Product Details:
Operating System | For Mac, For Windows, For Linux |
Download Option | Free Demo/Trial Available |
Application | Networking |
Installation Service Needed | Yes |
Programming Language | Java |
Free Required RAM | 1 GB |
License Duration | 1 Year |
Support | 24/7 (Live Rep) |
Executive Summary The mobile cloud era is changing line-of-business (LOB) expectations of IT. For IT organizations to securely deliver the anticipated improvements in service quality and speed, a Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC) approach is required. The VMware approach to the SDDC delivers a unified platform that supports any application and provides flexible control. The VMware architecture for the SDDC empowers companies to run hybrid clouds and to leverage unique capabilities to deliver key outcomes that enable efficiency, agility, and security. Enterprises using VMware technology have three ways to establish an SDDC and transition at their own pace: build their own using reference architectures; use a converged infrastructure; or use a hyper-converged infrastructure for which the full SDDC is delivered already implemented on the customer’s hardware of choice. The Need for a Software-Defined Architecture For many companies, technology is the rate-limiting step when taking new business initiatives from concept to planning to implementation. Public cloud and mobile services have dramatically increased end-user and LOB expectations. IT organizations struggle to keep pace; as a result, they are not viewed as strategic partners to the business. When IT cannot deliver on business expectations, LOB owners seek out their own solutions outside the purview of IT. Worldwide, 38 percent of IT expenditures are beyond the control of the IT organization.1 Technology expenditures outside of IT are sometimes healthy—for example, functional or LOB leaders might want to experiment with interesting opportunities to improve the business with innovative technologies. In some instances, however, the risks can significantly outweigh the benefits. To navigate the mobile cloud era, the CIO must develop an approach that can best manage these risks. CIOs must leverage a corporate IT strategy through which some experimentation by LOB is allowed to happen. In this scheme, central IT provides guidance on projects run outside of IT; acts as service broker, including services not provided by IT; and integrates services as they transition beyond the experimentation stage. The IT organization’s role shifts from cost center to strategic partner. The SDDC architecture makes this transition possible. Being a strategic partner to the business requires building credibility and has at least two prerequisites. First, to become a business enabler, IT must deliver efficient, secure, and flexible IT services. Second, IT must become a service broker to both on-premises—that is, private cloud—and public cloud services and establish a unified operations and management framework. VMware defines this as a hybrid cloud. The SDDC architecture makes the hybrid cloud possible by defining a platform common to both private and public clouds. To logically define all infrastructure services, the SDDC applies the widely successful computer science principles of server virtualization—that is, abstraction, isolation, and pooling—to the remaining infrastructure services. SDDC management is automated through a cloud management platform, which controls both on-premises and off-premises resources. 1. Gartner. IT Metrics: A Critical Evaluation of Decentralized IT Spending and Digital Enterprise Readiness. June 2013. VMware Software-Defined Data Center TECHNICAL WHITE PAPER / 4 Software-Defined Architectures That Deliver Impact Today A software-defined architecture leverages logical infrastructure services that are abstracted from, as opposed to integrated with, the underlying hardware. Several of today’s largest technology companies in the Internet and social network space leverage this approach to drive aggressive cost savings and improve manageability for certain types of workloads.