Virtualization Technology — VMware

Among the leading challenges that IT managers face today is the necessity to manage a cost-effective infrastructure that is responsive to new business initiatives and flexibly adapts to changes. Virtualization effectively allows IT managers to deploy consolidated, integrated solutions that reduce the server hardware and manpower needed to scale. Force10 Networks® has teamed with VMware® to provide best-in-class resiliency, line-rate performance, and unmatched scalability for the networking infrastructure required to drive successful virtualization projects. Together Force10 and VMware offer the products required for data center consolidation.

Combining VMware technology with Force10 high performance switching/routing delivers:

• Reduced operational expenses and increased flexibility with automated VM/VLAN provisioning with the Force10 Open Automation Framework
• Lower TCO through reduced complexity, fewer physical servers and switches, and improved lifecycle management
• Higher network performance with network switches designed specifically for virtualized environments

VMware® Infrastructure is the most widely deployed software suite for optimizing and managing industry standard IT environments through virtualization – from the desktop to the data center. The only production-ready virtualization software suite, VMware Infrastructure is proven to deliver results to more than 20,000 customers of all sizes, used in a wide variety of environments and applications.

The Force10 Open Automation Framework helps IT managers improve the responsiveness, efficiency and reliability of virtual data centers. The Force10 Open Automation Framework simplifies virtual network management by improving network management, simplifying network monitoring and automating switch provisioning. Additionally, Open Automation allows virtualization management tools and system management tools to manage virtual network resources, making it possible for IT managers to provision VMs and virtual network resources using a single management tool.

Force10 S series switches are ideal for virtual environments. Network traffic profiles for virtual environments are very different from network traffic profiles for non-virtualized environments. In virtual environments, network traffic is typically higher and has greater peaks and valleys. The Force10 S60 network switch, designed specifically for virtualized environments, offers the industry’s largest, tunable data buffers to support the unique traffic profiles of virtualized environments.