Plenty of apps already control devices remotely, but a new appliance aggregates the apps. Think of it as a controller of controllers.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [November 28, 2005]

Fremont, Calif.-based Cyclades Corporation announced the latest addition to its data center appliance product line, the AlterPath OnBoard, in October.

The new product is designed to manage systems that contain service processors, which are secondary, backup processors that allow access to the device when that device has crashed.

Service processors also enable continuous management of the key statistics remote devices, from disk capacity to temperature to connection status.

Of course, most devices can be managed remotely without the AlterPath, but many appliances require proprietary apps. Cyclades consolidates it all into one GUI, working closely with major system vendors, including Dell, Cisco, HP, IBM, and Sun, to ensure that one application can manage devices from as many different vendors as possible.

Everyone's needs
We spoke to Aaron Conklin, Client Advocate Manger for Houston, Tex.-based Everyone's Internet (EV1) at ISPCON, where he was showing off a rack of servers with their carefully labeled cables.

He explained that the company has three networks for its servers: the Internet, a PNET (or Private Network) that connects all EV1 servers to each other, and the out of band Cyclades network for server management.

The company implemented the Cyclades out of band network to fix a simple problem: clients were locking themselves out of their own servers by implementing overly broad rule sets in their firewalls.

If you have a massive number of servers, as EV1 does, it simply costs too much to send a tech to the data center to correct the problem over a physical (serial) interface.

"The overall desire was to give the customer as much access to the system as possible. We want to not have them ask us to do something for them."

The company has two data centers (DC1 and DC2) and access is so heavily restricted that Conklin himself needs an EV1 employee to accompany him when he goes in there.

His job is a symptom of EV1's growth and success. His job is to interact with the customer and help solve problems that fall through the cracks. "We have a great customer service department and a great technical support department, covering the technical and non-technical side of customer care. We deal with the customer directly. Often, we find the person who's solving the problem and explain that to the customer."

Conklin is proud of the company's security measures and preparedness, which were tested in June, 2003 (see Fire at Rackshack) when a transformer exploded without causing an interruption in service. "The generators came on line immediately and power was out for about ten days, we had fuel trucks coming in, but we never went down."

The network remains up and is larger than ever.

The company acquired the first data center and built the second (the second is Dell-only). When it decided to add Cyclades, it was no small undertaking. The Cyclades boxes had to be added to every rack. Power is now wired to Cyclades and then to the servers. The retrofit process took several months.

It was worth it, Conklin says. "Cyclades provides two different benefits. First, there's the remote reboot and power management. Then there's the Cyclades remote console that lets the customer telnet or SSH into the box even if the inband network is down. Both Cyclades units are contolled by the same Cyclades manager unit."

It's just what EV1 needed.

Pricing and availability
Cyclades' AlterPath OnBoard is available today, starting at $3,000 for a 24 port product.

The AlterPath Manager, for deployments utilizing many OnBoard devices, is priced depending upon the number of devices controlled, starting at $4,000.

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