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VMware Unveils Industry’s Most Comprehensive Cloud Infrastructure and Management Solution

VMware Unveils Industry’s Most Comprehensive Cloud Infrastructure and Management Solution

VMware vCloud® Suite 5.1 Delivers the Software-Defined Datacenter

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 27, 2012 —Onstage at VMworld® 2012 today, VMware unveiled a comprehensive solution of cloud infrastructure and management  products, expertise and ecosystem support to help customers drive greater efficiency and improve operational agility.  At the heart of today’s announcement is the new VMware vCloud® Suite 5.1 – the first solution to deliver the software-defined datacenter. The vCloud suite integrates VMware’s leading virtualization, cloud infrastructure and management portfolio into a single SKU, simplifying the adoption of cloud era technologies. 

“Today at VMworld®, VMware and its partners are taking a bold step toward simplifying IT, offering customers everything they need to build, operate and manage their cloud environments,” said Paul Maritz, VMware CEO. “The VMware vCloud® Suite delivers the software-defined datacenter – the architecture for implementing cloud computing.”

The software-defined datacenter delivers on the promise of cloud computing for agile, elastic, efficient, and reliable IT services by extending the benefits of virtualization to every domain in the datacenter – compute, storage, networking, and the associated availability and security services.  The software-defined datacenter architecture abstracts all hardware resources and pools them into aggregate capacity, enabling automation to safely and efficiently dole it out as needed for applications. Tenants or customers utilizing the software-defined datacenter can have their own virtual datacenters with a logically isolated collection of all the virtual compute, storage, networking and security resources they are used to. 

“Today’s IT requires organizations to take a holistic approach to planning, building and operating their infrastructure, especially as we move into this new era of cloud computing,” said Don Henderson, Chief Technology Officer, NYSE Technologies. “At NYSE Euronext, not only have we embraced cloud computing as a foundation for our corporate IT strategy, we’re extending that value to financial services organizations looking to modernize their individual IT operations, leveraging VMware cloud technology and expertise to offer the financial industry’s first community cloud.”

Introducing the VMware vCloud Suite: The first solution for the software-defined datacenter

By recasting every layer of datacenter infrastructure into software services running across pools of industry standard hardware, the VMware vCloud Suite will simplify and automate operations while ensuring application service levels for even the most resource-intensive business critical applications. The VMware vCloud Suite 5.1 brings together the components customers need to build, operate and manage cloud infrastructure – virtualization, software-defined datacenter services, policy-based provisioning, disaster recovery, and application and operations management:

  • VMware vSphere® 5.1 – The proven platform for any application
    The foundation of the VMware vCloud Suite is an updated version of the world’s most widely deployed virtualization platform, which includes more than 100 enhancements and new features to deliver the highest service levels for all applications, including business-critical workloads and low-latency, I/O-sensitive applications. Key advancements in VMware vSphere 5.1 include more powerful VMs, more innovations to help customers avoid unplanned downtime and more robust networking capabilities. 

VMware vSphere 5.1 will support virtual machines (VMs) with up to 64 virtual CPUs.  To keep these VMs running 24/7, VMware has enhanced VMware vMotion® to enable live migration of VMs without the need for shared storage.  VMware vSphere 5.1 also introduces new VMware vSphere Data Protection™ for simplified, reliable VM back-up and recovery, VMware vSphere Replicationfor cost-effective disaster protection, and VMware vShield Endpoint™ for more efficient VM security.

VMware vSphere 5.1 will also include key enhancements to the VMware vSphere Distributed Switch™,including the ability to support up to 500 networked hosts per distributed switch.  With new Network Health Check, Configuration Backup and Restore, Roll-Back and Recovery capabilities, VMware vSphere 5.1 Distributed Switch simplifies deployment, ongoing management and troubleshooting of virtual networks.  In addition, VMware vSphere 5.1 now supports single-root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV) to optimize network performance for latency sensitive applications.
Learn more about new features in VMware vSphere 5.1.

  • VMware vCloud Director® 5.1 – Provision  virtual datacenters in minutes
    At the heart of the VMware vCloud Suite is a set of software-defined datacenter services which apply the virtualization principles of abstraction, pooling and automation to the domains of storage, networking, security and availability. VMware vCloud Director orchestrates the provisioning of these services to deliver complete virtual datacenters (VDCs) that can be ready for consumption in minutes. VMware vCloud Director 5.1 includes major scalability enhancements, enabling it to support “elastic” VDCs that span multiple VMware vSphere clusters and up to 30,000 VMs. VMware vCloud Director 5.1 has enhanced APIs and an extensibility framework that enables customers to connect a broad range of third-party infrastructure services. 
    Learn more about new features in VMware vCloud Director 5.1.
  • VMware vCloud Networking and Security 5.1 – Redefine the network
    With the introduction of the vCloud Suite, VMware is delivering a leading software defined networking and security solution to address one of the final barriers to achieving the agility of cloud computing – the network.  VMware vCloud Networking and Security will enable the dynamic creation of virtual networks and services that are completely decoupled and independent from the physical network hardware. 

vCloud Networking and Security will allow customers to create logical networks for each application or tenant, and it can isolate the network traffic between applications belonging to the same organization – regardless of physical network constraints or boundaries. By creating a pool of network capacity on top of any network hardware, vCloud Networking and Security can easily support tens of thousands of isolated virtual networks with the simplicity and operational ease of creating and managing VMs.

