Optimize your VMware environment with new capabilities

One thing that might be on the minds of customers and partners is: What role does NetApp play in the shift to new VMware by Broadcom subscriptions? The answer is the same as it always has been—except now more than ever, the right intelligent data infrastructure can make even more of a difference. 

Over the past 20+ years, as more of the data center became virtualized on VMware, it became critical to ensure that the CPUs running VMware software, and the workloads on top of VMware, had the right data management services for their needs.  

Whether it’s virtual desktops, databases, applications, file systems, or containerized workloads, modern flash storage needs to be provisioned, compressed, deduplicated, and compacted for cost efficiency. Workloads often require dozens or hundreds of copies of data, and that data needs to be protected and secure, regardless of location. The key is where these functions are performed.

A large reason why NetApp and VMware have been a strong combination for over 20,000 customers is that NetApp’s core focus is to simplify and offload data management to the storage layer. This offloading keeps the CPU layer as lean and efficient as possible, so IT can maximize use of their virtualized CPU and the software that runs on it.

This year at VMware Explore in Las Vegas, NetApp and VMware announced a new set of joint solutions optimized for the current VMware by Broadcom subscriptions. The goal is to help CIOs rightsize their VMware investments, on premises or in the cloud, and reduce costs by about 25%–50%.  

We’re approaching this goal by enabling VMware customers to get deeper integrated use of NetApp^® ONTAP^® all-flash and ASA platforms as well as NetApp and VMware cloud services.  

• VMware Cloud Foundation. We’re offering new and expanded use of ONTAP for VCF workload and management domains, combined with VMware Tanzu and Aria integration, to offload and leverage NetApp advanced data replication, protection, and security. 

• Next-generation vVols. NetApp is working with VMware to jointly engineer the next generation of VMware vSphere Virtual Volumes (vVols). This solution will deliver greater scale and VM-granular storage management together with NetApp’s updated vSphere APIs for Storage Awareness (VASA). 

• Azure VMware Solution. Building on the certified support of Azure NetApp Files for Azure VMware Solution, the Spot Eco™ by NetApp service is now supported for use with Azure VMware Solution Reserved Instances, enabling customers to reduce compute costs by approximately 20%–30% and increase utilization of Reserved Instances by up to 90%. 

Each VMware customer is transitioning to the new VMware subscriptions from their own unique environment. To help customers begin this journey, NetApp is also offering free workshops on using NetApp Cloud Insights to view current CPU and storage utilization and designing the most cost-effective combination as they move to the new VMware by Broadcom subscriptions. 

All of our joint solutions with VMware are published and maintained publicly on our Global Solutions Portal—we encourage all VMware customers and partners to take advantage of this site. If you’d like to talk to us in more detail, please contact us.