I was recently asked to create a short video detailing some of the new features of vSphere 4. This also led to a blog entry on our website. The Content of that article is contained below.

vSphere 4.0: New Features and Improvements
By Eric Hagstrom, Infrastructure Architect

Operational Efficiency
VMware has increased many of the operational maxims in vSphere. For example, a single ESX host can now support more than 200,000 IOPS which is double that of ESX 3.5. You can also achieve three times the network transmit throughput, and ten times more iSCSI throughput to your shared storage backend. Further enhancements include vStorage Thin Provisioning to optimize your storage utilization, Distributed Power Management to further lower the power and cooling consumption, and vNetwork Distributed Switching with the optional Cisco Nexus 1000V software switch to simply network management.

Application Availability
vSphere introduced VMware Fault Tolerance which is clustering solution deployed at the VM level. This allows for ANY application to be clustered for zero data loss continuous availability. vSphere also introduced VMware Data Recovery which is an overhaul of the VMware Consolidated Backup application of ESX 3.5.

Increased Security
To prevent unauthorized modifications of the ESX hosts configurations, VMware now provides Host Profiles which first simplifies bringing ESX hosts into compliance, and then assists in ensuring integrity moving forward. Protection of the VMs at the network layer has been enhanced and simplified with the introduction of vShield Zones which is an appliance based firewall solution for your virtual infrastructure.

Improved Features
vMotion and Storage vMotion are still present, and Storage vMotion has been improved with functionality built right into the vCenter GUI. High Availability is now standard across all licensing levels and continues to provide automated failover for your physical hosts. Licensing your infrastructure has been simplified, and the vCenter management application has been updated to include new web components, and the new Linked Mode which allows you to view multiple datacenters from a single pane of glass.

Licensing and Upgrade
With VMware Infrastructure 3 licensing and an active Support and Subscription agreement, your organization can take advantage of Vsphere 4 for free. VMware is also offering up to 55% off upgrades.Contact us, we'd be happy to help you scope out the project.

For more information, check out the video, download the datasheet and upgrade guide or contact us.

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