Technical

vSphere 7 – Launch Recap & Links, Week 3

VMware vSphere IconIt’s been three weeks since we announced VMware vSphere 7 and vSphere with Kubernetes. You’ve been waiting very patiently for it to become “GA” or Generally Available so that you can get it running in your nested vSphere lab (vSphere can run inside your production vSphere environment for testing and training purposes, just like the Hands-on Labs do). You’ve watched all the videos in the vSphere 7 YouTube playlist. You’ve gone back and read all the other posts and recaps. You’ve scoured the VMware Reddit forum for hints of when it will ship, read every single @VMwarevSphere tweet, and followed vSphere on Facebook. You even built an IFTTT applet to send a text message to your phone when something new appears in the vSphere Blog RSS feed.

Now you’re just quietly frustrated that, even though VMware always does this announce-first-ship-soon thing, we did it again. With everything going on in the world COULDN’T THIS HAVE BEEN THE TIME THINGS WERE DIFFERENT?!

Join us for the vSphere 7 Launch Event!

We understand, so here’s something that’s very different: a SECOND launch event. You will DEFINITELY want to watch this on Thursday, April 2. It’s hosted by siliconANGLE’s theCUBE, who are the folks that you see at VMworld every year with their studio in the Community/Hang Space. This event is geared towards all the vSphere Admins out there and will have VMware vSphere Engineering & Product Management leadership, the CTO for vSphere Kit Colbert, and real customers talking about vSphere 7 and vSphere 7 with Kubernetes. The hosts of theCUBE are knowledgeable, charismatic, and always do a great job keeping things interactive and lively.

Use the link above to get a “save the date” reminder, block off your calendar, and enjoy the show.

vSphere 7 – Identity Federation

VMware vSphere 7 has the option to connect to Microsoft Active Directory Federation Services to authenticate and authorize users. This is a new and very welcome direction for vSphere, and it’s exciting because it is a great step forward for security, a reduction in work for compliance audits, less process duplication in an organization, less work for vSphere Admins, and a better experience for users.

vSphere 7 – Improved DRS

The Distributed Resource Scheduler, DRS, is one of the most fundamental components of the software-defined data center. We usually take it for granted as it sits there, quietly helping our workloads stay fast and available. vSphere 7 introduces a number of big improvements to DRS, and Niels Hagoort takes us through them.

vSphere 7 – Introduction to Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Clusters

I bet you’ve heard something about Kubernetes being in VMware vSphere 7, haven’t you? Seems like maybe we’ve mentioned it a few thousand times or so since VMworld US 2019. There’s a very good reason why people keep talking about it, though – it makes Kubernetes much easier for an organization to implement, secure, and govern. Unlike a lot of implementations, it also stays very true to the open source heritage of Kubernetes, too, which is a huge advantage. Mike Foley runs us through what a vSphere Admin will see when they turn on vSphere with Kubernetes, what the Tanzu Kubernetes Grid (TKG) Clusters are, and why developers like them.

In other interesting news around VMware:

Rapidly Respond to Business Continuity Challenges with VMware Cloud on AWS

This is a very weird time in the world right now, and all of us at VMware hope that you, your loved ones, and your friends are safe. Given the realities of global manufacturing, activities like buying new server hardware might be trickier than usual. VMware Cloud on AWS is very compelling under normal circumstances, and right now there are some special offers available to help organizations out.

The Hybrid Cloud Might be Virtual, But the Savings are Real

Craig Stanley is one of our Cloud Economists. What the heck is a “cloud economist?” It’s someone who helps organizations study the economic benefits of the cloud in the context of their business goals, decisions, and IT initiatives. As more customers discover why VMware Cloud on AWS is game-changing we have more data around their actual savings and benefits. IDC studied all of this and released a new paper, and Craig gives us the highlights and the link to what IDC had to say.

 


We are excited about vSphere 7 and what it means for our customers and the future. Watch the vSphere 7 Launch Event replay, an event designed for vSphere Admins, hosted by theCUBE. We will continue posting new technical and product information about vSphere 7 and vSphere with Kubernetes Monday through Thursdays into May 2020. Join us by following the blog directly using the RSS feed, on Facebook, and on Twitter. Thank you, and please stay safe.