Virtual Index Architecture (VIA)An architectural framework for tackling data sprawl

Introducing VIA

What is VIA? ............................................................................................................. 2

Architectural Principles

Strategic Principles................................................................................................ 3

Non-Disruptive .................................................................................................. 3

VM-Optimized ................................................................................................... 3

Location Independent ................................................................................... 3

Security Integrated ......................................................................................... 4

Data Extensible ................................................................................................. 4

Device Agnostic ................................................................................................ 4

Architectural Overview

The Building Blocks............................................................................................... 5

Universal Index Framework ............................................................ 5

Cross-Indexers ...................................................................................... 6

Security Integrator ............................................................................. 6

Index-Enabled Applications ........................................................... 7

How VIA Works

VIA in Action ............................................................................................................ 7

A Content Virtualization Ecosystem

An Open API Ecosystem .................................................................................... 9

About VirtualWorks .............................................................................................. 9

Table of Contents

1

Two of the greatestinformation trendstoday are the huge

value of digitalinformation within

an organizationand the near

impossibility ofaccessing and using

this informationbecause of data

sprawl.

2

VirtualWorks™ has developed aninnovative enterprise informationframework, the Virtual IndexArchitecture™ (VIA), which promisesto contain and reverse the overloadof information suffered byorganizations of all sizes.

The VIA approach works by indexingall types of data and virtualizing thecontent amassed by companies, soemployees can rapidly and securelyretrieve files from any application,

location or device – whether that

data is structured or unstructured,stored in the cloud, or hosted locally.It provides users with a real-timeimage of the most relevant, business-critical content and a fast, secureway to access it to create moreproductive, nimble and competitiveorganizations.

What is VIA?

The Virtual Index Architecture isa pre-integrated and extensibleframework that defines howVirtualWorks’ content virtualizationsolutions understand and trackcontent across disparate storagearchitectures, applications and datastructures.

It defines the structure, theframework and the logic of ourecosystem and how differentcapabilities are going to bedeveloped, so that we and ourpartners can build great productsthat improve any company’s Returnon Knowledge.

VIA is based on an open, service-oriented architecture that embracesall of a company’s applications anddata stores, while keeping theindexing overhead light. The 64-bitscalable system is engineered toindex both static and dynamic dataand work seamlessly with any SQL-based applications. Corporate dataremains secure when accessed fromany type of device because theframework recognizes and adaptsto any security schema.

The architecture is designed fromthe ground up to make it fast andeasy for developers to create newindex-enabled applications andplug-ins that optimize the valueof information for organizations.

Introducing VIA

VIA is designed fromthe ground up to

make it fast and easyfor developers tocreate new index-

enabled applicationsand plug-ins that

optimize the valueof information for

organizations.

3

Architectural Principles

Strategic Principles

The Virtual Index Architecture is builton a set of core principles that reflectthe tenets of content virtualization,making it a uniquely powerfulsolution for taming data sprawl.The premise behind VIA is simple: todeliver a pre-integrated contentvirtualization platform that makes iteasy to find your data and put it towork across the enterprise.

Non-Disruptive

Creating a Universal Index for theenterprise is not the same as buildingyet another massive data warehouse.In fact, it’s quite the opposite. VIAworks across all applications andplatforms seamlessly without manualtagging, ripping or replacing; justplug and play. VIA leaves contentwhere it naturally lives while makingit available to everyone who needs itand is authorized to see it. Thesystem does not interfere with thefunctioning of applications nor thestructure and integrity of data inperforming its role. It just sits on topof other platforms and existingsecurity systems in a lightweightmodel while building the UniversalIndex dynamically and continuously.

VM Optimized

VIA is based on a distributedarchitecture that’s well suited forvirtual environments. It’s amodularized and scalable approachthat fully parallelizes the UniversalIndex processes. The individualindexing processes are designed as amodular stack and can be spread

across multiple physical or virtualmachines, offices and times of day,making it quick and easy to create,maintain and query a Universal Index.

The entire system can dynamicallyexpand or contract to multiplevirtual hosts as VIA workloadsfluctuate. For instance, when thedemands are greatest, VIA can ‘fanout’ to run workloads on any numberof virtual machines to maximizethroughput, then collapse back toone machine to minimize footprintwhen things slow down.

The system can be managed usingstandard virtual machine tools.This virtual design means VIA ishigh-performance, flexible andmanageable.

