Akimbi claim server snap-shot software
September 21, 2005
Start-up company Akimbi Systems, has revealed Slingshot – software that can take a snap shot of a server environment, store hardware and software configurations. It is claimed it can also automatically roll back the configurations to a pool of machines for testing with specific new applications.
The company claims that development costs can be reduced by up to 50 per cent by automating this stage in the application development cycle.
The software removes the need to manually configure servers and runs on top of virtual machine (VM) software from Microsoft and VMsoftware.
Slingshot works with application lifecycle management (ALM) testing tools from Mercury Interactive, IBM/Rational, Microsoft, Borland Software and Segue Software, by connecting with the Slingshot APIs via a SOAP interface.
At the VM level, Akimbi has ensured that multiple testing environments can run side by side in server pools, through its ability to redirect packets, create a hidden VM and also update routing tables to avoid problems like IP conflicts. Slingshot is based on a VM architecture Akimbi acquired from Ensism.
Akimbi is talking to software tool companies about possible partnership agreements. The company’s development work at the architecture level is expected to deter test tool vendors from trying to develop rival products.