New VMware Cloud Foundation Release (4.2) Improves Storage, Security

VMware has introduced a new version of its cloud infrastructure platform VMware Cloud Foundation, adding support for on-demand storage for developers, more efficient storage management, and improved security.  

VCF version 4.2 features the vSAN Data Persistence platform, allowing enterprises to support stateful services such as object storage and NoSQL databases. The update includes support for S3-compatible object storage from Cloudian and Minio.

The technology allows enterprises to provide their developers with self-service, on-demand access to the object storage they need to build modern, cloud-native apps and high-performance apps, such as analytics or artificial intelligence/machine learning, said Sheldon D’Paiva, VMware’s director of product marketing.

Developers can develop, test, and deploy apps without having to bother the IT infrastructure team for storage, he said.

“It speaks to how we are continuing to deliver developer-ready infrastructure,” D’Paiva said. “VMware’s early days were about the core enterprise apps. During the last few years, we’ve really addressed the needs from the developer angle as well.”

In the new version of VMware Cloud Foundation, VMware has also added support for vSAN HCI Mesh, a software-based approach that disaggregates compute and storage resources to help customers share capacity across clusters. Doing so improves storage efficiency and lowers costs, he said.

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The company has beefed up security in VCF by adding additional endpoint and workload security, network security, and web application firewall technology through its recent acquisitions of Carbon Black, Lastline, and Avi Networks, D’Paiva said.

VMware Cloud Foundation is an all-in-one software package that combines compute, storage, networking, security, and cloud management services to run applications in both public and private cloud environments. VMware’s software package, which includes vSphere, vSAN, vRealize, and NSX-T, competes against other hybrid cloud management platforms in the market, including rival products from Red Hat and Nutanix.

IDC analyst Gary Chen said the new version of VMware Cloud Foundation provides VMware’s customers with incremental improvements. The new features in VMware Cloud Foundation 4.2 were previously released in VMware’s individual software products Now, they are finally making their way into VMware Cloud Foundation, he said.

“A lot of it is not new functionality to VMware. Technology like HCI Flex came out four months ago. They release these new features to products like vSAN and NSX first, and then it takes about a quarter for the company to integrate those features into VMware Cloud Foundation,” Chen said.

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The vSAN Data Persistence platform with object storage support is the most significant news in today’s announcement because the technology is key for deploying Kubernetes-based applications, he said.

VMware’s D’Paiva said other use cases for S3-compatible object storage include video streaming and other content delivery needs, as well as data backup, archiving, and file tiering.

Additional Updates to VMware Cloud Foundation and vRealize

VMware Cloud Foundation 4.2 will be available next week, according to a company spokeswoman.

The new version also includes NSX-T 3.1 Federation, technology that allows enterprises to manage multiple instances of NSX-T with a single interface, D’Paiva said.

VMware today also introduced updates to its VMware vRealize Cloud Management portfolio of on-premises and software-as-a-service offerings. New features in vRealize Automation 8.3 includes SaltStack Config integration, improved security, and support for NSX-V to NSX-T migration.

vRealize Operations 8.3 and vRealize Operations Cloud supports additional data security standards, such as Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2.

Meanwhile, vRealize Log Insight Cloud adds enhanced machine learning analytics, while vRealize Network Insight 6.1 provides improved network visibility and troubleshooting features, the company said.