Location Independent

VIA is designed to easily integrateany cloud-based application or datastore. Its expandable architectureindexes all data, whether on-premiseor in the cloud, regardless of formatand structure. And VIA is dynamic:if data moves, the Universal Indextracks it without the heavy-liftingof data replication or physicalintegration. For the first time,content can be stored anywhere:behind the firewall, out in the cloudor anywhere in-between.

VIA works across allapplications and

platforms seamlesslywithout manualtagging, ripping

or replacing;just plug and play.

4

Architectural Principles

Security Integrated

VIA doesn’t replace existing securityschema; it’s designed to fullyintegrate directly into it using allexisting rights and privileges acrossthe enterprise. This provides twomajor benefits. First, it automaticallyadapts to whatever securityauthorization model is in place.The index is created within thecontext of the existing securityauthorization model.

Second, the system provides real-timesecurity. Permissions are checkedwhenever the Universal Index isqueried, and you never have tomodify the index even if you updateyour security on the data. All queriesgo through additional securityverification prior to delivery of resultsto the end user, so users will not beable to view documents they aren’tauthorized to see.

VIA currently supports MicrosoftActive Directory security; securityrights and assignments are appliedto all files, databases and shares.Because VIA is service-oriented, itis designed to adapt to any securityauthorization model using simple,fully integrated plug-ins.

Data Extensible

Data never stops evolving. VIAhas been built from the ground upto embrace the new, including newapplications, databases and fileformats, by providing an extensibleindexing framework using non-disruptive plug-ins for any SQL-basedapplication or domain – without

having to extract a copy of the databefore it’s tagged and indexed.

VIA uses Cross-Indexers to capturethe data schema of SQL applicationsand to plug them into the UniversalIndex. Cross-Indexers are standard,pre-integrated programs that tellthe Universal Index how to act byshowing them where the datatargets are by creating searchablede-normalized data records. Theyunderstand the context of the datainside each application, so theknowledge inside is usable by theUniversal Index. That’s what makesthe Universal Index so extensible,embracing all data types and fileformats, structured andunstructured.

Device Agnostic

VIA’s plug-in structure means anynew device and platforms can besupported – physical, virtual,distributed and mobile – withoutchanging the core engine. VIA canbe expanded to leverage the nativefeatures of any platform includingWindows, Mac, iOS, Android andmore, so any user and any devicecan harness the power of contentvirtualization.

Architectural Overview

5

The building blocksVIA is architected specifically toaddress the challenges posed bydata sprawl in the enterprise througha layered architecture that makesextensive use of Cross-Indexers andPlug-ins. The architecture has fourkey ingredients:

Universal Index Framework

A critical component of the VirtualIndex Architecture is the core indexitself. This index becomes the unifierfor all information by understanding

the inner workings of eachapplication and mapping out theentirety of an enterprise’s contentrepository.

Known as the Universal Index, thiscore index engine makes up theheart of the VIA framework andmakes data easily accessible,regardless of format or structure.Content can be stored anywhere –behind the firewall, in the cloud oranywhere in-between and still bepart of a Universal Index.

6

Architectural Overview

The indexing framework implementsthe collection, interpretation andindexing of data on a real-time,continuous basis. The framework isfully distributed, so pieces of it canrun locally, in remote data centers orup in the cloud. It is also fullyparallelizable, so you can havedifferent subsystems collecting datathat can be spun out and operate inmultiple physical or virtual machines.VIA’s indexing framework is platformagnostic and provides support for allmajor platforms, virtualizationsystems and applications. Importantly,the framework is standardized andpre-integrated, allowing it to easily beextended by value-added resellers fornew data types or security schema.

Cross-Indexers

Modular Cross-Indexers understandthe structure and meta-data ofspecific applications and are used toplug any SQL-based application intothe Universal Index without customintegration.

They operate as subsystems that dealwith specific applications, applicationtypes, files or file types; their role is tomap the application data schema intoa small set of record types that canbe queried. The schema mappersinside a Cross-Indexer maps andflattens data, building records foreach piece of data, which it thensends to the Universal Index.

All Cross-Indexers are standardizedand pre-integrated and forward-compatible with new versions ofVIA indexing frameworks. As aresult, Cross-Indexers can easily beinstalled, fine-tuned and maintainedby value-added resellers.

Security Integrator

The collection and construction ofthe Universal Index is performedwith ‘Super User” privileges.However, nobody can get data outof the index unless they have theright security credentials to accessit. User credentials are checked atrun time before any element of datais passed along. This ensures theplatform conforms to whateverunderlying security systems alreadyhave in place. The architecture isbased on a real-time and continuoussecurity model.

