At VMworld 2008, we announced a number of name changes to our product lines. In broad strokes, Virtual Center becomes VMware vCenter and a brand for our management and automation products; and the product line for the enterprise desktop and our vClient Initiative become VMware View. Today we revamped the website to reflect these new names.
VMware vCenter
Brand name for all infrastructure and application management products from VMware
VMware VirtualCenter → VMware vCenter Server
The central management product for VMware Infrastructure
VMware Lifecycle Manager → VMware vCenter Lifecycle Manager
Workflow automation product for creation, deployment and decommissioning of virtual machines
VMware Converter → VMware vCenter Converter (for the version integrated into vCenter)
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone (for the separately downloadable version); comes in two flavors: Enterprise and Starter
Physical to virtual (P2V) conversion product
VMware Lab Manager → VMware vCenter Lab Manager
Automation product for application development environments
VMware Stage Manager → VMware vCenter Stage Manager
Automation product for application staging and deployment environments
VMware Update Manager → VMware vCenter Update Manager
Host and virtual machine patch management product integrated with vCenter Server
VMware Site Recovery Manager → VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager
Disaster recovery orchestration product
VirtualCenter Foundation → vCenter Server Foundation
Node limited version of vCenter Server
VMFS → VMware vStorage VMFS
VMware’s cluster file system
VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure → VMware View
VMware’s integrated desktop virtualization solution that delivers enterprise-class control and manageability
Virtual Desktop Manager (VDM) → VMware View Manager
Enterprise class server which manages connections from end points to virtual desktops or hosted desktops while helping rapidly provision desktops
VMware Administrator Interface → VMware View Administrator
Administrator Interface for View Manager
VDM Agent → VMware View Manager Agent
Agent for View Manager to talk to the virtual desktop
VDM Web Access → VMware View Portal
Access to virtual desktops through web browser
VDM Client for Windows → VMware View Client for Windows
Client used to install on Win 32 PC or Win XP embedded thin client to connect to View Manager for virtual desktop access
VDM Client for Linux → VMware View Client for Linux
Client used to install on Linux thin clients to connect to View Manager for virtual desktop access
Only the current versions change their names — older versions keep the older names, so you won’t have to do that translation in your head. It’s hopefully not too confusing, and it sets us up for more logical naming going forward. Behind such seemingly simple changes go a lot of work, so congrats to the team for pulling it off.
