VMware Platform Enables Franklin Institute to Reduce Capital and Operating Expenses, Improve Business Continuity
Renowned Museum Virtualizes Heterogeneous Microsoft and Apple Infrastructure, Simplifies IT Management and Reduces Datacenter Footprint
PALO ALTO, Calif. – May 12, 2009 -- VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop to the datacenter, today announced that The Franklin Institute (“The Franklin”) has deployed several components of the VMware platform, including the industry-leading virtualization and management suite, VMware Infrastructure 3, to reduce the hardware requirements in its datacenter, improve the flexibility and resiliency of its IT systems, and reduce its operating expenses.
The Franklin is a leader in science and technology learning. It is one of the world’s most respected museums and hosts more than 1.25 million visitors annually. The Franklin has embraced virtualization as a way to work smarter and more efficiently. To date, approximately 50 percent of its Windows-based systems have been virtualized, including its mission-critical ticketing application, its systems for managing catering and traveling exhibits, and its donor and membership databases. In addition to Windows-based systems, The Franklin is running Mac OS X on Apple Xserve hardware in its datacenter. The Franklin has deployed VMware Fusion on its Xserves to host virtualized Windows environments on its Mac systems. This enables The Franklin to run a unified backup system that protects data on both Windows and Mac OS X-based servers.
“Virtualization has so many benefits, from flexibility to cost savings to reliability,” said Paul Ricchiuti, vice president of information technology at The Franklin. “The VMware platform allows us to take advantage of all those benefits. We’re saving thousands by eliminating many hardware purchases. We’ve reduced our datacenter floor space.. Thanks to VMware’s toolset, a single person can manage our entire virtualized environment. It was a clear choice to go with VMware, and we’re continuing to expand our use of virtualization. Today, one of the first questions we ask before deploying any new software is whether we can virtualize it on the VMware platform.”
The Franklin is using a variety of VMware management tools to maximize the ROI from its investment in virtualization. The Franklin has deployed VMware vCenter™ Site Recovery Manager to streamline and automate much of its disaster recovery process as part of eliminating its reliance on tape backups for disaster recovery altogether. The Franklin is using VMware vCenter™ Server as its centralized management console, and tools like VMware VMotion™ are providing high availability to help ensure business continuity.
Among the many commercial applications The Franklin has virtualized on the VMware platform are Microsoft Active Directory, Exchange, SharePoint and SQL Server. The Franklin has also virtualized business intelligence solutions from Actuate and a helpdesk system from HelpSTAR.
“Before we implemented the VMware platform, we looked at Microsoft, Virtual Iron and other offerings,” said Ricchiuti. “Two things really stood out when we evaluated VMware. First, its technology is far ahead of other virtualization platforms. It’s more comprehensive, more reliable and offers innovative management tools. Second, VMware’s technical support staff are extremely impressive. They helped us get up to speed quickly and helped us understand virtualization best practices.”
About VMware
VMware (NYSE: VMW) is the global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop to the datacenter. Customers of all sizes rely on VMware to reduce capital and operating expenses, ensure business continuity, strengthen security and go green. With 2008 revenues of $1.9 billion, more than 130,000 customers and more than 22,000 partners, VMware is one of the fastest growing public software companies. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, VMware is majority owned by EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC). For more information, visit www.vmware.com.
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