VMware vSphere Virtual Volumes (vVols)

Virtual Volumes (vVols) - The platform for integrating and managing external storage provides more accurate VM control, optimized storage operations, and flexible choices.

2021: Infinidat Storage Integration

On February 24, 2021, Infinidat, an enterprise-class storage solution provider, announced the expansion of its strategic alliance with VMware, an enterprise software company. Infinidat increases VMware functionality now with support for vSphere Virtual Volumes (vVols). In addition, InfiniBox is now a petabyte-scale storage platform available in VMware Cloud Solutions Lab. These steps, in close collaboration between the two technology innovators, make testing, implementation, and support processes for large-scale software-defined data centers (SDDCs) even easier.

We are moving to another level of partnership with VMware through vVols support and collaboration with Cloud Solutions Lab, "says Phil Bullinger, CEO of Infinidat. - Almost all of our large enterprise customers prefer to use VMware as a software-defined infrastructure platform for their data centers. Now we can offer better next-generation cloud options for more large businesses. Our collaborative project strengthens Infinidat's position as a Tier 1 storage provider for VMware.

{{quote 'An updated version of the vVols-enabled InfiniBox raises the bar for Tier 1 enterprise virtualization environments. The rich history of Infinidat and VMware joint solutions creates simplicity on a multi-table scale, "adds Lee Caswell, vice president of marketing for VMware Cloud Platforms business unit. - We are very pleased to continue working with Infinidat to add value to our portfolio for customers - from traditional vSphere to VMware Cloud Foundation and Tanzu Kubernetes environments. }}

VMware Cloud Solutions Lab is available for customers and partners to validate emerging workloads and client scenarios. With InfiniBox technology, VMware Cloud Solutions Lab can now handle multi-site data environments. InfiniBox has already been used in VMware Cloud Solutions Lab projects, including the Data for Good reference architecture for big data, as well as for machine learning in vSphere.

Infinidat has introduced us to the current ways of integrating VMware with InfiniBox and has demonstrated how both products can be shared, including instant recovery of individual virtual machines, "says Cole Thompson, President and CEO of Virtual Data Corp. (VDC). - Infinidat's capabilities make deploying VMware solutions so simple and reliable that it can run in hours as opposed to weeks with other products. This vVols-enabled Infinidat enhancement builds on the company's proven multi-site solutions.

While maintaining its proprietary simplicity, Infinidat's vVols support is easier to configure and manage than alternative scenarios. vVols InfiniBox support complements VMware's end-to-end solutions and provides a foundation for future capabilities.

Customers can also use vVols features to use InfiniBox as primary storage within the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) hybrid cloud platform or to work with vSphere Cloud Native Storage (CNS) functionality with VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid. This helps optimize operations in the multi-cloud infrastructure and extends the best-in-class capabilities of Kubernetes with Infinidat. Benefits include consistency and increased security of operations and infrastructure in public and private clouds, as well as increased flexibility and speed.

Infinidat introduced advanced support for VMware clients as part of InfiniBox enhancements. In addition to supporting vVols, Infinidat also supplemented the deep learning algorithm at the heart of each InfiniBox - the neural cache - to improve scalability by freeing up to a third of the DRAM system. This software enhancement enables further storage consolidation and data growth opportunities.