IBM Vmware 3I to Vmware Infrastructure Upgrades Offer Major Improvements in Virtual Machine Capabilities and Platform Cost Reduction
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IBM United States Announcement 208-123, dated May 20, 2008 IBM VMware 3i to VMware Infrastructure Upgrades offer major improvements in virtual machine capabilities and platform cost reduction Key prerequisites .......................................3 At a glance Description .................................................3 Reference information ............................... 6 VMware innovations continue to make IBM VMware Infrastructure the Offering Information ...................................6 industry standard for computing in data centers of all sizes and across Technical information .................................6 all industries. VMware Infrastructure is the most widely deployed Ordering information ..................................8 virtualization platform, allowing customers to: Terms and conditions .............................. 12 • Manage IT infrastructure in the most efficient way Prices .......................................................13 • Bring mainframe-class availability and reliability to x86 data centers • Run the most demanding applications in a virtual environment Updated packaging and pricing enable organizations of any size to benefit from VMware Infrastructure. Overview Virtualization platform enhancements to IBM VMware Virtual Infrastructure 3.5, which includes ESX Server 3.5 and Virtual Center 2.5, help deliver new levels of performance, scalability, and compatibility for running the most demanding workloads in virtual machines: • Expanded storage and networking choices such as support for SATA local storage, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and Infiniband expand storage and networking choices for virtual infrastructure. • Support for TCP Segment Offload and Jumbo frames reduces the CPU overhead associated with processing network I/O. • Support for hardware-nested page tables, such as in processor assists for memory virtualization. • Support for paravirtualized Linux™ guest operating systems enables higher levels of performance through virtualization-aware operating systems. • Support for virtual machines with 64 GB of RAM and physical machines with up to 256 GB of memory. New virtual infrastructure capabilities help deliver increased infrastructure availability and resilience: • VMware Storage VMotion enables live migration of virtual machine disks from one data storage system to another with almost no disruption or downtime. VMware VMotion has become an indispensable tool for many infrastructure administrators to dynamically balance their server workloads and eliminate planned downtime for server maintenance. Storage VMotion extends VMotion to storage resources of a virtual machine, namely virtual disks. Using Storage VMotion, administrators can dynamically balance the storage workload and address performance bottlenecks by migrating virtual machine disks to the best available storage resource. Administrators IBM United States Announcement 208-123 IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation 1 can minimize service disruption previously incurred for upgrading storage arrays and free storage administrators to improve and manage the storage infrastructure without having to coordinate extensively with application and server owners. • VMware Update Manager automates patch and update management for VMware ESX Server hosts and virtual machines. Update Manager addresses one of the most significant pain points for every IT department: tracking patch levels and manually applying the latest security/bug fixes. Patching of offline virtual machines enforces higher levels of patch standards compliance than physical environments. Integration with VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) enables up to zero-downtime VMware ESX Server host patching capabilities. New virtual infrastructure management solutions help deliver increased automation for streamlined management of IT environments. • VMware Distributed Power Management is an experimental feature that reduces power consumption in the data center through intelligent workload balancing. Working in conjunction with VMware DRS, Distributed Power Management is designed to automatically power off servers not currently needed in order to meet service levels, and automatically power on servers as demand for compute resources increases. • VMware Guided Consolidation, a feature of VMware VirtualCenter enables companies to get started with server consolidation in a step-by-step tutorial fashion. A wizard discovers physical servers, identifies consolidation candidates, converts them to virtual machines, and leverages intelligently, placing them onto the best VMware ESX Server or VMware Server hosts. Guided Consolidation helps to make the consolidation process quick and easy for users with little knowledge of virtualization. • VMware Infrastructure 3 Foundation (previously called "Starter") will include VMware ESX Server, VMware ESX Server 3i, VMware Consolidated Backup, and the new VMware Update Manager. Unlike the previous VMware Infrastructure 3 Starter, VMware Infrastructure 3 Foundation will have no restrictions on shared storage connectivity, memory utilization, or number of CPUs of the physical server. • VMware Infrastructure 3 Standard is designed to bring higher levels of resiliency to IT environments at greater value. In addition to the capabilities of VMware Infrastructure 3 Foundation, VMware Infrastructure 3 Standard will include VMware High Availability (HA), which provides automated restart of virtual machines affected by hardware failure. • VMware Infrastructure 3 Enterprise contains the entire array of virtual infrastructure capabilities for resource management, workload mobility, and high availability. In addition to the capabilities in VMware Infrastructure 3 Standard, it also includes VMware VMotion, VMware Storage VMotion, and VMware DRS with Distributed Power Management (DPM). • VMware VMotion, Storage VMotion, and DRS with DPM will also be available for stand-alone purchase with VMware Infrastructure 3 Foundation and Standard. • Factory-installed upgrades – For those System x™ and BladeCenter® Servers that support ESX Server 3i embedded from the factory, customers will also have the flexibility to have upgrades to VMware Infrastructure embedded at the factory for Configure to Order models. – ESX Server 3i Upgrade to VMware Infrastructure Foundation. VMware Infrastructure Foundation will include VMware ESX Server, VMware ESX Server 3i, VMware Consolidated Backup, and the new VMware Update Manager. Unlike the previous VMware Infrastructure 3 Starter, VMware Infrastructure Foundation will have no restrictions on shared storage connectivity, memory utilization, or number of CPUs of the physical server. – ESX Server 3i Upgrade to VMware Infrastructure Standard. VMware Infrastructure Standard is designed to bring higher levels of resiliency to IT environments at greater value. In addition to the capabilities of VMware Infrastructure Foundation, VMware Infrastructure Standard will include VMware HA, which provides automated restart of virtual machines affected by hardware failure. – ESX Server 3i Upgrade to VMware Infrastructure Enterprise. VMware Infrastructure Enterprise contains the entire array of virtual infrastructure capabilities for resource management, workload mobility, and high availability. In addition to the capabilities in VMware Infrastructure Standard, it also includes VMware VMotion, VMware Storage VMotion, and VMware DRS with Distributed Power Management (DPM). For additional details on features and packaging of Virtual Infrastructure, refer to IBM United States Announcement 208-123 IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation 2 http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/key_features_35.pdf Information about non-IBM products is obtained from the manufacturers of those products or their published announcements. IBM has not tested those products and cannot confirm the performance, compatibility, or any other claims related to non-IBM products. Questions on the capabilities of non-IBM products should be addressed to the suppliers of those products. IBM makes no representation or warranty regarding third-party products. Key prerequisites The following minimum configuration is recommended for VMware Infrastructure 3.5: • 1024 MB system memory • 50 MB temporary disk space on system partition • 400 MB disk space for VMware Infrastructure 3.5 programs Planned availability date • May 30, 2008, for stand-alone offerings and factory-installed offerings Description IBM VMware Virtual Infrastructure 3.5, which includes the new VMware ESX Server 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5, allows VMware customers to streamline the management of IT environments through greater levels of automation, increase overall infrastructure availability, and boost performance for mission-critical workloads. The new release also includes features, updated packaging, and pricing, including new offerings specifically targeted at smaller IT environments. The responsive data center: Dynamic. efficient, and available VMware Infrastructure is the most widely deployed software suite for optimizing and managing industry-standard IT environments through virtualization — from the desktop to the data center. The only production-ready virtualization software suite, VMware Infrastructure is proven to deliver results to more than 20,000 customers of all sizes, used in a wide variety of environments and applications. The suite is fully optimized, rigorously tested, and certified for the widest range of hardware, operating systems, and