A guide to VMware vSphere 4

[IMAGE] VMware launches vSphere 4
Alex Barrett, News Director | April 21 2009
VMware has officially launched vSphere 4, the successor to its wildly popular Virtual Infrastructure 3 platform. With new features like VMware Fault Tolerance and vShield Zones, beta users have much to say about the much-anticipated release.

[IMAGE] VMware extends storage features with vSphere 4
Beth Pariseau, SearchStorage.com Senior News Writer | April 21 2009
VMware Inc.'s vSphere (previously VMware Infrastructure) 4 software release will include thin provisio...

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[IMAGE] Cloud computing initiatives show wide range as VMware touts cloud OS
Christina Torode, SearchCIO.com Senior News Writer | April 21 2009
VMware's new cloud operating system, vSphere, brings new capabilities, though some big cloud projects will use Microsoft's virtualization technology.

[IMAGE] VMware consolidates resellers, other partners into one program
Erin Kelly, SearchSystemsChannel.com Contributor | April 17 2009
VMware wants its resellers and other partners to move beyond server virtualization and into desktop and infrastructure virtualization. And it will pay them a premium to go there. At the company's annual partner conference in Orlando this week, execs announced four new partner specialties: infrastructure virtualization, business continuity, desktop virtualization and lab management.

[IMAGE] VMware releases long-awaited VMsafe security API
Neil Roiter, Senior Technology Editor, Information Security magazine | April 21 2009
VMware Inc. has released the long-awaited VMsafe API, enabling third-party security vendors to apply security within the hypervisor to better secure virtual machines. This means VMsafe-compatible security products, running as protected virtual machines, will be able to safeguard VMs at the host level. For example, a malware attack could be stopped at the host, protecting multiple guests.

[IMAGE] VMware to spill the vSphere beans on April 21
Alex Barrett, News Director | April 1 2009
VMware will launch the next generation of its virtualization platform on April 21, at an event at its Palo Alto headquarters, flanked by partners Cisco and Intel. With the launch, VMware users and partners are hopeful that the company will put an end to months of speculation and hyperbole about everything from what the product is, what it means, even what to call it. Will it be vSphere? VMware Infrastructure (VI4)? ESX 4?

[IMAGE] VMworld attendees demand, but don't get, vSphere details
Alex Barrett, News Director | Feb. 21 2009
VMware customers want to know when to expect vSphere, the next incarnation of the VMware platform, and how much it will cost. But VMware CEO Paul Maritz was not forthcoming at the "VMware Unplugged" session at VMworld Europe.

[IMAGE] VMware's Maritz touts vSphere as 'software mainframe'
Alex Barrett, News Director | Feb. 24 2009
It's official: The next release of VMware's Virtual Datacenter Operating System (VDC-OS) will be known as vSphere, said VMware President and CEO Paul Maritz during his VMworld Europe keynote.

[IMAGE] Upgrading to VMware vSphere: Test first, deploy later
While many administrators are chomping at the bit to get their hands on vSphere and start using it, an administrator should consider a few things before upgrading a production environment.

[IMAGE] Creating a VMware vSphere guest OS: What's new
When you create a virtual machine in the next release of VMware ESX in vSphere, you'll notice a number of changes and improvements to the process. There are more OS options and more network adapter choices and you can create thin-provisioned disks, for example. In this tip, I'll discuss how the steps involved in creating a new guest OS on a host VMware ESX server have changed, complete with screenshots.

[IMAGE] VMware vSphere: Got 64-bit hardware?
If you're considering VMware vSphere, you need to know if your servers are powered by 64-bit processors and if your chips can support 64-bit guest OSes -- there is a difference. Learn how to quickly get this info from your host servers.

[IMAGE] Licensing details from the vSphere launch event NEW!
The much-anticipated vSphere launch went off without any technical difficulties. Many. however, were disappointed to find out that vSphere was not actually released, but it's not far off. It is officially GA now and will be available to customers sometime in the next two months. While there were few surprises to the beta vSphere users as to functionality, new information was released about editions, licensing and pricing.

[IMAGE] VMware vSphere is coming
Get a rundown and a short description of the best new features vSphere brings to your servers: Fault Tolerance, Host Profiles, Distributed vSwitches, third-party vSwitch support, improved Storage VMotion, VMDirectPath, VMsafe, HA enhancements, 64-bit Service Console/VMkernel, increased VM memory/CPU support, thin-provisioned virtual disks and VM hot-plug hardware.

[IMAGE]VSphere features explained: vStorage thin-provisioned disks and the Cisco Nexus vSwitch
Take a slightly more in-depth look at what vStorage thin-provisioned disks are and how they work, as well as details on utilizing the Cisco Nexus vSwitch.