VMware vFabric Suite 5.1 Automates Java App Deployment

By providing the core application services required to build, run and manage Java Spring applications on- premise or in the cloud, the newly introduced VMware vFabric Suite 5.1 automates the deployment and management of complex applications on VMware cloud infrastructure and features in-memory distributed SQL database capabilities designed to slash database management costs. It also solidifies the company's relationship with Java developers.

vFabric's recipe for success includes cutting not only costs, but also the complexity of traditional Java platforms via a lightweight development and runtime designed for VMware cloud infrastructures. Key components include VMware's Spring development framework, the latest generation of vFabric services, and a per-VM licensing model.

"The cloud era is driving a transformation in applications," says Jerry Chen, vice president, Cloud and Application Services, VMware. "Today, most are built with open source development frameworks, deployed on lightweight application containers, run on virtual infrastructure and are data-intensive. This is driving a real transition in the type of technologies our customers are using to build, run and manage these new applications."

In recognition of the trend toward automated application deployment, the vFabric suite includes Application Director, which automates app deployment via blueprints with standardized templates, component libraries and workflows. According to Leah Schoeb, Senior Partner, EvaluatorGroup, "The Application Manager now makes it much easier for rapid provisioning and the ability to standardize deployment of Spring applications with better management."

A companion technology, vFabric Application Performance Manager, reportedly provides comprehensive monitoring of end-user transactions, Java code, middleware servers, and vSphere hosts, which allows users to proactively and quickly manage app performance, locate and solve problems, and comply with SLAs.

The vFabric SQLFire distributed in-memory database included with vFabric enables users to create a grid of nodes inside or across data centers. This allows them to scale applications horizontally by just adding more capacity at the data tier as an application comes under load. Database performance is also enhanced because by pooling memory, CPU and network resources across machine clusters, vFabric SQLFire eliminates the primary performance bottleneck that commonly plagues databases -- access to disk.

VMware sites Southwest Airlines as a satisfied customer, quoting CTO Bob Young, who stresses the importance of customer service and the ability to provide customers with a seamless shopping, booking and travel experience. "We have a number of strategic initiatives underway at Southwest Airlines, and a core component in supporting these critical applications is ensuring an agile, flexible delivery of technology to all parts of the company. By partnering with VMware, for example, we were able to streamline the way we deliver and deploy applications across platforms, without compromising our service-centered approach."

In keeping with VMware's quest to provide open source technologies, the vFabric suite supports open source runtime components commonly deployed in production deployments featuring Spring applications, including Apache Tomcat, Apache HTTP Server and RabbitMQ messaging. VMware says this "greatly simplifies" the adoption path of vFabric technologies for current users of these open source components.

"The release of VMware vFabric Suite 5.1 is furthering VMware's mission to further integrate their product stack for easier use and more importantly, management of private and hybrid clouds," Loeb says.

VMware vFabric Suite 5.1 is expected to debut by the end of June, and will be licensed per VM with prices starting at $1,500 per VM. VMware vFabrix SQLFire is now available, and also licensed per VM with a starting price of $2,500 per VM, when it is purchased as part of VMware vFabric Suite Advanced.

Posted by Bruce Hoard on 05/18/2012 at 12:48 PM