How To Guy

New Free Tool from Quest/vKernel: vOPS Server Explorer

A product of the Quest buyout of vKernel is that vKernel's free tools have undergone much improvement. Witness vOPS Server Explorer.

• By David Davis
• 04/03/2012

I love free tools and have been speaking about them for some time, at VMworld events and in webinars. Since the first time I spoke at VMworld 2010 with Kendrick Coleman, we spoke extensively about vKernel's free tools. While vKernel's free tools have typically been small, single-purpose tools, vKernel has always led the pack in the quantity of free tools offered. Also, I must say that even when their free tools were "single-purpose," they always offered real value for vSphere admins.

With the acquisition of vKernel by Quest Software, I was concerned that they might not offer as many free tools, or that their unique management software and marketing approach might be "assimilated by the collective." However, I was pleased this week when I was contacted by vKernel/Quest and given an advance briefing on their latest free tool, vOPS Server Explorer.

I'm impressed by what vOPS Server Explorer can do. It is a combination of the previous version of vScope Explorer and the older SearchMyVM, but both of these are now contained in a single virtual appliance with a single, unified interface.

Here's how this free tools can help you as a VMware admin:

• See all VMs, hosts, and datastores across the entire virtual infrastructure on a single screen (that's not easy to do)
• Visually see performance issues in your hosts or VMs across your entire virtual infrastructure
• Identify inefficient VMs and datastores
• Create custom searches for hosts and VMs to quickly obtain answers to questions about the virtual infrastructure
• Export search information in XML, CSV, and PDF formats

Smartly, this same virtual appliance that is installed is a fully-functional commercial version of vKernel's vOPS Server, which you can try out for 30 days to see if you find enough value in it to invest in the commercial version. Even if you don't buy the commercial version, you still have all the free features of the tool to use indefinitely.

I am thankful that vKernel/Quest has released this tool because it will be one of my top must-have free tools that I'll be recommending in future presentations and webinars.

You can download the free vOPS Server Explorer here.