VMware unveils vSphere 5 and Cloud Infrastructure Suite

VMware has announced version 5 of its vSphere cloud platform in addition to an overarching Cloud Infrastructure Suite aimed at delivering a complete, automated cloud solution.

Available from the third quarter of 2011, the Cloud Infrastructure Suite with vSphere 5 is the next step on the IT industry's journey to a more automated world, according to VMware chief executive Paul Maritz.

The company also announced a significant change towards a simplified licensing model based on the number of physical processors and the total amount of pooled virtual memory across an organisation's entire infrastructure.

VMware's Cloud Infrastructure Suite builds on vSphere 5, which creates the resource pool on which the other components sit.

These consist of vCenter Site Recovery Manager for business continuity, vCenter Operations for monitoring and management, vShield Security, and the vCloud Director, the user interface providing policy, reporting and self-service capabilities.

VSphere 5 now supports beefier virtual machine instances with up to 1TB of memory and up to 32 virtual CPUs each, allowing customers to run even the most demanding business-critical applications, according to VMware.

It also supports Storage DRS, a new feature that extends the vMotion concept to storage, so that if storage performance for a particular app falls below a specified threshold, the data can be moved to a different storage array.

VMware also announced the vSphere Storage Appliance, a tool that transforms internal server storage into shared storage, creating a virtual SAN and removing the requirement for shared storage hardware that has prevented smaller companies from deploying vSphere, the firm said.

Maritz also revealed that VMware is working with cloud partners to enable hybrid clouds, where organisations will have the confidence to move workloads between their own internal cloud and public cloud infrastructure.

"Customers want it to be a business decision not an IT decision when to slide an app out from the internal to an external cloud, and we are working with service providers so that policies stay with those applications, and that means service providers need to have the cloud infrastructure suite as well," he said.

Service providers that have signed up already include Verizon, Computer Sciences, Colt and SoftBank.

VMware's announcement comes as rival vendor Citrix extended its own reach into the virtualised infrastructure space with the announcement of an acquisition deal with Cloud.com.

When asked about the Citrix move, Maritz was largely dismissive. "What Citrix offers is one slice through the cloud," he told reporters. "We believe we are once again leading the industry in this direction."

According to industry analysts, however, the Citrix acquisition of Cloud.com should in fact give VMware something to think about.

"Citrix is increasingly getting on the radar and VMware should be concerned," Gartner research vice president Chris Wolf told V3.co.uk.

While VMware may have reason for concern, Wolf also noted that the company carries an advantage in its wider user base.

The analyst explained that the current cost of switching a hypervisor platform can be prohibitively high for many established customers, thereby limiting possible defections.