VMware Announces Go Virtualization Solution

Cost-conscious businesses looking to move to the cloud might consider WMware's "Go" virtualization offering.

Virtualization specialist VMware announced the release of of VMware Go, a Web-based service that helps small to medium-size businesses to virtualize servers and create running virtual machines simply and efficiently. The company positions Go as an on-ramp for SMBs virtualizing their applications by automating the installation and configuration of the hypervisor VMware ESXi, which allows midmarket companies to run multiple operating systems on a single server and reduce hardware costs.

VMware said Go has already created more than 3,000 virtual machines for more than 1,000 beta testers and together with VMware ESXi provides companies with a faster way to reduce overhead and simplify business operations by running multiple operating systems and applications on a single server, resulting in spending less money on hardware, power and cooling, and server administration.

"With VMware Go, we are eliminating the skill barrier for getting started with virtualization, so companies who are concerned about not having the IT resources or expertise, especially SMBs, can now more quickly and easily enjoy the many benefits of virtualization," said Dan Chu, vice president of emerging products and markets for VMware. "Both VMware Go and VMware ESXi are free offerings that can provide instant cost-savings with improved server utilization, reduced energy use and centralized management of the datacenter so IT can focus more on innovation and less on maintenance."

Chu said Go simplifies and accelerates virtualization in three steps: Initial ESXi server setup, through a Web-browser interface and intuitive wizard guides that accelerates installation and setup process and built in hardware compatibility check that automates the process of selecting physical server environments, virtual machine creation that helps SMBs leverage existing physical server configuration, install a prebuilt virtual appliance, or start with a new, clean virtual machine, and lastly, manage ESXi servers and virtual machines with a centralized management interface that simplifies changes to a virtual environment, the ability to monitor virtual machines for basic performance and resource utilization and scan and update virtual machines from a central console.

"As I talk to IT admins in the SMB market, what I have learned is that as their business grows, IT maintenance and the need for more servers grows even faster," said David Davis, vExpert, VCP, and VMware video training author at computer training provider Train Signal. "With VMware Go and VMware ESXi, these same SMB IT centers can handle large influxes of server growth or perform virtual consolidation while saving time, money and resources in the process."