VIA supports Active Directory andLDAP today, but it is designed toadapt to any security authorizationmodel using simple, fully integratedsecurity plug-ins. This extensibleapproach embraces new securityschema as they emerge, withoutexpensive re-integration.

Cross-Indexersunderstand the

structure and meta-data of specificapplications andare used to plugany SQL-based

application into theUniversal Indexwithout custom

integration.

7

Architectural Overview

Index-Enabled Applications

A trusted, all-inclusive index that’smaintained dynamically opens up anew world of applications thatcouldn’t exist without a UniversalIndex. Once the data is indexed,VIA opens up a whole new set ofoptions for securely accessingcontent across a variety of locationsand devices to increase employeeproductivity and information insight.

These Index-Enabled applications cando powerful things with enterprisecontent, allowing users andadministrators to:

• Find it – using next generationenterprise search to search acrossall applications and file stores inone-step

• Secure it – based on totalinformation visibility by monitoring,modelling and managing securityaccess

• Inventory it – to make betterresourcing decisions

• De-dupe it – to improve dataquality enterprise-wide

• Manage it – to increase the valueand available of your content whilemanaging its impact on yourinfrastructure

• Learn about it – to gain insight intohow people use knowledge as anindicator of performance, providingearly insight into important trendsand issues

VIA in ActionVIA inserts a virtual content layerabove an enterprise’s data silos toindex every application, map everycontent store and record allmetadata into a single UniversalIndex. The index is federated acrossthe enterprise and is available tousers and administrators, so they cansecurely find and access everythingfrom anywhere without leaving theirapplication or device.

Here’s a quick snapshot of the VirtualIndex Architecture in action:

1. Leave content where it lives.Unlike complex systems that tryto impose a structure on dataor new processes on users,VIA lets data stay where itnaturallylives but indexes it for easy access.All data is left intact on its originaldata source with no movement ofdata, no disruption of source dataand no manual tagging of datatypes.

2. Content virtualization layerattaches to all data silos.VIA crawls data sources in anon- disruptive manner, usingless than one percent of availablebandwidth. The engine convertsthis indexed data into a usableformat for any applicationpowered by the Universal Index.This converted data element isplaced into the Universal Indexand becomes usable by anyauthorized application.

Once the data isindexed, VIA opens

up a whole newset of options for

securely accessingcontent across a

variety of locationsand devices to

increase employeeproductivity and

information insight.

8

How VIA Works

3. Cross-Indexers grow the UniversalIndex. VIA embraces newapplications, databases and fileformats through the simpleaddition of Cross-Indexers, astandardized component thatquickly plugs any application ordata element into the UniversalIndex.

4. Policy-driven securityinfrastructure performs real-timeauthentication. VIA integrates withActive Directory and otherauthentication systems for secureaccess control. Permissions arechecked whenever the UniversalIndex is queried, so users onlyview documents they areauthorized to see.

5. All content is federated into asingle user interface. VIAprovides single-point access to allenterprise data stores, structuredand unstructured, on premise orin the cloud, without leaving yourapplication or device.

6. Index-Enabled Applicationsoptimize the value of indexeddata – whether for reporting,auditing, search or even creatingnew applications based upon acommon index.

A Content Virtualization Ecosystem

9

An Open API Ecosystem

VIA embodies a rich set of APIsavailable to applications, whichVirtualWorks is using to develop arange of Index-Enabled Applications.In addition, we will publish the APIs,so third-parties can develop value-add applications and plug-ins for theplatform that improve any company’sReturn on Knowledge.

About VirtualWorks

VirtualWorks is pioneering a newsoftware category called contentvirtualization that breaks down thewalls between application silos toease data sprawl and deliver a moreproductive end-user computingexperience. Headquartered in BocaRaton, FL, with offices in Norway, thecompany is led by Ed Iacobucci, aprominent high-tech entrepreneurand co-founder of Citrix Systems.

The company’s technology iscurrently used by more 300 privateand public sector organizations inNorway, Sweden and the UnitedStates to unleash the power ofinformation no matter where itresides within the organization.For more information, please visitwww.virtualworks.com.

VirtualWorks is ledby Ed Iacobucci,

a prominent high-tech entrepreneur

and co-founderof Citrix Systems.

World Headquarters5301 N. Federal HighwaySuite 190Boca Raton, FL 33487561.327.4900 X106

www.VirtualWorks.com

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