PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA: VMware, Inc. global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop to the data center, has unveiled VMware vSphere 4, with new features and product editions that deliver "Always On IT" for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), remote and branch office (ROBO) IT environments.

VMware vSphere 4 will deliver zero-downtime application availability and enterprise-class data protection managed under a single pane of glass, providing simplified and truly affordable disaster recovery previously out of reach for most small IT organizations.

VMware vSphere 4, the industry's first operating system for building the internal cloud, was designed to meet the needs of a wide range of IT environments. With VMware vSphere 4, smaller IT environments will be available to achieve the full benefits of efficiency, resilience, and manageability demanded by large enterprises, at a price point that fits their more modest budgets.

"VMware leads the way in providing IT solutions that make customers' lives easier, and for SMB and ROBO customers, we provide a means of administering a robust, continuously available IT infrastructure with minimal overhead and high investment return," said Paul Maritz, president and chief executive officer of VMware. "VMware vSphere 4 will extend these benefits to customers of all sizes, needs and budgets with proven technology that enables them to do more with less."

Introducing the only 'Always On IT' virtualization solution

VMware vSphere 4 is the only virtualization solution to deliver 'Always On IT' that meets the most critical needs of SMB and ROBO customers by providing zero-downtime application availability and comprehensive data protection features ideal for smaller IT environments:

VMware Fault Tolerance and high availability provides true continuous availability for infrastructure and applications to further enhance service continuity, enabling critical applications to run with zero downtime or data loss due to hardware failures.

VMware VMotion reduces planned downtime from server maintenance activities by enabling the live migration of running virtual machines from one server to another with no disruption or downtime.

VMware Data Recovery provides fully automated backup and recovery for all applications and data, with complete integration with VMware's management client for simple deployment and efficient operation.

VMware vShield Zones secures applications and data inside a dynamic firewall that maintains complete protection across the physical and virtual environment with point-and-click ease.