By Harry Labana, vice president, products, End-User Computing, VMware
I can’t believe it – it’s been nearly a year since we released VMware App Volumes 2.5!
We have been innovating at a rapid pace, shipping several releases throughout the year with new features such as storage groups, multi-vCenter Server support and enhancements to VHD to name a few. We have been humbled by incredible customer interest and adoption, which has far exceeded our expectations. I want to thank every customer and partner who has guided us on our journey so far.
Delivering an enterprise class, real-time application lifecycle management solution requires a commitment to the cause of re-imagining how to reduce or eliminate the complexity of managing applications. Status quo methods have not been disrupted in over a decade and unfortunately, the habits they have created with IT cannot scale for businesses that require on-demand infrastructure services.
Introducing VMware App Volumes 2.10
To follow through on this commitment, we’ve made significant investments on the VMware App Volumes team in continuing to build and evolve an enterprise class solution. We have not been resting on our laurels and I am delighted to announce new capabilities as part of the upcoming VMware App Volumes 2.10 release, with general availability expected later this quarter.
There will be several enhancements in the release that will further expand the use case for customers looking to improve their application delivery and management capabilities. Some of the enhancements will include:
- Windows 10 Support – Windows 10 was released a few months ago and VMware App Volumes 2.10 will support Windows 10 by giving IT the ability to attach AppStacks and Writeable Volumes to Windows 10 virtual desktops.
- Expanded Office Support – VMware App Volumes 2.10 will support Office365 and will have additional delivery options for Office 2010 and 2013. This means that different Office applications can be delivered through different AppStacks to provide greater flexibility in managing end-user application requirements. For example, IT would be able to deliver Visio and Excel in two different AppStacks.
- Writeable Volume Expansion – Some customers asked us for the capability to expand writeable volume size and this capability will be available in VMware App Volumes 2.10. This means that customers will be able to expand writeable volumes beyond the default size.
- IPv6 and VMware vMotion Support – VMware App Volumes 2.10 will offer greater network compatibility in enterprise environments with IPv6 support. AppStacks and Writeable Volumes will also offer support of VMware vMotion.
In addition, new enterprise management, scale, and performance enhancements will also be available in this release, including:
- Enhanced Storage Management – Storage groups will be enhanced to perform replication of AppStacks across vCenters. Added flexibility to select which storage to use for delivering AppStacks and Writeable Volumes will also be available.
- Improved Scalability – The VMware App Volumes Manager will be able to support 100% more concurrent connections across multiple vCenters.
- Better Performance – The speed of installing large applications like Visual Studio and ArcGIS will improve by 50%.
As you can see, VMware App Volumes 2.10 has no shortage of new features. The latest bits are expected to be available on my.vmware.com later this quarter.
VMware’s Unique Approach
For customers unfamiliar with VMware App Volumes, let’s take a look at why its approach to application delivery and management remains unique in the market.
VMware App Volumes is an application delivery system that provides a just-in-time application model where it attaches a VMDK or VHD file that contains applications to target destinations, with targets usually being virtual desktops or published application servers. Instead of installing, updating, and managing applications many times, VMware App Volumes just does it once. This model helps customers be more operationally efficient while reducing storage costs. In addition, VMware App Volumes allows IT to set up a non-persistent environment. Combine that with users getting a persistent feel, as apps have the ability to follow the user, and you have a winning formula.
The beauty of VMware App Volumes is that applications can be delivered to several platforms including Horizon 6, Citrix XenDesktop, Citrix XenApp, and RDSH environments. This unique approach helps customers simplify application delivery and management like nothing ever before.
For our customers who have Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop environments, we created the VMware Horizon Application Management Bundle specifically for you. The bundle includes VMware App Volumes, VMware User Environment Manager, VMware vRealize Operations for Published Applications, VMware Identity Manager Standard Edition, and VMware ThinApp.
Customers are taking their Citrix environments to the next level with real-time application delivery, dynamic user policy management, proactive monitoring, single sign-on capabilities, and application isolation as needed. With VMware App Volumes leading the way, customers like OGL are realizing 7x storage savings and taking advantage of spending less time managing fewer templates (you can read more about them here). Our partners have embraced this bundle that has in turn, helped their customers enhance their Citrix XenApp and Citrix XenDesktop environments.
I’d also like to remind you that we have a special promotion in place for the VMware Horizon Application Management Bundle. Take advantage of the promotion before it expires on 12/26/15.
And for more updates on VMware App Volumes, please visit us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or discuss in our Communities.
We’re laser focused on making VMware App Volumes the de facto standard for real-time application delivery and lifecycle management. VMware App Volumes isn’t just a feature – it’s a unique solution with a similarly unique approach.
@harrylabana
