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VMware on Dell EMC Optimized for Datacenters
VMware today announced the second-generation of its VMware on Dell EMC offering, optimizing the formerly edge-centric solution -- designed to provide a cloud experience on-premises -- for datacenter use cases.
The product has its roots in "Project Dimension" unveiled back in 2018. At the time, we described it thusly: "Project Dimension extends VMware Cloud and allows delivery of software-defined datacenter (SDDC) infrastructure and Hardware as a Service to on-premises locations. This means that VMware will take care of managing the infrastructure."
The following year we covered the announcement of VMware Cloud on Dell EMC, saying: "VMware Inc. announced a deal to integrate its software-defined data center (SDDC) platform with VxRail hyper-converged infrastructure from Dell Technologies, targeting on-premises datacenters and edge locations."
In a blog post today (May 20), VMware said: "Originally, we were focused on edge locations, but as we went through initial availability, we began turning our attention to datacenter use cases as we heard demand for it from customers. However, while VMware on Dell EMC worked for datacenters, it wasn’t properly optimized for them.That changes today!"
[Click on image for larger view.] VMware Cloud on Dell EMC Infrastructure Rack (source: VMware).
It changes with the introduction of a new hardware infrastructure rack sporting:
- Redundant Dell EMC network switches
- Smart power distribution units
- SD-WAN remote management devices
- Support for up to 16 instance nodes
- New node types for memory- and storage-hungry workloads
- Support for business continuity via VMware Horizon
- Validated backup and recovery solutions
- Self-service expandable capacity
In yet another blog post today, the company said: "VMware Cloud on Dell EMC is a complete hardware and software SDDC rack that is easy to order so you can quickly provision infrastructure for your on-premises applications. It is fully assembled, cabled, and configured before it arrives -- ready to connect to your network. VMware takes care of the lifecycle management, so your valuable IT resources can focus on business applications instead of patching and updating software and firmware in the data center.
"The latest release of VMware Cloud on Dell EMC -- known as 'D3' -- brings capabilities that are perfect for enterprise data center use cases: more resources, rapid physical expansion, improved monitoring, and bulk migration of workloads from older VMware vSphere environments."
More information is available on the product's web site and a technical overview paper available for download.
About the Author
David Ramel is an editor and writer for Converge360.