Collax V-Cube
The Collax V-Cube is, at its simplest, virtualization server that lets you to run several computers on one physical machine. For example run a full Collax Business Server while at the same time running a Microsoft Server while at the same time running a software appliance on this one virtualization server. Each server (or virtual guest) works normally and has no idea it is ‘virtualized’ and running within a virtualization server.
The key to virtualization and the Collax virtualization server (Collax V-Cube) is to enable you to squeeze more out of what you have. It helps to reduce overall operating costs and maximize flexibility. The virtualization server (Collax V-Cube) makes this possible by:
-
Increase hardware utilization - Get the most out of your hardware
-
Optimize infrastructure - Organise things the way you want & reduce maintenance
-
Improving server availability - Making sure everything stays up and running
The Collax V-Cube (virtualization server) builds on the long standing Collax Server principle and therefore offers a stable, optimised virtualization server that is tailored to meet the needs of your business with no upfront price barrier.
In addition a Collax V-Cube (virtualization server) solution results in lower power consumption, reduces electrical expenditure and the associated CO2 emissions.
For a complete overview of the Collax V-Family virtualization and cluster solution click here...
The Collax V-Cube makes business sense in many areas:
- Cost savings: infrastructure, administration, cooling, hardware etc.
- Increased flexibility for businesses
- Reduction in downtime
- Fast & flexible server management
- Flexibility in Hardware utilisation
- Complete product offering: Appliance also available
- Reduction in support expenditure for each server
- Optimized utilization of hardware: Most efficient use of hardware
- Simplified procurement procedures for hardware
- Green IT: Energy conservation by consolidation
- Simple license model: No price barriers to virtualization
-
Universal Virtualization
Cost savings: infrastructure, administration, cooling, hardware etc.
The most obvious feature of virtualization is the idea of cost saving. The Collax V-Cube (virtualization server), from day one, enables companies to make better use of their existing hardware. This results in a reduction in spending on new hardware.
The next saving is that new servers can be created and rolled out without the purchase of more hardware. These two concepts equate to a reduction of server hardware without any reduction in server rollout. The net result is less hardware running, but a bigger infrastructure. Less hardware running means less expense in energy, cooling, space etc.
Increased flexibility for businesses
Business demands on IT change almost day to day, but the reaction of IT can sometimes be much slower. This is often due to the physical requirements of constructing servers for the task in hand. For example: building a test environment for development, then a staging server, then the final live server etc.
With the Collax V-Cube (virtualization server) this function can be performed in moment. Almost at the press of a button an administrator can construct and host a new server with little fuss or the acquisition of new hardware.
After implementing a virtual infrastructure with the Collax V-Cube (virtualization server) your dependency on hardware based servers is decoupled. This means that if there is any failure recover or even the creation of a new server becomes a task of minutes instead of hours or even days.
Fast & flexible server management
The Collax V-Cube, by default, provides full remote control of each virtualization server guest that resides on the server. This means that from any location you can securely view and control each virtualization server guest as if you were actually at the machine itself.
The administration interface of the Collax V-Cube is browser based and therefore can also be administered securely form any location. This means the Collax V-Cube gives administrators complete flexibility in how they manage their virtualization server environment.
Flexibility in Hardware utilization
The Collax V-Cube reduces the number of physical machines that your organization actually needs as opposed to the number of servers you require. Of cause you will not, usually, throw away existing hardware, instead the Collax V-Cube lets you manage, and create, many more “virtual” servers on the hardware you already have. This means that your infrastructure can now grow dynamically and rapidly without the need to purchase more machines. The end result is better utilization of your existing hardware and increased your flexibility to grow and change your environment.
Complete product offering: Appliance also available
The Collax V-Cube is a complete solution in that is suitable and tuned for efficient small businesses use as well as being able to grow to the largest of requirements.
The Collax V-Cube is available as software and also as an appliance. Collax can supply two ranges of appliance (Collax V-Rack One and V-Rack Two) that will match both extremes in virtualization requirements.
