VMware VDC OS concept announced. New VI features promise vClouds in 2009
September 15th, 2008 | 
Author: The conference has not even started yet but the big news is out. VMware has announced a new data center operating system concept, VDC OS, that will leverage exciting new features in future versions of VMware’s infrastructure products to deliver dynamic resource pools of applications and infrastructure known as a vCloud. With pieces of the vCloud expected to be available starting in 2009, VMware’s announcement seems to be more of a vision right now then a complete solution. This week at VMworld 2008 will obviously provide more details, but for now here are some links and quotes from various sources already available on the web tonight.
VMware testing data center OS for managing, literally, everything
- Computerworld.com
“The planned cornerstone product is VMware’s Virtual Datacenter Operating System (VDC-OS) for managing the underlying systems, or “internal cloud.” Desktops and laptops are part of this virtualization umbrella, with their operating systems running in a virtual machine on the client computer that is managed back from the data center. VMware also wants to make it possible for IT managers to seamlessly tap into the resources of third-party hosting providers in the same way they can now move server resources inside their data center. It calls this new technology vCloud.”
VMware Tries to Expand Throughout the Data Center
- PCWorld.com
“The new products, to be described at the company’s VMworld conference in Las Vegas this week, are scheduled for release in 2009 and are an effort to build what VMware calls a “virtual data center operating system.” VDC OS is not a product itself but a set of capabilities that will appear in updated releases of VMware’s Infrastructure 3 software and other products.”
There are also several new pages on VMware.com that explain the new concept, technology, and reveal the new features of the future version(s) of VMware’s Virtual Infrastructure.
Virtual Datacenter OS from VMware
“VMware Infrastructure delivers the virtual datacenter OS through the following essential components:
- Application vServices guarantee the appropriate levels of availability, security and scalability to all applications independent of hardware and location.
- Infrastructure vServices subtract, aggregate and allocate on-premise servers, storage and network for maximum infrastructure efficiency.
- Cloud vServices federate the on-premise infrastructure with third party cloud infrastructure.
- Management vServices allow you to proactively manage the virtual datacenter OS and the applications running on it.”
Following the links for each of the components of the VDC OS gives a peek at all of the new features of the VMware virtual infrastructure products that will enable the vCloud and transform the vision into a reality.
Scott Lowe, who apparently spent the day with the VMware Partner Technical Advisory Board discussing this announcement in detail, expresses his concerns about how this complex vision will be communicated to current and future VMware customers and partners. In Scott’s post titled VMware’s Virtual Datacenter OS he explains:
“I was a bit worried that this messaging wasn’t going to be received as clearly as I had hoped it would be, and the initial coverage I’m seeing so far confirms that many people are going to misread what VMware is trying to do. Hopefully, we can get the idea across to everyone so that
they can begin to really understand where VMware is headed with this idea and why it is the next step in the evolution and maturation of virtualization.”
I’ll admit I am still a little “vCloudy” on the idea, but I am looking forward to the rest of the week at VMworld 2008 to understand.
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