VMware, Cisco, NetApp team-up for dynamic data centre

NEW YORK, USA: Cisco, NetApp and VMware announced that they are expanding their collaboration to deliver new design architectures that help customers evolve virtualized data centres to be more efficient, dynamic and secure.

Data centre outsourcing considerations for 2010

The three companies introduced an end-to-end secure multi-tenancy design architecture that provides enhanced security in cloud environments by isolating the information technology (IT) resources and applications of different clients, business units or departments that share a common IT infrastructure.

As part of their collaboration, Cisco, NetApp and VMware will also offer a cooperative support model for these pretested and validated design architectures to help customers quickly build a unified, virtualized infrastructure.

Tom Georgens, president and CEO of NetApp, said: "Our visions are aligned around the concept of a dynamic data centre that will be the foundation of cloud computing and that will enable enterprises, integrators and service providers to deliver IT as a service . In this scenario, IT becomes a dynamic asset that is more efficient and can better adapt to changing business needs. This new era of IT has stringent infrastructure requirements that our companies are ready to meet today -- together."

Paul Maritz, president and CEO, VMware, said: "Virtualization of the network, server and storage infrastructure is radically reshaping today's data centre. The dynamic data centre built on VMware vSphere, along with Cisco and NetApp technologies, will provide the foundation for both private and public clouds and the ability to move data and applications between these clouds."

Tony Bates, senior vice president and general manager, Enterprise, Commercial and Small Business at Cisco, said: "A unified architecture approach is more important than ever before," says. Our joint vision with NetApp and VMware centres on delivering a unified architecture for customers to design and build a complete, virtualized data centre that will streamline operations and improve their business resilience."

Secure multi-tenancy design architecture is an end-to-end, validated design architecture that isolates IT resources for enhanced security in shared virtual and enterprise cloud environments.

The design architecture helps enterprise customers, systems integrators and service providers develop internal and external cloud services that isolate clients, business units, departments or security zones for enhanced security across the computing, networking, storage and management layers of a unified infrastructure.

The architecture is based on Cisco Nexus Series Switches and the Cisco Unified Computing System, NetApp FAS storage with MultiStore, and VMware vSphere and vShield Zones.