by James Urquhart

Cloud computing and data center virtualization are both changing the way IT operations are organized, and the toolsets sought to automate operations tasks. Recent conversations with a variety of cloud practitioners have reemphasized this for me, and I wanted to lay out what changes I see coming to the operations space, and why those changes are important when considering your future (or your product’s future).

A few months ago, I wrote a series of five posts I dubbed the “Big Rethink” series. If you haven’t read the series yet, I invite you to do so now. The series basically breaks down the effect of virtualization and cloud computing on IT operations, and looks at how those changes affect data center operators, developers and end users, respectively. I wrapped up the series with several observations about what the future holds based on “the Big Rethink.”

I followed that up with a three part series on “DevOps”, the term applied to aligning application development with operations automation throughout the developement/deployment/operations lifecycle. In that series, I laid out my argument why IT operations will shift from a server/network/storage model to a more “horizontal” model.

In conversations following those two series of posts, it has become clear to me that I need to clarify exactly how I see those horizontal operations roles evolving, and provide a model for the ownership of various aspects of a “cloudy” IT operations organization. Most of this draws from the previous series, but there are some important nuances that I want to demonstrate in this post.

The first thing that I think is critical to identify is that there are really three elements to IT operations in a world where IT is delivered as a service:

I think of these three categories in the following way:

1. Infrastructure operations (or “InfraOps”) is the management of the base physical systems (such as physical servers, networking and storage), and usually the virtualized representations of those resources–though not always, as you’ll see below. Included in this infrastructure are the management systems focused on managing resource allocation at the behest of services and applications.

   What is critical to understanding the role of InfaOps is understanding that infrastructure is moving towards a more homogenous model in support of heterogeneous applications and services (a “Big Rethink” concept). If the same core infrastructure is going to host multiple services and applications, it therefore makes sense that a single team of dedicated professionals would watch over that infrastructure, theoretically guaranteeing the ability of that infrastructure to adjust to the demands of its payloads.

2. Service operations (or “ServiceOps”) is then the role that focuses on running the services provided on that infrastructure. For example, the ServiceOps team would own the service catalog and service portal environments, and all of the software systems that define and manage the services offered through those systems.

   Why manage services separately from the infrastructure they run on? I usually illustrate this concept with an analogy: think of the data center infrastructure as an iPad, and the services it hosts as “apps.” Ultimately, I may move towards a more homogeneous data center infrastructure in support of my services, but I still want a wide ranging choice of service options to select from. Perhaps I build my own infrastructure as a service offering, buy my communications services from a vendor, and my dev/test governance services from another vendor.

   If the data center is hosting multiple services from multiple sources, there will need to be expertise to support the common infrastructure (as mentioned above) and expertise to support each of the services. This means service operations would need to be managed separately from infrastructure operations.

3. Application Operations (or “AppOps”) then is the role that manages the applications themselves, assuring that the application has a place to execute, that it is deployed correctly, and that service level requirements are met throughout the life of the application. AppOps typically is the team that is involved in DevOps activities, and is also the most likely role to find itself working with multiple “clouds” (aka IT service providers) at once.

   This is the primary effect of the “Big Rethink” and DevOps: the drive to make the application itself the unit of administration from the application’s perspective, rather than the infrastructure on which it runs. To me, this is an exciting change, as it get’s application operators out of the business of being “clerks” (e.g. responding to trouble tickets day after day), and into the creative business of architecting, implementing, and maintaining application operations automation.

(For the more technical readers, I should note that today, many so-called “cloud infrastructure” tools tightly couple physical resource allocation to an “infrastructure as a service” software system. The problem I see with that is that it means the infrastructure can only be used with that service offering, or other services that utilize the same management and user interface systems as that offering. I believe that the “service” component of IaaS will eventually be decoupled from the actual infrastructure automation for that reason.)

By the way, some of you may have picked up on a very interesting point that can be derived from this breakdown of operations. The separation of operations roles basically denotes the separation of operations automation systems that should be deployed in an cloud ecosystem; the same three elements are involved:

Now, it will take time for these roles to appear in many organizations, but I find it hard to picture a different breakdown that will allow for (a) maximum flexibility and efficiency in infrastructure usage, and (b) the separation of concerns that come into play when you have an end user consuming a second party service that is running on a third party’s infrastructure–a very reasonable model in the world of cloud computing.