Reduction in support expenditure for each server
Due to the flexibility in the way that the Collax V-Cube, and its guests, is managed, support time expenditure can be greatly reduced. This applies to both maintenance and support requests: New servers can be created and rolled-out very fast and efficiently and existing servers can be managed and maintained with little effort too.
Optimized utilization of hardware
The Collax V-Cube is one of the most efficient ways to utilize hardware for three reasons:
- It lets you run several servers on one machine and therefore use the spare capacity in the machine.
- It is extremely highly tuned so that it utilizes the hardware more efficiently that most normal applications. In some cases you can see a negative overhead (the system runs faster in the Collax V-Cube that on the hardware without) of using the Collax V-Cube.
- Many applications and systems are not built to utilize modern hardware (e.g. multithreading, multiple processors etc.). When these applications are run in the Collax V-Cube they can often perform faster because the Collax V-Cube manages the hardware instead of the application.
Simplified procurement procedures for hardware
In an un-virtualized environment administrators often have to take great care in choosing the hardware so that it matches very closely to the demands of the operating system and the applications that are going to be run on it. With the Collax V-Cube this is no longer an issue. Simply choose the hardware for Collax V-Cube and then the virtualization server guests can be tailored for the requirements of the system of application. Life becomes easier and economies can be made in bulk purchases of similar hardware.
Green IT: Energy conservation by consolidation
The “Green” issue is high in the minds of business today. This is for both social reasons as well as business reasons. A Green company is usually an efficient company and businesses can also receive grants and subsidies based on Green policies. The Collax V-Cube can demonstrate big environmental benefits and coupled with Collax green hardware companies can take a major step in being Green.
Collax has always prided itself on its simple pricing and it fairness too. The Collax V-Cube is no exception and has a very simple pricing model.
The second point to make is that the Collax pricing is built in such a way as to remove the usual pricing barrier to entry into virtualization. The high upfront expense usually associated to virtualization products does not exist with Collax.
A real and efficient virtualization server has to virtualize everything in the physical machine and not just the processor and memory. The Collax V-Cube boasts complete virtualization in that it virtualizes memory, processor, networks, storage and also offers support for serial ports, USB and PCI too.
Product-Highlights (technical)
- Run multiple operating systems on a singer machine
- Total virtualization of all resources
- Hardware optimised virtualization - Very fast
- Tiny virtualization overhead
- PCI virtualization - direct use e.g. from ISDN or Multimedia by a virtual guest
- Easy Migration of old systems onto new hardware
- Simple to use - powerful management functions that are simple to use
- Simple Provisioning with the use of Templates
- Built in Backup and Restore
- Collax migration tools built in - migration of physically to virtually (P2V) and virtual to virtual (V2V)
Third generation Virtualization Server (Collax V-Cube) features:
-
Built-in secure remote management of server and virtualization server guest machines
- Use keyboard and mouse as if you were at the machine
-
Conventional virtualized hardware
- Out of the box virtualization server
-
Exceptional performance para-virtualization of hardware
- Optimal performance of shared hardware
-
Raw hardware performance with Pass-Through technology
- Connect hardware directly to guest machine for maximum performance
- Advanced Hypervisor-Technology
- Central Management of Virtual Guests
- Assisted Management
- Flexible Accesses
- High Performance from Paravirtualization
- Server Migration
- Independent Image Format
- Templates and Clone Images for Turbo-Deployment
- Backup and Restore
- Statistics
- Administration
- Hardware virtualization
- Network Virtualization
- Storage Virtualization
Advanced Hypervisor-Technology
The Collax V-Cube virtualization server technology is based on the highly sophisticated KVM hypervisor that provides unrivalled hardware optimisation. This hypervisor also take full advantage of modern hardware virtualization enhancements to accelerate and optimise the whole system. The Collax V-Cube hypervisor completely isolates each virtualization server guest (computer) so that each one can run any operating system (x86) independently of any other and with no risk of cross interference.
Central Management of Virtual Guests
All administration and configuration is performed centrally from a browser based management interface and not from the physical machine. This means administration can be performed securely from anywhere and without any reliance on any particular operating system, location or to install any extra software: The result is total IT management flexibility.
