Hybrid Cloud Simplicity with VMware Cloud Foundation
In this special guest blog, Joshua David of VMware explains how the latest release of VMware Cloud Foundation has become the simplest to deploy and operate, managing all the components in your software-defined data center. Discover why Cloud Foundation is the best path your organization can take to achieve their hybrid cloud SDDC objectives.
Special guest blog contributed by Joshua David, Cloud & Infrastructure Solutions Development Director at VMware
At VMware, we know your organization wants simplicity, security, and business agility in their cloud infrastructure. With the increasing adoption of multiple clouds, we know you also want enhanced operational efficiency moving workloads across public and private clouds.
That’s VMware Cloud Foundation. Cloud Foundation simplifies the process of deploying and configuring a VMware-based software-defined data center (SDDC). Tasks that had previously consumed several days, if not weeks, can now be accomplished in just a few hours.
VMware Cloud Foundation brings the core SDDC components-vSphere, vSAN, and NSX-into a unified cloud platform. It is easily deployed on a pre-validated architecture using the advanced automation capabilities of the integrated VMware SDDC Manager.
And in the newest release of Cloud Foundation, this deep integration coupled with powerful automation are extended even further to include cloud management capabilities. Cloud Foundation automates the configuration and deployment of two primary cloud migration applications included in the solution-vRealize Operations and vRealize Automation.
vRealize Operations provides health and performance monitoring, alerts, and capacity planning for the private cloud. The vRealize Automation (vRA) cloud management platform provides IaaS capabilities in the private cloud. vRA allows administrators to create VM and service templates, or blueprints. These blueprints are then made available to private cloud consumers who can also use vRA to automate the deployment of these services. vRealize Log Insight, also part of Cloud Foundation, provides centralized log aggregation as well as log searching and root cause analysis.
VMware Cloud Foundation is a comprehensive new cloud platform that provides the following benefits:
- Integrated Stack: Cloud Foundation provides engineered integration that dramatically reduces the time previously required to architect, design, install, and configure the individual components in a typical new environment. Because it is based on our established market-leading SDDC solutions, only VMware Cloud Foundation can give you enterprise-class infrastructure at this level.
- Standardized Architecture: With Cloud Foundation, you get a validated architecture that is tested for performance and interoperability, which makes infrastructure provisioning faster and more repeatable by de-risking any user errors while standing up infrastructure services.
- Automated Lifecycle Management: Lifecycle automation of the entire software stack provides three key benefits. It offers flexibility in choosing when you want to patch, it removes errors that might be introduced due to manual efforts, and, perhaps most importantly, it also addresses any security vulnerabilities in a timely manner, thereby maintaining the safety and security of your environment.
- True Hybrid Cloud: With flexible deployment options, you can deploy on-prem in a private cloud running inside your local data center and consume as a service in the public cloud. Enable both options to take advantage of the benefits of public cloud while protecting your on-prem investment through a consistent operational model.
- Broad Partner Ecosystem: Eliminate vendor non-performance and service provider lock-in. Access a wide range of service options from trusted channel partners, certified hardware vendors, and public cloud service providers.
- Cost Savings: Compared to traditional DIY infrastructure, Cloud Foundation reduces your total-cost-of-ownership by as much as 40 percent. You can achieve CapEx savings from virtualization and server-based hyper-converged infrastructure, and OpEx savings from automated operations.
- Scalable Hyper-Converged Storage: Your modern hyper-converged infrastructure is also optimized for all-flash performance and includes enterprise services such as deduplication, compression, and erasure coding.
- VM and Container Ready: The enterprise-ready platform supports all your virtual machines and containers.
- End-to-End Security: vSphere encryption, vSAN encryption, and NSX micro-segmentation are built-in.
Cloud Foundation easily deploys into your datacenter and changes how you do IT. Work items that had previously taken days, or even weeks, can now be automated in just a few hours. Time-to-market speed improvements for Cloud Foundation reveal up to 15-times faster performance than traditional in-house setups because it eliminates complex processes around system design, testing, and configuration.
It’s also easy to expand your cloud capacity by incrementally adding additional nodes or by deploying additional racks. Automated workflows improve administrator productivity, with some users reporting that it is twice as fast or that it cuts the time spent on Day 2 operations such as patching, updates, and monitoring in half. We’re estimating reductions in the total-cost-of-ownership for private cloud deployments of up to 40 percent.
I encourage you to visit us online at www.vmware.com/go/cloudfoundation. However, I also want to pause here to acknowledge the energy and talent of our channel partners.
As a key strategic partner, CDI is extremely well-positioned within the industry to lead your Cloud Foundation implementation project, large or small. You will be pleasantly surprised by the service you receive when you reach out to the knowledgeable, capable, and dedicated professionals at CDI. When it comes to launching your Cloud Foundation goals and building your infrastructure, CDI can help you get started quickly and plan a complete timeline for success.
Thank you for having me as your guest blog contributor.