ZERO IS A BIG NUMBER

Great news for customers who want to deploy Linux in VMware environments!

Thanks to an OEM agreement with Novell that was announced earlier today (read press release), VMware will be able to provide everyone who purchases new vSphere licenses or upgrades with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and subscription to patches and updates at zero additional cost. Zero is a big number when you consider that qualified customers will be getting an industry proven Linux OS with an extremely broad application support (more than 5,000 apps) like SUSE Linux Enterprise Server along with patches and updates for no additional cost.

And It doesn’t end there…

In addition to the cost savings, customers will also enjoy a streamlined support experience for SLES running on vSphere because VMware will also provide direct technical support for SLES. Customers will be able to purchase technical support for SLES directly from VMware or from our extensive reseller network. Technical support for SLES in not included with vSphere SnS and is not mandatory.

When is SLES for VMware going to be available?

SLES for VMware will be available in 3Q 2010 – more announcements to come. At GA we will provide more details around available options for support and pricing. Regardless of the GA date, everyone who purchases new qualifying vSphere licenses on or after June 9^th will be entitled to SLES for VMware and subscription to patches and updates. We will be following up with customers for how to download SLES for VMware and activate their subscription in the next few weeks.

Why is VMware doing this?

VMware’s mission is to reduce IT complexity by providing a stable and realistic path to the cloud. SLES for VMware provides a cost effective path to accelerate the evolution of fully virtualized datacenters, simplifying the portability of applications between on premise and off-premise private cloud environments.

For more details about terms and conditions and qualifying vSphere SKUs checkout the SLES for VMware home page.