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DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY / JULY 7, 2003: VOL. 2 NO. 27

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Breaking News - Operating Systems & Middleware:

VMware Introduces Groundbreaking Utility Computing Product

VMware Inc, a leader in virtual machine software for Intel-based systems, has introduced VMware Control Center, a groundbreaking new product that makes it possible for enterprises to manage distributed, heterogeneous computing environments as a single pool of hardware resources. With VMware Control Center, enterprises are able to respond to changing business demands in real-time while maximizing server resource utilization.

For more than two years, enterprises have been virtualizing their computing environments using VMware ESX Server and VMware GSX Server. These enterprise-class server products, used by thousands of companies worldwide today, carve up multi-processor servers into smaller one or two CPU servers or "virtual machines," allowing multiple operating systems, including Microsoft Windows and Linux, to run simultaneously and independently on the same Intel-based server. VMware ESX Server and VMware GSX Server are used to consolidate underutilized servers, driving utilization rates of individual servers from less than 5% to over 80%.

With the introduction of VMware Control Center, enterprises can now centrally manage and control all of their virtual machines and maximize utilization of all of their physical servers, including blade servers. Enterprises can quickly respond to changing business demands and move virtual machines from one physical server to another with continuous service availability, using VMotion technology in VMware Control Center. VMotion technology enables live, stateful applications to be moved across distributed systems without service interruption, lost data or lost transactions, making it possible for enterprises to optimize utilization of their entire server infrastructure.

"HP views VMware's virtual computing solutions as a key enabler in helping customers safely increase resource utilization of HP ProLiant server and blade solutions," said Ron Eller, vice president, HP Industry Standard Server Solutions. "VMware's new Control Center product supports the HP Adaptive Enterprise strategy, seamlessly enabling dynamic management of virtual machines for our customers so they can get the most out of their IT infrastructures."

"We view VMware's virtual computing products as helping to play a critical role in enabling customers to realize the most value from our server solutions," said Deepak Advani, vice president, IBM eServer xSeries High Performance Systems. "The ability to virtualize computing and manage systems remotely based on business demands is a critical capability in delivering on the promise of on-demand computing for our customers."

"NEC continues to enjoy a strong partnership with VMware. We're excited for VMware Control Center to be introduced into the market because it is going to enable customers to manage and control their virtual machines dynamically based on changing business demands," said Yoshikazu Maruyama, vice president, NEC Corporation. "VMware Control Center will also let them maximize utilization of their Express5800 series servers so they can get the most out of their IT investments."

"We have moved the industry forward by bringing virtual machine technology to industry standard systems. Now with the delivery of Control Center, utility computing becomes a reality," said Diane Greene, president and CEO, VMware. "VMotion technology truly enables real-time response to changing business demands while maximizing server resource utilization. The customer benefits are substantial in terms of administration efficiencies, cost savings and reduced downtime."

Key features of VMware Control Center include:

  • Centralized Management Console: Users manage their entire computing infrastructure -- virtual machines, virtual machine groups and virtual disk images -- from a central interface
  • Virtual Machine Dashboard: Users monitor virtual machine performance and availability across all physical servers in the environment, modify resource allocations and migrate virtual machines across hosts based on utilization profiles
  • Server Provisioning: Users simplify server provisioning by managing a repository of hardware-independent virtual machine templates and using a wizard-based system to quickly deploy new servers
  • Secure Access Management: Users can employ a delegated administrator model to secure access to key pieces of VMware Control Center and restrict management rights on an individual virtual machine or individual physical server basis

Availability

VMware Control Center is currently in beta testing with select partners and customers and will be available later this year.

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