ZStack Cloud 5.5.0 Released: Fully Upgrading the O&M Experience

ZStack recently officially released ZStack Cloud 5.5.0. This upgrade is more than just a collection of new features; it is a targeted optimization designed for typical O&M (Operations and Maintenance) and operational scenarios, addressing the efficiency bottlenecks and resource allocation challenges faced in real-world environments.

Key Features

Enhanced VM O&M Efficiency: Supports batch migration of Virtual Machines (VMs), batch online modification of VM console passwords, and batch configuration of VM console modes, significantly boosting O&M efficiency.

Boosted Cloud Network Performance: Enables dynamic slicing and restoration of SR-IOV Virtual Functions (VF) under Dual-NIC Bond mode. This increases network throughput to meet the demands of extreme performance scenarios like HPC and NFV without sacrificing redundancy.

Flexible Cloud Storage Combinations: Supports the combination and live migration between CBD (Cloud Block Device) and multiple storage types within the same cluster to achieve an optimal balance of cost and performance. It also supports multiple pools and over-provisioning for CBD storage, improving management flexibility and resource utilization.

Strengthened Operations Management: Enables flexible sharing and scheduling of a single software license across multiple cloud platforms, significantly reducing the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for multi-center enterprise deployments.

Feature Highlights

I. VM Operations: From “One-by-One” to “Batch & Seamless”

Traditional hardware maintenance, storage expansion, or cluster load rebalancing require migrating VMs individually—a tedious process with long maintenance windows.

Batch VM Migration: Administrators can select a group of VMs and complete migration tasks in one go, drastically reducing the impact time and operational risks of planned maintenance.

Online Console Password Modification: Previously, modifying a VM console password required a reboot, affecting business continuity. The new version allows password changes to take effect immediately, balancing security hardening with service availability.

Batch Configuration of Console Parameters: Users can now update console passwords and modes for multiple VMs or network devices simultaneously, reducing the risk of human configuration errors.

Support for vCenter 8.0: Seamlessly integrates with the latest VMware v8.0, protecting existing virtualization investments and enabling smooth migration to the cloud platform.

II. Cloud Networking: High Performance Meets High Availability

In production environments, critical services often face a trade-off between avoiding single points of failure and achieving near-hardware forwarding performance.

High Availability for SDN Instances (Cluster Mode): The new version supports multi-node clusters with anti-affinity policies. Even if a single physical machine fails, network control services remain operational, ensuring high availability for the network control plane.

SR-IOV Slicing/Restoration on Dual-NIC Bonds: While traditional bonding provides redundancy at the cost of performance, and SR-IOV provides performance but lacks redundancy, ZStack Cloud 5.5.0 bridges this gap. Critical network components like VPC routers can now enjoy the low latency and high throughput of hardware pass-through while maintaining link-level failover capabilities.

Visualized Traffic Monitoring for VPC Routers: Previously, the lack of visual monitoring for VPC routers made it difficult to understand real-time traffic. The new version provides over ten fine-grained monitoring metrics (speed, packet count, dropped packets, error packets, etc.), turning network O&M from a “black box” into a “white box” for rapid troubleshooting.

III. Cloud Storage: Flexible Combinations and Fine-Grained Management

More Storage Combinations in a Single Cluster: Breaking previous limitations, the new version allows more mixed storage types within the same cluster to match different workloads:1 CBD Primary Storage + Multiple Shared Block Primary Storages.

1 CBD Primary Storage + Multiple Local Storage Primary Storages.
1 CBD Primary Storage + 1 Ceph Primary Storage.
1 Vhost Primary Storage + Multiple Shared Block Primary Storages.
1 Ceph Primary Storage + Multiple NFS Primary Storages.

CBD Primary Storage Enhancements: Supports adding multiple storage pools for more flexible management and allows users to set over-provisioning ratios to maximize physical storage utilization.

Customizable Disk Provisioning for Cross-SharedBlock Migration: When migrating across SharedBlock primary storage, users can define the disk provisioning type post-migration. This ensures the continuity of storage policies and prevents capacity or performance issues caused by provisioning changes.

IV. Operations Management Enhancements

Cross-Platform Shared Licensing: For enterprises running multiple ZStack Cloud environments, the new version allows these platforms to be linked to share a unified license pool, optimizing asset utilization across environments.

Multi-Currency Billing Support: In addition to the existing 12 currencies, new regional options including the UAE Dirham (AED), Singapore Dollar (SGD), and Thai Baht (THB) have been added to support the localized financial operations of multinational corporations.

Conclusion

Every update of ZStack Cloud stems from our deep insight into and response to real-world O&M scenarios. We believe that the value of technology lies in solving practical problems and improving efficiency. Moving forward, we will continue to uphold our core philosophy of “Simple, Strong, Scalable, and Smart,” ensuring that ZStack Cloud remains the most reliable and efficient foundation for enterprise digital transformation.