I’d love your feedback on this concept. Does it ring true to your organization? Does the “hybrid IT” model I mentioned earlier support this change, or disrupt it? How do you see cloud computing and virtualization affecting your IT organization?

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-19413_3-20016550-240.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=TheWisdomofClouds#ixzz12LaaO6oe ]]> http://www.xaccel.net/?feed=rss2&p=1094 0 http://www.xaccel.net/?p=727 http://www.xaccel.net/?p=727#comments Mon, 27 Sep 2010 03:41:54 +0000 Xaccel Networks http://www.xaccel.net/?p=727 Kill enterprise architecture, provide infinite scalability, cost pennies per day — these are just a few of our overblown expectations for the cloud

A recent post by Deloitte asked whether cloud computing makes enterprise architecture irrelevant: “With less reliance on massive, monolithic enterprise solutions, it’s tempting to think that the hard work of creating a sustainable enterprise architecture (EA) is also behind us. So, as many companies make the move to cloud computing, they anticipate leaving behind a lot of the headaches of enterprise architecture.”

In short, we make a lot of money from consulting on enterprise architecture, so please don’t take my enterprise architecture away. It’s analogous to saying that some revolutionary new building material makes structurally engineering irrelevant. Even if that were the case, I still wouldn’t go into that building.

[ Get the no-nonsense explanations and advice you need to take real advantage of cloud computing in the InfoWorld editors' 21-page Cloud Computing Deep Dive PDF special report. | Stay up on the cloud with InfoWorld's Cloud Computing Report newsletter. ]

I’m disturbed that the question is being asked at all. We should’ve evolved a bit by now, considering the amount of time cloud computing has been on the scene. However, silly questions such as this will continue to come up as we oversell the cloud; as a consequence of these inflated claims, I expect we’ll be underdelivering pretty soon.

Cloud computing does not replace enterprise architecture. It does not provide “infinite scalability,” it does not “cost pennies a day,” you can’t “get there in an hour” — it won’t iron my shirts either. It’s exciting technology that holds the promise of providing more effective, efficient, and elastic computing platforms, but we’re taking this hype to silly levels these days, and my core concern is that the cloud may not be able to meet these overblown expectations.

It’s not politically correct to push back on cloud computing these days, so those who have concerns about the cloud are keeping their opinions to themselves. A bit of healthy skepticism is a good thing during technology transitions, considering that many hard questions are often not being asked. As much as I love the cloud, I’ll make sure to hit those debates in this blog.

This article, “What cloud computing can and can’t do,” originally appeared at InfoWorld.com. Read more of David Linthicum’s Cloud Computing blog and follow the latest developments in cloud computing at InfoWorld.com.

The New York Post first reported Wednesday that a “strategic buyer” would acquire the SUSE Linux portion of Novell’s business, without naming the buyer. A subsequent report in the Wall Street Journal Thursday named VMware as the “strategic buyer.”

It’s sort of like getting rid of the covered wagon and then going out and buying a horse.

While the reports remain unconfirmed, some users say they fit VMware’s pattern of expansion into a software stack beyond the hypervisor, which has included acquisitions of SpringSource and Zimbra as well as a partnership with Salesforce.com.

Novell SUSE would give “VMware that missing piece in the computing stack, the operating system,” if the reports are accurate, wrote Eric Siebert, a system administrator for Boston Market, in an email to SearchServerVirtualization.com. “Having an OS will complete their stack from the virtualization layer all the way to the application layer and will help them better compete with Microsoft. It also gives them a OS to use for their numerous virtual appliances.”

There hasn’t been any indication that VMware is pursuing parts of Novell’s business beyond the SUSE OS, but Rick Vanover, an IT infrastructure manager at a large Midwestern financial services firm, said that he hopes VMware will also acquire intellectual property from Novell’s PlateSpin virtualization management suite.

In particular, Vanover said he likes PlateSpin’s Forge feature, which he described as “a virtual data center in a box for disaster recovery” that “integrates conversion technology with a modified ESX hypervisor with failover and failback.” Novell’s conversion tool is also appealing, he said.

But not everyone is enthused. “From a corporate point of view, I would rather they focused on their core product, though I can understand how VMware would like to be seen as a data center management solution,” said Chris Dearden, a U.K.-based senior hosting center engineer for one of the world’s largest accountancy and professional services firms. “I’m not quite sure why VMware would want this, other than being able to own another part of the stack in the same fashion of the Zimbra purchase.”

