VMware has unveiled a raft of updates to vCloud Suite 5.1, its new cloud and virtualisation management platform.
Although it was only introduced at VMworld in San Francisco in August this year, the company has used the European leg of its flagship conference to reveal a large number of updates.
Perhaps most significant is the integration of the automation technology VMware got when it acquired DynamicOps earlier in 2012. The DynamicOps technology is being integrated into vCloud as vCloud Automation Centre. VMware says this will enable what it calls policy-based provisioning. Rather than waiting for IT to approve requests, the application can automatically check against existing policies and provide approval.
The application can work across public and private clouds, as well as physical infrastructure and non-VMware deployments.
Part of this includes the introduction of management capabilities for multiple hypervisors, including offerings from rivals such as Microsoft’s Hyper-V. It was introduced by VMware CTO Stephen Herrod, who said the company, "recognises that there are other hypervisors that are popping up and being used for testing or something else. For the first time you can manage all hypervisors from one place. We want to have a single pane of glass to be able to look at all different parts of your data centre."
Other updates to vCloud Suite 5.1 include vFabric Application Director 5.0. This provides pre-approved operating system, middleware and application components to speed up the deployment of applications and the subsequent management throughout its lifecycle. This update expands support to include all Microsoft packaged applications, such as SharePoint, Exchange and SQL Server.
Next up is VMware Business Management Suite 7.5, which enables IT to monitor and analyse the performance and cost of the company’s entire cloud environment, including the infrastructure, application and end-user devices, VMware said. This update introduces a bench-marking module, which lets IT compare its performance with pre-set industry metrics.
VMware has also updated Cloud Connector. Version 2.0 enables businesses to transfer virtual machines between public and private vCloud environments as well as syncing data between the two.
Finally updates to vCenter Operations Management Suite 5.6 improve its ability to offer insight and analysis into exactly what is occurring in a company’s cloud environment. It also offers best practice advice, VMware said.
The updates to vCloud Suite 5.1 are expected to be made available during the final quarter of 2012. The company said prices will start at $4,995 per processor, with no core, vRAM or number of VM limits.
These updates are part of VMware’s push towards a software-defined data centre, which new CEO Pat Gelsinger spoke about during his keynote address at VMworld Europe 2012.
