NetApp has introduced new tools designed to enhance VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) deployments, assuring customers they can optimize their IT environments to efficiently run VMware workloads at the appropriate scale.
To assist customers in cutting costs, simplifying operations, and boosting flexibility, NetApp asserts that its ONTAP software can now meet all VCF storage needs, including both standard and consolidated architectures.
A key feature in this update is the enhanced ONTAP Tools for VMware (OTV), which now includes SnapMirror active sync. This feature enables symmetric active-active data replication for NetApp storage systems managing VMware workloads, allowing customers to improve operational efficiency by offloading data protection from virtualized compute resources and enhancing data availability.
Moreover, new capabilities have been introduced for Azure VMware Solution (AVS). Customers extending or migrating their vSphere workloads to the cloud can now utilize Spot Eco by NetApp with AVS reserved instances to maximize the value of their deployments. According to NetApp, managing AVS reserved instances with Spot Eco, alongside using Azure NetApp Files for data storage, can lead to substantial reductions in compute costs.
Additionally, NetApp is launching Cloud Insights VM Optimization, a suite of tools aimed at reducing costs by increasing VM density, optimizing storage for the best price-to-performance ratio, and monitoring the entire environment to ensure availability, performance, and compliance with configuration best practices across the stack.
To further assist customers in optimizing their VMware environments’ compute, memory, and storage resources, NetApp is offering a free 30-day trial of Cloud Insights. This trial is intended to help customers “cost-effectively migrate” to the new VMware software subscriptions introduced by VMware’s parent company, Broadcom.
“NetApp and Broadcom are working together to take the uncertainty out of hybrid cloud environments,” said Jonsi Stefansson, SVP and chief technology officer at NetApp. “More than 20,000 customers rely on NetApp to support their VMware workloads.”
Paul Turner, VP of products, VCF division at Broadcom, added, “As organizations modernize infrastructure with VMware Cloud Foundation, they want to know the services they rely on will continue to work seamlessly and deliver the value they have come to expect. Having NetApp as a close collaborator helps mutual customers deploy innovative data and storage services on top of their private cloud platform.”
This announcement follows NetApp’s strong first-quarter performance, with sales increasing by 8 percent to $1.54 billion and profits rising by 66 percent to $248 million.
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