New virtual machines can be built very fast and easily with the help of a step for step assistant or wizard. This means that complete servers can be made available for use within minutes.
The Collax V-Cube virtualization server or any of the virtual machines running within it can be accessed securely from anywhere without the need to install a single driver or software. This is done by the use of a browser that gives secure access to the Collax V-Cube. The browser interface lets you directly control the virtual servers as if you were at the machine itself with both keyboard and mouse control.
High Performance from Paravirtualization
Paravirtualization is where virtual guests are given controlled direct access to the physical hardware on the machine and not to simulated hardware. This makes the use of such hardware much more efficient and reliable
The question of how to migrate to a virtual environment is always high. The normal process would be to reinstall the machine into a virtual server and then transfer the data, but Collax provides a complete migration tool that you simply point at the existing server and it pulls it into the Collax V-Cube virtualization server. No more questions!
For complete flexibility the Collax V-Cube lets you create virtual guests that store their image in three different ways: First is where they are given a complete physical disk; second is where the virtual guest uses its own dedicated logical volume and the third is where the whole guest is stored on a virtualization file. The third is useful for movable or temporary virtual guests.
Templates and Clone Images for Turbo-Deployment
Frequently there is a requirement to be able to rollout a standard server very fast, for example for testing machines or for branches rollout etc. For this reason the Collax V-Cube virtualization server offers the ability to create virtual machines based on predefined templates. The templates ask almost no questions and let you rollout a machine almost at a click of a button.
For the administration and monitoring of the virtual guests and the Collax V-Cube itself detailed statistical measurements are available. It is always important to identify possible issues before they become problems and for this reason the Collax V-Cube provides information on: Processor utilization, storage use, disk capacity/throughput and network traffic can be examined and compared.
For speed and efficiency the administration interface is based on AJAX (the most efficient way to run an interface over a network) and incorporated usability features such as wizard guidance, extensive context-sensitive help.
For management the Collax V-Cube virtualization server provides full remote control of both the server and the virtual machines (you see what is happening directly inside them securely from anywhere). It also supports ISO and VM image management (via FTP, NFS and SCP), statistics, reports, event monitoring, logging, self-monitoring (with e-mail notification), template based provisioning (rollout of virtual machines), backup and restore, NTP server and Collax Migration Tool (P2V, V2V) that lets you pull in legacy systems into a virtual environment.
A lot of hardware these days is built with virtualization optimisation and enhancements built in. The Collax V-Cube virtualization server takes full advantage of these, such as the Intel VT and AMD-V, 64-bit hypervisor technology, support 32 bit and 64 bit guest support for paravirtualized guests, virtualization RS-232 and USB, PCI-Passthrough (requires Intel VT-d or AMD-Vi), QoS of virtualized guests
The Collax V-Cube virtualization server comes complete with a very wide range of networking features such as: Virtual switches, paravirtualization (direct access of physical devices within the virtual machine) support for common driver (Intel e1000, RTL rtl8139, Novell ne2000), bridges to physical network interfaces, link aggregation, DNS, DHCP, tagged VLAN, jumbo frames
In a virtual environment storage is very important, that is why the Collax V-Cube provides Disk Management (LVM), integrated storage or SAN connectivity (iSCSI), thin provisioning, virtual guests as image file, logical volume or a dedicated hard drive, QoS for disk IO
System Requirements
-
Intel Pentium or compatible
- 64 bit support
- Intel VT or AMD-V support
- Bootable CD-ROM drive
- Hard disk: 20 GB
- Memory: 1024 MB
- One network interface
- VGA-capable video controller (for installation)
Supported Hardware
- Up to 256 GB of memory
- Up to 16 TB hard drives
- Up to 256 processors (cores)
- Unlimited number of virtual guests
- Any number of virtual switches
Resources for virtual guests
- Virtual memory limited by available hardware memory
- Virtual disk capacity limited by available hardware disk capacity
- Up to 16 virtual NICs
- Up to 16 virtual processors (VSMP)
- Up to 4 virtual disks or CD/DVD ROMs
- 16 Bit, 32 Bi- or 64 Bit guests
Supported guest operating systems:
- Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2000, 2003, 2008,
- Novell Suse Linux 9, 10,
- RedHat 3, 4, 5,
- Ubuntu
- ...