VMware vCloud Networking and Security will bring together the VXLAN protocol and VMware vShield Edge™ and application security services to provide a full set of software-defined networking capabilities, and a comprehensive solution lineup for virtualizing the network – from virtual switching to virtualized layer 4-7 services.  It will also include an extensibility framework to support the integration of a wide range of third-party network and security solutions.
Learn more about VMware vCloud Networking and Security.

  • vCenter Site Recovery Manager™ 5.1 – Automate disaster recovery for all applications
    To ensure the availability and rapid recovery of applications running in the software-defined datacenter, vCenter Site Recovery Manager 5.1 simplifies disaster recovery planning and ensures predictable recovery through automated testing and plan execution. VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager 5.1 can also support datacenter migrations and disaster avoidance.  It integrates with VMware vSphere Replication and a broad range of replication technologies from VMware’s partners. VMware vCenter Site Recovery manager is supported by an expanding ecosystem of service providers offering “disaster recovery to the cloud” services that enable customers to benefit from vCenter Site Recovery Manager’s industry leading disaster recovery without having to invest in failover infrastructure.
    Learn more about new features in vCenter Site Recovery Manager 5.1.

As the datacenter becomes software-driven, customers have the opportunity to simplify and automate management and operations to achieve the efficiency and agility of cloud computing.  The VMware vCloud Suite includes vFabric Application Director™, vCenter Operations Management Suite™ and vCloud Connector™ to speed application provisioning, move workloads between clouds, and bring intelligent automation to capacity planning, performance and compliance management.

“Most private cloud implementations will build from a virtualization foundation – virtualizing compute, storage, networking and availability to create pools of resources – helping to reduce capital costs and the cost of operations and, most importantly, enable faster service delivery,” said Tom Bittman, VP and Distinguished Analyst, Gartner.  

Broad Industry Support for the VMware vCloud Suite

VMware’s partner community, more than 55,000 strong, continues to be a central part of delivering VMware’s cloud solutions to customers. The new VMware vCloud Suite will be supported by a broad range of partners including technology partners and independent software vendors (ISVs), solution providers, service providers and systems integrators, as well as every major global hardware manufacturer. Read what partners are saying about the new VMware vCloud Suite.

New VMware Services and IP to help Customers Operate in the Cloud Era

VMware today also announced new Cloud Ops Intellectual Property (IP) and advisory, transformation and education services.  Based on VMware’s experience helping hundreds of clients worldwide navigate through the complex decisions around building, running and optimizing public and private cloud environments, Cloud Ops has emerged as a new operating model where IT shifts from a reactive, tactical relationship with the business to the role of a strategic partner, helping broker critical, value-added services across an organization.
Read the Press Release: VMware Defines New Operating Model for the Cloud Era

Pricing & Availability

The VMware vCloud Suite will be licensed per processer with no core, vRAM or number of VM limits.  Customers can get the entire set of cloud infrastructure and management capabilities – virtualization, software-defined datacenter services, policy-based provisioning, disaster recovery, application management and operations management – in one easy-to-purchase offering. 

The VMware vCloud Suite 5.1 is expected to be available Sept. 11, 2012.  It will be offered in three editions – Standard, Advanced and Enterprise – and includes the following products: VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus, VMware vCloud Director, VMware vCloud Connector, VMware vCloud Networking and Security, VMware vFabric Application Director, VMware vCenter Operations Management Suite and VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager.  Prices will start at $4,995 per processor.
Read the vCloud Suite Pricing and Packaging whitepaper
Go to VMware vCloud Suite Editions/Buy page

For a limited time, VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus customers will be able to upgrade to VMware vCloud Suite 5.1 Standard for free or upgrade to vCloud Suite 5.1 Enterprise at 35 percent off the list price.

VMware today is also announcing it has enhanced its offerings for Small and Midsize Business, significantly extending the capabilities of VMware vSphere Essentials Plus and introducing VMware vSphere 5.1 Standard with Operations Management.
Read the Press Release: VMware Introduces Enhanced Offerings for Small and Midsize Businesses

Additional Resources

About VMware

VMware is the leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable businesses to thrive in the Cloud Era. Customers rely on VMware to help them transform the way they build, deliver and consume Information Technology resources in a manner that is evolutionary and based on their specific needs. With 2011 revenues of $3.77 billion, VMware has more than 400,000 customers and 55,000 partners. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements including, among other things, statements regarding the potential benefits, planned features, partner support and expected availability of the vCloud Suite 5.1 and the expected benefits to customers. These forward-looking statements are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to: (i) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (ii) delays or reductions in consumer or information technology spending; (iii) competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures, industry consolidation, entry of new competitors into the virtualization market, and new product and marketing initiatives by our competitors; (iv) our customers' ability to develop, and to transition to, new products and computing strategies such as cloud computing and desktop virtualization; (v) the uncertainty of customer acceptance of emerging technology; (vi) rapid technological and market changes in virtualization software and platforms for cloud and desktop computing; (vii) changes to product development timelines; (viii) VMware's ability to protect its proprietary technology; and (ix) VMware's ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees. These forward looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in condition, significance, value and effect as well as other risks detailed in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K that we may file from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. VMware assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.


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VMware, VMware vSphere, vCloud Director, VMware vCloud, vSphere Data Protection, vShield Endpoint, vSphere Distributed Switch, vCenter Site Recovery Manager, vFabric Application Director, vCenter Operations Management Suite, vCloud Connector and VMworld are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective organizations. The use of the word "partner" or "partnership" does not imply a legal partnership relationship between VMware and any other company.