helps you control your servers and data center cost substantially. In addition to cost savings, it removes complexities. DxEnterprise is container virtualization and management software that decouples new and existing SQL Server instances from the underlying infrastructure to make them portable. It then enables the stacking of these containerized instances. This improves server utilization and reduces the number of OS licenses. In the nutshell, it enhances manageability, reduces complexities, and cuts down operating costs.
Now any Indian CIO would ask how DxEnterprise is different from competitors like Docker? Quite simple. In fact, don’t group DxEnterprise in with companies like Docker. Companies like Docker focus on stateless applications with their containers and the main goal is distribution and provisioning—something they have grown extremely proficient at. However, there is very little built-in technology focusing on the management of these containers, especially in terms of high availability. On the contrary, DH2i is much less focused on the container and more so the advanced management framework it enables. You can containerize new and legacy deployments of stateful applications like mission-critical SQL Server.
The closest thing DxEnterprise qualifies as a competitor is WSFC in the sense that they both compete as a solution for SQL Server instance-level HA—though DxEnterprise software is much more than just an HA solution. DH2i differentiates DxEnterprise predominantly on the simplistic management that it enables at a low cost. DxEnterprise allows for unlimited cluster size on Standard Edition SQL Server and clusters can be made up of any mix of OS and SQL versions/editions (back to SQL Server 2005 and WS OS 2008R2). They don’t have to be like-for-like—a requirement of failover cluster instances.
That is why organizations like Asante (Datacenter), Eversheds (Sells mission-critical software to 4,000 top notch lawyers worldwide), Manulife (Global 500 Financial Services company), City of Westminster Colorado, Vecima Networks, W&W/AFCO Steel, City of Aurora, Menigo, and so many others took no time to transform their IT Setup with the help of DxEnterprise.
A recent launch of DxEnterprise v17 software and the huge innovations helps in bringing to Dh2i’s product capabilities—support for Docker and Linux OS. This product is a multi-platform Smart Availability solution for Windows, Linux, and Docker that helps customers drastically simplify HA while saving money and consolidating their environments.
Stateful containers are any containers that contain an application instance that requires stored data to do its job. Typically state is stored in a database, cache, file, etc. In the scope of DxEnterprise v17, its greatest focus is on stateful, containerized RDBMS applications that make up the backbone for businesses. DxEnterprise Smart Availability technology allows to manage these stateful, containerized workloads on Windows or Linux and enable easy failover across different OS versions or Linux distributions respectively—all while maintaining data persistence. In addition to data persistence, a huge strength of this technology is the ability to manage these stateful containers alongside non-containerized application instances from a unified management platform.
What should be the approach of Indian CIOs around the technology?
Just as a general word of encouragement—if management complexity is really making life tough, don’t be afraid to look past convention. So many IT pros have been stuck in the same inefficient practices with the same inflexible technology for years, and they never cross the threshold of thinking about a different approach because what they’re doing is “How things have always been done.”
We are fortunate to be living in an era in IT where tons of new startups are flourishing and bring groundbreaking technology to the market at a rapid pace. So don’t be afraid to evaluate new technology, because many of these new vendors are bringing forward technology that can positively impact your work in the IT industry in a huge way. I for one can guarantee you’d be surprised what you might find.
By: Jaideep Khanduja, Regional Director, ApOn Solutions
