FAQs
Why is the company called B-hive?
The name B-hive is driven from the analogy of a data center to a bee-hive. Existing data centers are a static, expensive and non-efficient service delivery system. B-hive delivers software that makes data centers as efficient as the inner structure of the hive with its hexagon cells (nature's example of cost-efficiency) and as predictable in their service levels as your average worker bee.
[top]
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 learns virtual environments and the applications working inside them along with the path each business service or user call takes through the infrastructure. Conductor auto-determines baseline performance and usage of each business service 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 under minimal cost structure.
[top]
How does Conductor work?
Standard, non-intrusive, measuring technology allows Conductor to see user and application requests without the need to be part of the OS, middleware or application code. By listening to traffic on virtual and physical switches, Conductor is able to map applications and business services flows through the infrastructure including the path each took through the environment, the request origin, the performance of the request (across each tier), and more.
[top]
What is a Virtual Appliance?
A virtual appliance is a new model of software delivery. It is a hybrid of the old software and appliance models and provides the best of both worlds by incorporating the low cost of distribution (downloadable) of software with the low-cost of implementation of an appliance. A virtual appliance takes the software code and its surrounding OS and wraps them in a virtual machine that is ready to work out of the box with zero configuration on any machine in the data center. [learn more]
[top]
Can I try Conductor out first?
Yes, we encourage you to download a trial edition of our virtual appliance right now and see how your infrastructure and the applications running on, are being used and performing in a matter of minutes.
[top]
How difficult is the Conductor 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 as another host on your virtual infrastructure and let it listen to traffic coming from the virtual or physical switch.
3) Sit back, relax and let Conductor do its magic.
[top]
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 showing a map of logical flows through your infrastructure, reporting on normal behavior (baselines) and showing details about the application usage and performance. 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.
[top]
How does Conductor fit in my environment?
Conductor can run in the managed environment in 2 different ways:
- As a Virtual Appliance that runs as another host in VMware or Xen Server virtual environments
- As a virtual appliance running on any physical server that can see network traffic
[top]
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 to complement their silo level information with its unique end-to-end infrastructure to application view point.
[top]
Are there any Operating System limitations?
There are NONE! Conductor monitors traffic on anything from Linux to AIX to mainframes.
[top]
How does Conductor map the application infrastructure?
Conductor does deep packet inspection and uses proprietary algorithms to map application pathways.
[top]
How does Conductor "see" traffic?
The network traffic is passed to Conductor via a virtual switch through a simple configuration change (one click) or by listening to the physical network via a span port or a tap point.
[top]
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.
[top]
Can Conductor monitor encrypted requests?
Maintaining application and infrastructure security, Conductor can monitor encrypted requests.
[top]
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.
[top]
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.
[top]
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.
[top]
| 
