Just when you think it cannot get any better VMware comes up with an interesting new fling, Proactive DRS.
Proactive DRS was the winning entry in last year’s 2012 Open Innovation Contest. VMware promised to create a Fling of the winning entry, and here it is!
What is ProactiveDRS? It is a way for DRS to react to changes in the virtual cluster, and to act on predicted changes in resource demands before hosts become stressed. For example, if you have a VM that historically uses 100% CPU at 8am every morning, ProactiveDRS makes sure that the CPU resources will be available for that VM before 8am. These actions ensure that your cluster runs smoother and reduces the amount of reactive VM rebalances that occur.
Features of ProactiveDRS
- Given an advance forecast/prediction of each VM’s resource demands, e.g., CPU and Memory, ProactiveDRS seeks to reorganize the placement of VMs to best balance the current resource demands while taking early actions to accommodate the future/predicted resource demands.
- Sample actions include, but are not limited to, proactive vMotions (migrations) and proactively powering on a new physical host to accept VMs whose resource demands are expected to spike beyond the available resources of their current physical host.
System Requirements of ProactiveDRS
I think it is a very innovative feature and a well deserved winner of the 2012 Open Innovation contest.
I hope it makes it to the production version of vSphere, maybe vSphere 6? :-)You can download ProactiveDRS here.