In the rapidly evolving world of server virtualization, businesses need high performing and reliable solutions that adapt to their unique environments. And now, more than ever, enterprises are searching for cost-effective alternatives to their VMware Hypervisor and VSAN. 

That’s why the Oracle Linux and Virtualization team is pleased to introduce LINBIT® Software-Defined Storage (SDS). Adding to the SDS integration available with Oracle Linux, LINBIT SDS (composed of LINSTOR® and DRBD®) can now be used as block storage for your virtual machines (VMs) running in Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager. LINBIT has tested and verified LINBIT SDS with Oracle Linux KVM and Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager 4.5. Putting these technologies together can give you a flexible and reliable alternative for the above mentioned VMware products.

The server virtualization market has recently experienced a number of significant changes that have impacted customers running server virtualization in their data centers. Many of these customers are looking for replacement server virtualization solutions or solutions that can be used as a better and more favorable option. Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager is an on-premises server virtualization solution that has been proven to be a robust and reliable alternative for IT operations teams. And with the latest Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager 4.5.5 release, updated software and support for a number of new enhancements has been delivered. Many organizations have migrated their applications and services to Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager with zero impact to their business continuity, and these users have shifted away from other expensive and licensed virtualization offerings to a simple and cost-effective Oracle Linux Premier Support subscription.

LINSTOR is an open source storage management system, developed by LINBIT for use on Linux systems. It manages LVM logical volumes, ZFS ZVOLs, or both, on a cluster of nodes. It uses DRBD for replication between different nodes and to provide highly available block storage devices to users and applications. Some of its features include snapshots, encryption, and caching of HDD backed data in SSDs. While LINSTOR makes managing DRBD more convenient, LINSTOR is often integrated with software stacks higher up to provide persistent storage more easily and more flexibly than would otherwise be possible within those stacks. LINSTOR can be used on its own or you can integrate it with other platforms, such as Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager, Kubernetes, OpenStack, and others. LINSTOR runs on bare-metal on-premises hardware, or you can use it within virtual machines, containers, clouds, or hybrid environments.

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More information about these products can be found on the Oracle Linux Virtualization and LINBIT LINSTOR websites. Details on the LINSTOR integration with Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager can be found in the LINSTOR User Guide.

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