Also available are two Collax V-Cube appliances (complete system including hardware): The V-Rack One and the V-Rack Two (See hardware list on right for details)
| Product download |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Migration Tool 1.7.2 (md5sum) | < 10 KB |  |
| Migration Tool 1.7.2 (ISO) | < 10 KB | |
| Collax V-Cube (md5sum) | < 10 KB | |
| Collax V-Cube (ISO) | 544 MB | |
| License for Collax V-Cube | ||
| It is always highly recommended to check the validity of all files downloaded from the internet. To check the authentication of the above file please check your generated MD5 against the one we supply. For Windows systems we recommend the following product: http://etree.org/md5com.html | ||
| Clients | |
|
|---|---|---|
| NSClient++-0.3.9-x64 | 6.2 MB | |
| NSClient++-0.3.9-Win32 | 4.74 MB | |
| Datasheet | |
|
|---|---|---|
| Collax V-Cube_EN.pdf | 0.42 MB |  |
| Manual | |
|
|---|---|---|
| Administration Guide Collax V-Cube | 4.24 MB | |
| Release notes | |
|
|---|---|---|
| V-Cube 6.0.10 | 0.02 MB | |
| V-Cube 6.0.8 | 0.02 MB | |
| V-Cube 6.0.6 | 0.01 MB | |
| V-Cube 6.0.4 | 0.01 MB | |
| V-Cube 6.0.2 | < 10 KB | |
| Howto/White Paper | |
|
|---|---|---|
| Update SeaBIOS and VirtIO Drivers for Virtual Machines | 0.11 MB | |
| Collax Howto-iso on a USB.pdf | 0.41 MB | |
| Collax Migration Tool | 0.33 MB | |
| Collax Server Installation Guide | 0.28 MB | |
| Productflyer | |
|
|---|---|---|
| Collax_V-Family_Flyer_EN.pdf | 0.47 MB | |
| Pictures | |
|
|---|---|---|
| V_Cube_Web_945x1704.jpg | 0.12 MB | |
| V_Cube_300dpi_945x1704.jpg | 0.92 MB | |
| Miscellaneous | |
|
|---|---|---|
| Collax V-Family Competitive Analysis | 0.19 MB | |
| Hardware Compatibility List: Collax Server | 0.22 MB | |
Partner Finder
If you would like to purchase a Collax product, or talk to a qualified Collax IT expert, please use the following form to find a Collax partner near you. Note that wild card searches are allowed (e.g. 8*)
Collax Distributors
| Italy | Omnis Systems | Tel.: +39 (0) 522 1710285 | E-Mail: sales@omnis-systems.com | |
| Switzerland | Informica GmbH | Tel.: +41 (0) 71 944 44 33 | E-Mail: info@informica.ch | |
| UK | Omnis Systems | Tel.: TBA | E-Mail: sales@omnis-systems.com | |
| Germany | Rombus IT Distribution GmbH | Tel.: 49 (0) 2951 606-0 | E-Mail: info@rombus.de |
Headquarters
Collax GmbH
Gutenbergstr. 1
85737 Ismaning
Phone: +49 (0) 89-990157-0
Fax: +49 (0) 89-990157-11
Email: sales[at]collax.com
No partner found? Click the button to contact Collax.
The following product are related to the Collax V-Cube:
Other products:
- Collax Network Storage
- Collax Web Application
- Collax Net Backup
- Collax Communication
- Collax Zarafa Groupware
- Collax E-Mail Archive
- Collax Mail Security
- Collax Web Security
- Collax SSL-VPN
- Collax Gatekeeper
- Collax Multi-Level Firewall
- Collax Advanced Networking
- Collax Virus Protection
- Collax Avira AntiVir
- Collax Surf Protection
- Collax VPN Client