VMware Infrastructure 3 Named the #1 Product for Building the New Data Center

Industry’s Most Robust Virtualization Software Suite Recognized for Being Innovative and Enterprise-Shifting

PALO ALTO, Calif., February 21, 2007— VMware, Inc., the global leader in software for industry-standard virtualized desktops and servers, today announced that Network World has named VMware Infrastructure 3 the #1 product for building the New Data Center. Network World defines the New Data Center as the next-generation infrastructure that is automated, virtualized, flexible, modular and knows no perimeters.

VMware Infrastructure 3 is the only third-generation virtualization software suite on the market today. The first generation of virtualization provided simple server partitioning through a hypervisor or hosted architecture. The second generation added management, capacity planning, a physical-to-virtual (P2V) assistant and other tools for consolidating production servers.

The third generation, VMware Infrastructure 3, ushered in a new era for data centers enabling customers to transform IT service levels, simplify and automate their infrastructure and deploy virtualization pervasively across their entire environments. The suite is designed to deliver comprehensive virtualization, management, resource optimization, application availability and operational automation capabilities in an integrated offering.

A 2006 survey completed by more than 1,800 VMware customers indicates that VMware Infrastructure 3 has gained momentum and has been deployed pervasively as an integral component of IT infrastructure strategies:

43 percent of customers surveyed are currently standardizing on VMware Infrastructure
61 percent of customers surveyed expect to virtualize more than half of their x86 servers within three years
32 percent of customers surveyed had already upgraded to VMware Infrastructure 3 within four months of its general availability, and another 45 percent stated that they plan to upgrade by June 2007

“Few New Data Center architects need an introduction to VMware server-virtualization software, but some might not be familiar yet with the latest version—VMware Infrastructure 3, which offers increased power for virtual machines, upping the symmetric multiprocessor support from two to four processors and increasing the overall memory limit from 4GB to 16GB,” said Joanne Cummings of Network World. “Additionally, VMware Infrastructure 3 rounds out storage support with iSCSI and network-attached storage interfaces.”

Cummings continued: “The VirtualCenter management tool also has become significantly better with the new release. It now supports resource-pooling and automated distribution of server and storage resources on the fly. Plus, it now includes a distributed-resource scheduler that load-balances and distributes resources to virtual machines, and VMware HA, a high-availability feature that moves and restarts virtual machines off failed hardware.”

Longtime user Bruce McMillan, manager of emerging technologies at Solvay Pharmaceuticals in Marietta, Ga., said he especially likes the latter feature. "In the past, if an ESX Server went down, I'd have to go into VirtualCenter and manually start up another one," McMillan said. "With VMware Infrastructure 3 and HA, it's all automated. That's huge."

“VMware Infrastructure 3 provides a flexible platform offering customers the value and services they need to face an ever-changing IT landscape,” said Raghu Raghuram, vice president of product and solutions marketing at VMware. “Being named to this list validates that our technology enables our customers to innovate and grow. VMware Infrastructure has evolved beyond achieving the industry’s best server consolidation ratios to providing system infrastructure services for availability, resource management, data protection and optimized management and automation tools. It is truly an IT enabler, providing a flexible platform for meeting IT goals, from simplified desktop deployments, to fail-proof disaster recovery strategies.”

More information on the Network World New Data Center awards can be found at http://www.networkworld.com/supp/2007/ndc1/021907-ndc-best-of-products.html.

About Network World

Network World, a leader in network knowledge, empowers network IT executives through education, information and community. Network World, an IDG company, is a leading provider of news, analysis, reviews, events and education on information technology. Network World publishes the leading newsweekly, hosts an active online community and produces educational seminars and events worldwide.

About VMware, Inc.

VMware, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC), is the global leader in virtual infrastructure software for industry-standard systems. The world's largest companies use VMware solutions to simplify their IT, fully leverage their existing computing investments and respond faster to changing business demands. VMware is based in Palo Alto, California. For more information, visit www.vmware.com or call 650-475-5000.

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