NetApp Announces Enhancements to Product Portfolio

Storage and data management solutions provider NetApp has announced enhancements to its VMware vSphere 4 and VMware View platforms. These new features will help customers optimize their desktop and cloud computing environments.

NetApp has introduced Virtual Storage Console, a plug-in for VMware vCenter Server that enables IT administrators to manage and monitor NetApp storage in VMware vSphere 4 environments. This enhancement allows customers to centrally manage their server and storage infrastructure.

The second enhancement is SnapManager for Virtual Infrastructure. This easy-to-use management tool integrates with VMware environments and automates data protection polices for NetApp Snapshot and SnapMirror features. The tool helps customers achieve virtual machine backup and recovery and minimize backup time using NetApp Snapshot. With the help of this tool, it is also possible for customers to instantly recover a datastore, virtual machine, virtual machine disk, or an individual file within a virtual guest.

NetApp has also introduced Rapid Cloning Utility, a vCenter plug-in that allows for easier cloning of VMware virtual machines and datastores, through automation. When used with NetApp FlexClone, the tool can replicate a single image hundreds of times in minutes without using additional storage capacity.

In addition, NetApp has expanded support to Fibre Channel and iSCSI SAN. This offers customers more latitude in deploying the Rapid Cloning Utility across a range of storage environments and protocols.

"VMware is at the forefront of helping customers simplify the management of data centers to enable cloud computing and the delivery of IT as a service, for which the provisioning, monitoring, and protection of storage are critical components," said Parag Patel, vice president, Alliances, VMware. "Through integration with NetApp technologies and solutions, our joint customers can create flexible pools of compute, network, and storage resources that can be provisioned as needed to make IT as a service a reality."

"Just as VMware vSphere 4 is the foundation for cloud computing, our customers are turning to NetApp as the storage platform of choice for building their cloud infrastructures," said Patrick Rogers, vice president of Solutions Marketing at NetApp. "NetApp uniquely complements VMware vSphere 4 and VMware View to enable customers to overcome the boundaries of conventional data center architectures. Our long-standing partnership with VMware is helping customers maximize efficiency and improve data availability in their virtual environments. Our tight integration with VMware will continue to change the landscape of today's data centers and provide our customers a path to cloud computing."

NetApp has a proven track record in creating innovative storage and data management solutions. TMCnet recently reported NetApp has also upgraded SnapManager for Oracle.