A senior systems engineer with a telecom in the Midwest said he was similarly puzzled by the idea. “They just got rid of the last vestiges of Linux from the vSphere platform, still a mistake in my opinion, and now they’re acquiring SUSE. It’s sort of like getting rid of the covered wagon and then going out and buying a horse.”

Chris Wolf, research vice president for Gartner Inc. said VMware has been trying to transcend the operating system with its “Just enough OS,” which lets the hypervisor take on more of the functions traditionally performed by the operating system. But users often have certification requirements for deploying infrastructure that requires a standard Linux distribution.

“VMware doesn’t have any choice,” Wolf said. “Customers aren’t fully embracing the ‘Just enough OS.’ ”

VMware has also faced increasing competition from Microsoft Hyper-V and Red Hat Inc.’s KVM, both of which boast deeper integration between the hypervisor and OS, Wolf pointed out.

“VMware’s point of view on the hypervisor taking over the role of the OS hasn’t changed,” he said. “Their hypervisor is sticky technology, but over time, it’s conceivable Microsoft could chip away there … over the next ten years, VMware is looking to lessen Microsoft’s relevance to enterprise IT.”

Having a consistent OS for all of its appliances could help VMware in that area, Siebert said.

“Right now, they have a mix of different Linux distros for the many different appliances they use with their products, like vShield, [Data Recovery], [vSphere Management Assistant], etc.,” he said. “Having consistency makes it easier to manage and maintain them. It would also help solidify their cloud offering, as you need an OS for [Software as a Service and Infrastructure as a Service], and they can offer a standard OS.”

Potential for ripples beyond server virtualization

Microsoft partners don’t appear too threatened. Dave Sobel, CEO of Evolve Technologies, a Microsoft partner in Fairfax, Va., said, “Microsoft owns the OS world … and VMware has been claiming — for what, two years, three years now? — that they’re the data center operating system. This is clearly a bit of positioning along the lines of that.”

People will still view VMware first and foremost as a virtualization company, Sobel said. There will be better VMware integration and support in Linux environments, but “I still don’t see VMware taking on Windows.”

Hyper-V has attracted small and medium-sized business (SMB) customers because it’s free with Windows Server, but the same strategy might not work for VMware and Novell, because “Novell certainly has not been as comprehensive about attacking the SMB market,” Sobel added

Meanwhile, open source experts say they’re concerned about the potential affect of the deal in their market. “Both VMware and Novell are important players in the open source market and have people working on parts of Linux,” according to open source virtualization expert Sander van Vugt. If an acquisition takes place, some of those overlapping people will be laid off. “If this is a trend that is going to continue, we might end up with just a handful of major companies that kind of ‘own’ open source, and I have my doubts that that is a good development.”

Senior site editor Colin Steele contributed to this report.

Beth Pariseau is a senior news writer for SearchServerVirtualization.com. Write to her at bpariseau@techtarget.com. ]]> http://www.xaccel.net/?feed=rss2&p=540 0 http://www.xaccel.net/?p=436 http://www.xaccel.net/?p=436#comments Mon, 23 Aug 2010 03:27:53 +0000 Xaccel Networks http://www.xaccel.net/?p=436 A recent Reuters news item that equates virtualization and cloud computing is symptomatic of the ongoing confusion between the two terms. Without splitting hairs, are these really the same?

Here’s the statement from the article “Dell To Buy Storage Company 3PAR for $1.15 billion”): “International Business Machines Corp has been expanding its services business, as have other rivals like Hewlett-Packard Co and Oracle Corp. Such companies have also been stepping up investment in cloud computing, or “virtualization,” a technology that enables users to access data and software over the Internet and corporate networks.”

(The underlining is mine. Also, let us ignore that last bit about technology enabling access to data and software over the internet — which could be one of several “technologies,” for example IP.)

Turning to that modern oracle, Wikipedia, is helpful. Wikipedia doesn’t provide a single definition for virtualization; instead, it defines (if you can call it that) various types of virtualization, e.g. hardware virtualization, virtual memory, storage virtualization, operating system-level virtualization, etc. Clicking through to Wiktionary for “virtualization” doesn’t shed any additional light. But a careful reading of Wikipedia’s coverage turns up two concepts repeatedly: simulation and abstraction.

Wikipedia does provide a definition for cloud computing: “Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand, like the electricity grid.” Not entirely adequate, but not bad.

