Integration Between vSphere 5.1 and NetApp Data Ontap 8

In order to gain the flexibility and efficiency of virtual environments, organizations are migrating IT operations from on-premise, hardware-defined application silos to virtual, software-defined cloud computing platforms.

Today, however, IT departments are struggling to manage the scope, scale and complexity of inflexible storage infrastructures in data-driven enterprise. The migration to the cloud, and its agility, elasticity and reliability can best be achieved through software that abstracts out hardware resources, pools it into aggregate capacity, and enables automation to allocate resources as needed by applications.

For almost a decade, NetApp, Inc. and VMware, Inc. have aligned their storage and virtualization technology roadmaps to accelerate the customer journey to the cloud.

NetApp unveils integration between VMware vSphere 5.1 and NetApp Data ONTAP 8 software operating in Cluster-Mode to enable organizations to not only securely manage and deploy infinite storage pools, but to deliver non-disruptive migration of data among hundreds of VMs at a time.

This solution provides continuous data access and uninterrupted business operations even as infrastructure grows and scales in capacity and performance, and it requires no change to server hosts. Data ONTAP 8 operating in Cluster-Mode, Data ONTAP Edge and Flash Accel will be on display at the NetApp booth at VMworld San Francisco, August 26-30.

As part of the NetApp and VMware solution, NetApp is also introducing Virtual Storage Console 4.1 (VSC 4.1), a new version of its end-to-end storage management software for VMware environments. VSC 4.1 adds support for vSphere 5.1, enhanced support for NetApp Cluster-Mode configurations, and online alignment of misaligned VMs. The new features expand on support for existing VSC capabilities for storage management, including datastore provisioning, VM cloning, and backup and recovery of VMs. VSC 4.1 is accessible by VMware administrators directly from VMware vCenter, centralizing storage management and providing real-time visibility into the performance and health of your storage environment.

NetApp and VMware are collaborating to accelerate movement to cloud architectures. NetApp support for VMware vCloud Suite 5.1 will enable a new era of software-defined storage, networking, and security. Data ONTAP operating in Cluster-Mode extends the virtualization benefits of VMware with the ability to transparently migrate data within a cluster to provide non-disruptive load balancing, hardware maintenance, or technology refreshes – virtually eliminating planned storage downtime. NetApp offers integration with the entire VMware cloud infrastructure suite, including VMware vCloud Director, VMware View, and VMware vShield.

"The transition to cloud is a corporate strategy, not a tactical solution. The foundation for this business approach is a dynamic virtualized infrastructure with an easy-to-administer shared storage platform," said Brendon Howe, VP, Product and Solutions Marketing, NetApp. "We continue to align our technology development and integration efforts with VMware with support for VMware vCloud Suite 5.1 to help organizations realize the power of software to greatly improve the efficiency and simplify the virtualization of more servers, desktops, and applications."

Other benefits from the NetApp and VMware integration include Data ONTAP Edge, which delivers enterprise storage services on a virtual storage appliance hosted by VMware. For remote offices, Data ONTAP Edge addresses the needs of enterprises with many small or remote offices that require local storage with minimal IT supervision and to be able to backup and protect that data easily. The result is that branch facilities can participate in a shared IT infrastructure without compromise.

This announcement
of NetApp and VMware’s further integration
highlights the strength of the global partnership:

• Business Agility: The ability to scale and move to cloud architectures with flexibility to adapt to dynamic business needs
• Performance: Cut virtualization storage requirements and operational expenses through deduplication
• Validated Architecture: New solution for vSphere 5.1 including Virtual Storage Console includes industry best practices and proven design
• Nondisruptive Data at Scale: Cluster-Mode enables infrastructure that can grow and change without disruption and additional resources can be added while maintaining stability and service predictability

Gary Green, VP, Global Strategic Alliances, VMware, said: "As organizations of all sizes realize the benefits of cloud computing, there is a need for virtualized storage and server solutions that are reliable, proven and scalable. With VMware vCloud Suite 5.1, along with NetApp’s solutions, our joint customers are armed with storage efficiency, performance and data protection for enhanced productivity and the ability to respond immediately to business needs."

Brian Babineau, VP, Enterprise Strategy Group, said: "Nearly two-thirds of IT budgets are spent on maintaining infrastructure, leaving limited resources to enable new projects. NetApp and VMware’s integrated approach to virtualized environments is a catalyst to reverse this allocation so customers maximize data infrastructure flexibility and business value from their IT operations."

Luke Norris, CEO, PeakColo, said: "PeakColo helps our clients increase application performance and drive innovation through our public, private, hybrid and customer cloud solutions. By building our infrastructure-as-a-service offering on NetApp and VMware technology we have the enhanced security and agility to create enterprise-class solutions that are specific to each of our service provider clients. Also, we have the resources to safeguard systems to recover from business disruptions."