VMware has announced the first update to its vSphere 6.5, making it generally available.

The update includes VSAN 6.61, adding new features such as the update manager integration. This also includes performance diagnostics in VSAN Cloud Analytics, which has been embedded to analyse the performance of “a given VSAN cluster against previously executed benchmarks,” according to VMware.

This stands as the company’s first major update of vSphere 6.5 since it was released in November 2016.

The offering focuses on providing support for customers that may experience challenges during digital transformation of their business. The key capabilities include a simplified customer experience, built-in security, universal app platform and proactive data centre management.

By using the latest version, customers are provided with operational efficiency and a faster time to market, while also being equipped with secure data and infrastructure.

Read more:VMware targets hybrid cloud with vSphere launch

It also includes support for traditional and next-generation apps, which aids to customers that may be transforming their business as well as those that want to remain centred with their current systems. Both require scaled infrastructure, which has now been expanded onto the product for a wider coverage on its workload model.

According to VMware, users of the product can now run up to 50,000 virtual machines in a powered domain. This is an increase from 30,000. The maximum number of registered VMs has also been increased to 70,000.

In a blog post, VMware said: “It is important to note that customers who are still on vSphere 5.5 will need to be on at least vSphere 5.5 U3b in order to upgrade to vSphere 6.5 U1.

“This may mean a two-step process for some customers to get to vSphere 6.5 U1 but this is necessary in order to ensure the best possible outcome for the upgrade.”

The product was first released in 2013, whilst the vSphere 6.0 update became available in 2015. The latest update is expected to provide customers with more advanced bug fixes.