With all my blogging about the XIV Gen3, I am sure there are 2nd Generation XIV users out there thinking: Whats in it for me? I already bought an XIV! So for all of you, I have some really cool news: Release 3.0 of the GUI is coming and it will work with your machine.
The current XIV GUI (as of this writing) is version 2.4.4 Build 3:
When we start shipping Gen3 XIVs in September we will also release new GUI software at the same time. This new GUI (release 3.0) will work with both 2nd Generation XIVs as well as Gen3 XIVs. I currently have a pre-release (beta) version so the final release may look slightly different. Swish huh?
Any changes? Here are a few I have spotted so far (I am not going to list them all):
Binary volume sizes can now be selected at volume creation time. It even uses my preferred terminology (GiB as well as GB). In addition a re-sizable box shows the space being used in the pool by this new volume (or volumes).
Simplified access to demo mode (no need to know the quirky p10demomode userid):
You can now easily spot the interface modules as they are highlighted.
Improved module health display showing module temperature. I was initially not amused when the temperature came up in Fahrenheit, but all you do is click on the temperature and it changes to Centigrade (and remembers your preference). Which is cool.
Revamped pool creation and information displays. Check out the pool titled Thin Pool, it's wearing a bright yellow belt to show it's a thin provisioned pool. The wording used for pool usage has also been improved. Nice!
There are some clever changes to the statistics panel such as simplified sliders and cool changes to the way you can manage the displayed time scale in multiple windows.
There are lots of other subtle changes too, particularly around multi-systems management and alerting, including a separate Alerts panel and new pop-ups for hardware failures. I could keep going for some time.... You will not be disappointed. They have taken a great GUI and made it even better.
Now in case you're rushing to download it, let me be clear: This new GUI is not available yet and anything I have shown you is subject to change. As soon as you can download it I will let you know.
