March 28, 2019 at 21:08

IT giants unveil a hybrid hybrid cloud deployment solution

    Dell and VMware integrate the VMware Cloud Foundation and VxRail platforms.


    / photo Navneet Srivastav PD

    Why is it necessary


    According to a State of Cloud survey, already 58% of companies use a hybrid cloud. Last year, this figure was 51%. On average, one organization “holds in the cloud” about five different services. At the same time, the introduction of a hybrid cloud is a priority for 45% of companies. Among the organizations that already use hybrid infrastructure, we can distinguish SEGA, Oxford University and the analytical organization ING Financial.

    An increase in the number of cloud environments complicates the infrastructure. Therefore, now the main task for the IT community is creating services that will simplify the work with multi-cloud. One of the companies developing in this direction was VMware.

    Late last year, IT giant bought Heptio startupthat promotes Kubernetes deployment tools. Last week it became known that VMware is launching a joint solution with Dell. We are talking about a system for creating hybrid cloud environments based on the Dell EMC VxRail hyperconverged complex and the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) platform.

    What is known about the new product


    VMware updated their VMware Cloud Foundation cloud stack to version 3.7. From April this year, the solution will be pre-installed on the Dell VxRail hyper-converged system. The new platform, VMware Cloud Foundation on VxRail, will provide APIs that connect Dell network devices (such as switches and routers) with VCF software components.

    The VCF architecture includes vSphere server virtualization software and the vSAN storage system. Additionally, it includes NSX Data Center technology, designed to optimize and manage virtual networks of the data center. Opportunities NSX in the transition to hyperconverged infrastructure testedat the Baystate Health English Hospital. According to hospital IT specialists, the system allowed achieving a high level of integration of all software and hardware, as well as drivers.

    Another component of the VMware Cloud Foundation is the vRealize Suite hybrid cloud management platform. It includes tools for analyzing the operation of virtual infrastructure, estimating the cost of cloud resources, monitoring and troubleshooting.

    As for VxRail, it consists of Dell PowerEdge series servers. One device can support up to two hundred virtual machines. If necessary, servers can be combined into a cluster and work with 3 thousand VMs simultaneously.

    In the future, they plan to develop solutions as a single system - for this, Dell and VMware will synchronize product updates for VxRail and VMware Cloud Foundation.

    What the community thinks


    According to representatives of VMware, the updated integrated platform significantly increases the productivity of hybrid IT infrastructure - an increase of 60% compared with the old version of VxRail. Also, VMware Cloud Foundation on VxRail will reduce the cost of companies creating cloud infrastructure. Its cost of operation over five years will be 45% lower than that of a public cloud.

    One of the main advantages of Dell and VMware is the automation of the configuration and management of physical network devices. However, they see analysts and potential problems that IT giants may face. Perhaps the main one is high competition. In recent years, companies have entered many new markets (including HCI, SDN and SD-WAN), where major players are already working. For further growth, IT giants need new features that will distinguish their solutions from competitors.

    One such area could be machine learning technologies for managing data centers that Dell and VMware are already integrating into their products.


    / photo Global Access Point PD

    Similar systems


    Hybrid cloud hyperconverged systems are also being developed by NetApp and Nutanix. The first company offers a private cloud system with an integrated Data Fabric platform that connects the on-premise infrastructure with public cloud services. The product is also based on VMware technologies, such as vRealize.

    A distinctive feature of the solution is separate server nodes for computing and storage. According to company representatives, such an infrastructure structure helps data centers allocate resources more efficiently and not overpay for unnecessary equipment.

    Nutanix is ​​also creating a hybrid cloud management platform. For example, the organization’s portfolio includes a system for configuring and monitoring IoT systems and a tool for working with Kubernetes containers.

    In general, more and more providers of hyper-converged infrastructure enter the multi-cloud systems market. This trend is expected to continue in the near future. In particular, a joint solution between Dell and VMware will soon become part of the larger Project Dimension project, which will integrate cloud systems with peripherals and on-premise equipment.


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