FAQs
Why is the company called B-hive?
In many ways, a bee hive is like a large server farm. The internal structure of a beehive is made up of a tightly packed matrix of hexagonal cells used for storage and for housing the brood. Similarly, the internal structure of today's data center is comprised of a tightly packed network of computing components that are used to house computer systems. B-hive focuses on making that collection of computers b-have.
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What is B-hive Conductor?
Conductor, B-hive's flagship product, is the first and only software solution to deliver Service Level Control in virtualized IT environments. Conductor automatically detects transactions and the path each transaction takes through the infrastructure, including the internals of virtual servers. Conductor auto-determines baseline performance of each transaction and issues standard Service Level reports based on pre-defined business goals. As problems arise, Conductor takes corrective actions on its own, to help ensure maximum performance and availability.
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How does Conductor work?
Standard, non-intrusive, measuring technology allows Conductor to see user requests without inserting itself in the middle. Using copies of the actual packets, Conductor is able to reconstruct transactions, including the path each took through the application environment, the request origin, the performance of the request (across each tier), and more.
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What is a Virtual Appliance?
B-hive recognizes that sometimes you can't slip a piece of hardware into a hot environment. Therefore, the Conductor can actually be installed as a software-only (or virtual) appliance. [learn more]
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Can I try Conductor out first?
ABSOLUTELY!!!!! See how your applications and environment are performing in a matter of minutes.
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Sounds hard. Is Conductor difficult to install?
Conductor installation is easy - using a standard form of information retrieval. In fact, it's just 3 simple steps:
1) Download the Conductor Virtual Edition.
2) Run it on a computer that's listening to traffic off a network switch.
3) Sit back, relax and let Conductor do its magic.
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How long does Conductor take to install the trial? Is production installation more difficult?
The trial system, loaded as a Virtual Appliance, starts collecting data in minutes. Within an hour, Conductor is already reporting on normal behavior (baselines) and showing details about the transactions.
In production, Conductor installs and executes just as easily via the virtual appliance model. An added benefit is the amount of automation in Conductor, simplifying system administration to ensuring that the tool is running.
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How does Conductor fit in my environment?
Conductor can run in the managed environment in 2 different ways:
- As a Virtual Appliance that runs on top of VMware Server/ESX
- As a physical appliance (blade) in the data center
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What if I already have a System Management, Network Management, and/or an Application Performance Management (APM) solution?
Conductor supports standard management systems and protocols (such as SNMP) and can integrate with any open management tool.
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Are there any Operating System limitations?
There are NONE! Conductor monitors traffic on anything from Linux to AIX to mainframes.
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How does Conductor map the application infrastructure?
Conductor does deep packet inspection and uses proprietary algorithms to map application pathways.
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How does Conductor "see" traffic?
The network traffic is passed to Conductor via a standard mirror port or TAP device. In virtual environments, configuring the virtual switch is all that's needed.
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What load does Conductor put on servers? Does it slow down applications?
Conductor puts ZERO LOAD on servers and has ZERO OVERHEAD on application performance or resource usage due to the fact that there is no agent - not even a log reader - that has to run on managed servers.
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Can Conductor monitor encrypted requests?
Maintaining application and infrastructure security, Conductor can monitor encrypted requests.
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Does Conductor save any sensitive information, such as credit cards?
No. Conductor monitors the performance of transactions by type, not by data being transmitted. There is no reason to retrieve or report on sensitive and/or confidential information.
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How does Conductor work with a firewall?
For Conductor to traverse a firewall, there have to be a few open ports for communications across the firewall, and only the firewalls in the delivery network. Conductor does not need access to the back-end data center network.
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Can B-hive provide an end-to-end implementation solution?
Sure. We can provide as much or as little as the customer needs - hardware, installation support and professional services are all optional.
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