The partition alignment tool was developed specifically for virtual systems and the ESXi environment.
Backup and disaster recovery software developer Paragon Software Group has released its Paragon Alignment Tool (PAT) ESX product, a version developed to facilitate partition alignment of virtual systems remotely.
PAT ESX is a utility that provides comprehensive management for virtual disk alignment operations. Installed on a virtual machine within the ESXi environment, management is performed from a Windows XP SP3 or later operating system. PAT ESX enables access to all virtual disks remotely to check their state and perform alignments in an unattended mode.
PAT ESX enables an administrator to browse data stores, select target virtual machines, and then connect to virtual disks to determine whether partition alignment is required. PAT then recommends alignment options if needed.
PAT ESX requires minimal virtual disk space (only 3 MB to 4 MB per partition) to perform partition alignment. The software supports VMware ESX, VMware ESXi, vCenter, and vSphere.
“With the growing trend in resource consolidation through virtualization, we are seeing significant increases in the number of virtual servers and workstations,” says Paragon Software Group president Tom Fedro. “Due to the transition of the storage standard from 512B to 4K sectors, the appearance of partition misalignment and performance issues in these systems are increasing. Our customers’ need to resolve these issues drove the development of PAT ESX.”
Paragon reports that its Partition Alignment Tool enables MSPs to:
- Externally control, manage and align dozens of virtual drives belonging to different virtual machines.
- Decrease hardware costs by eliminating the need to have storage dedicated for migration functions.
- Increase virtual machine operations’ performance up to 300 percent.
- Remotely check, control and manage virtual disk alignment.
- Employ minimal disk space to perform alignment.
- Continue alignment operation after an unexpected.
- Provide advanced alignment operation.
- Schedule via VMware ESX, VMware ESXi, vSphere, and change block tracking.
- Set partition alignment software operations according to SMB needs.
PAT ESX is the latest edition of Paragon’s popular backup and disaster recovery product line including Hard Disk manager and Drive Backup.
