VKernel was launched last year to help IT departments track usage of VMware servers and charge business units for the virtual resources they consume. The startup's Capacity Bottleneck Analyzer, which handles the first part of that problem, is due to ship later this week.

InformationWeek reviewed VKernel's Capacity and Chargeback Virtual Appliance last October. At the time, as the product's name implied, the capacity management and chargeback capabilities were part of the same virtual appliance.

Since then, VKernel decided to sell them separately: Its Cost Visibility and Chargeback virtual appliance has been available since November; the Capacity Bottleneck Analyzer virtual appliance becomes generally available on April 11.

Enterprise IT research firm The 451 Group last week published a report on VKernel in which it pointed out the fundamental need for chargeback in "cloud" computing. "VKernel is playing in what we believe is about to become one of the hottest markets in IT," writes analyst Rachel Chalmer. She adds:

Virtual servers are multiplying. Customers that two years ago stayed up worrying about Windows server sprawl are now worried about VM sprawl. You can't do back-of-the-envelope calculations of costs based on the number of physical servers anymore. Traditional funding and allocation processes are becoming obsolete. VKernel correctly identifies the resulting mess as its opportunity.

VKernel's products ship as lightweight virtual appliances with a minimal user interface. They're built to yield near-immediate returns on investment, with little administration and no framework required.

VKernel's Capacity Bottleneck Analyzer monitors CPU, memory, and storage utilization trends in VMware's ESX. The Visibility and Chargeback virtual appliance comes with default chargeback rates and a chargeback calculator.

The 451 Group report on VKernel is available here to subscribers.

Last month, VKernel disclosed that it has raised $4.6 billion in first-round funding from Hummer Winblad and Polaris Venture Partners. The funds will go toward product development, sales, and marketing.