Advanced Infrastructure Manager (AIM)

Dell AIM and VIS Creator: Tools to Help Build Private Clouds

Date : 9/26/2011
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Transition to a private cloud easily with the help of Dell™ Advanced Infrastructure Manager (AIM) and Dell Virtual Integrated System (VIS) Self-Service Creator. As components of the broader Dell VIS architecture, AIM and Creator work together to provide a high level of resource control and management in a private cloud.

 

AIM is a workload mobility and recovery management solution that enables the rapid deployment of servers on VMware® or Microsoft® hypervisors, as well as storage and networking provisioning, across a broad range of hardware. It can also be used to deploy and manage physical servers, and to migrate physical servers to virtual environments quickly. These characteristics make AIM a good fit for private cloud projects, particularly because the management software is hardware and software neutral.

 

AIM software provides additional capabilities and benefits, including:

  • Automatic discovery and deployment of a server in minutes by assigning a server image to a specific hardware unit and booting the image from local disk or central storage
  • A simplified deployment process, regardless of the target server’s configuration, using sophisticated tools that can quickly migrate server images between local disks and central storage
  • Easy migration of server images from physical-to-physical servers, physical-to-virtual or virtual-to-physical for server upgrades, refreshes or consolidation

 

VIS Creator enables authorized users to deploy their own IT services through an online catalog. Users can then select services and activate automated workflows that handle virtual system configuration. With Creator, the system enforces policies based on the user’s profile and the type of service requested. This feature accelerates the delivery of IT services to internal customers and cuts the cost of that delivery.

 

Together, AIM and Creator offer the following benefits:

  • Improved data center efficiency
  • Reduced complexity
  • Reduced operational costs
  • Improved agility in responding to changing technology and needs
  • Faster return on investment