vStack is a hyperconvergent product developed by IT Global and replacing solutions from vendors such as VMware, Oracle, etc.

Architecture

The software is based on 3 main elements: the ZFS file system, the FreeBSD operating system and the BHyVe hypervisor.

1. FreeBSD is an open source OS that is shipped under a special BSD license (Berkley Software Distribution). The system is characterized by reliability and minimal resource consumption.
2. ZFS is the file system on which the operating system is based. It has properties such as combined storage, snapshots, data recording, copy-on-write method, etc.
3. BHyVe is a second—generation hypervisor that was originally developed by NetApp. It is compatible with all guest systems of the Windows, Unix/Linux family, and also supports NVMe protocol operation.

Composition

The vStack solution consists of 4 main components. The first one is vStack OS, an operating system that is based on FreeBSD. It is characterized by high performance and has a built-in BHyVe hypervisor.

The second element is vStack Storage, which is a disk space with the possibility of redundancy according to schemes n+1, n+2 or n+3. It works according to the iSCSI, NFS and embedded access protocols. The repository supports snapshots and clones.

The third component is responsible for monitoring and administration of the hyperconvergent product and is called vStack Management. Management is carried out through any browser in a single window. Supports both online and proactive monitoring.

The last part is the vStack Network, virtual switching. Allows clients to manage a selected address pool, VLAN/VXLAN support.

Advantages

vStack provides customers with a number of advantages:

1. Cross-platform. The solution is compatible with any brand (HPE, DELLEMC, Huawei, Supermicro, etc.). The customer chooses the “iron” platform himself. There is no binding to vendor components (vendor-lock).
2. Licensing. The solution is delivered according to the pay-as-you-go principle. In other words, the customer pays only for the actual use of resources, which reduces the cost of the product.
3. Import substitution. vStack hyperconvergence is a Russian development that can be supplied to government customers. The product is registered in the territory of the Russian Federation, it is contained in the register of manufacturers of domestic software. Technical support is also provided in Russia. 
4. Open-source. The product is developed on completely free software, which reduces its final cost to the end user.

The hyperconvergent vStack solution is a completely Russian product, which is confirmed by the relevant documents and an entry in the register of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. A high-performance solution with support for various functions is a competitive alternative for foreign vendors, for example, VMware.