The fact is, virtualization and cloud computing are related but entirely different concepts. Virtualization is simulation; the request fulfillment is in terms of a simulation — make-believe that behaves like real. Several “make-believes” can be produced from one “real” — often without significant impact in terms of performance, and at far lesser cost, hence the attraction of virtualization. Loosely speaking, anything can be virtualized — memory, storage, operating system services, etc. The primary objective (and hence benefit) of virtualization is to “do more with less” and save on costs.

Cloud computing is something else entirely — it is, literally, computing in the (Internet) cloud. Components that make up the application — for example, application components, databases, external/real-time data feeds, etc. — are typically dispersed across the Internet and made available in the form of services. A “cloud app” is then in effect an assembly of such cloud-based services. In turn these services may use virtualization, but that’s only incidental. Internal clouds — which are seeing in increasing prevalence — are just that; mostly internal services, hosted internally within the organization. In that sense, internal clouds are an extension of classic SOA architecture. By “merely” dispersing these services across the internet, we begin to truly realize the benefits of SOA. Cloud computing allows us to not just “do more with less” — it enables us to “do more,” period.

Virtualization and cloud computing make a good team, but they complement rather than supplant each other. And they are not identical.

Posted by
Third Eye View, by Rajan Chandras
Rajan Chandras is a consultant with a global IT consulting, systems integration and outsourcing firm. Write him at rchandras@gmail.com.

As CRN reported, “68 percent of respondents said cloud computing will help their businesses recover from the recession” in a survey of more than 600 IT and business decision makers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Singapore on behalf of cloud infrastructure and hosted IT provider Savvis.

The survey found that 96 percent of IT decision makers are as confident that cloud computing is ready for the enterprise, more so than in 2009, and that “7 percent of IT decision makers said they use or are planning to use enterprise-class cloud computing solutions within the next two years.” So will this fuel economic growth?

While this is good news, it is perhaps a stretch to focus on cloud computing as something that will “fuel economic growth.” Cloud computing is very effective, but the chances that business channels in two years will cover it as an economic change engine are iffy — it’s an expectation that’s unrealistic to ask cloud computing, or any technology, to live up to.

A more realistic opportunity is growth in the cloud computing technology space, as providers ramp up for a hoped-for market explosion, and more venture and public money flows into the cloud computing technology companies. Much like the explosion of the Web in the 1990s, it could be the catalyst that gets more investment dollars back into technology — and translates into jobs and the building of wealth. Now that will fuel the tech economy at least.

At the same time, I’m sure that enterprises and government agencies will find a use for and value in cloud computing, but the savings won’t be apparent until 2013, if past patterns are a meaningful guide. Moreover, it will be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Like other hyped technologies, we won’t understand the true benefits until after — well, it’s no longer being hyped, and surveys such as this are long forgotten.

This article, “Will cloud computing save the economy?,” originally appeared at InfoWorld.com. Read more of David Linthicum’s Cloud Computing blog and follow the latest developments in cloud computing at InfoWorld.com.

According to the news provider, the government agency was able to make substantial financial savings, while also boosting its IT capabilities because of the service.

The Census Bureau used both software as a service and infrastructure as a service applications to ensure that accurate data was collected.

Brian McGrath, chief information officer for the census, told the website that the approach was the most cost effective and efficient way to meet the requirements of the 2010 Census.

“We’ve gone from a model where we had one application on one server. Now we’ve got hundreds of guests in our virtual farms and we are realizing significant savings of $2 million a year because we’ve compressed down our hardware footprint,” he said.

“There are still some concerns about the security in the public cloud. I have every confidence that those will work out in the coming years.”

It is thought that the success of the cloud in this instance is likely to speed up the adoption of the service by other federal agencies as they look to save money.

The United States government is looking to implement as many cloud computing solutions as possible in the future, Reuters has reported.

Posted by Paul Newman

PALO ALTO, Calif., July 13, 2010 — VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop through the datacenter and to the cloud, today announced VMware vSphere™ 4.1, the latest version of the award-winning VMware virtualization platform, as well as an expanded portfolio of virtualization management solutions. VMware once again sets the bar in virtualization, coupling dramatic scalability and performance enhancements with new management capabilities to deliver the most powerful foundation for cloud computing.

 “Strategically, server virtualization is an IT modernization catalyst that will change how IT is acquired, consumed, managed, sourced and paid for. Virtualization will even change how businesses innovate and grow,” said Thomas Bittman, VP Distinguished Analyst at Gartner. “Done well, server virtualization makes fundamental changes that can lead an organization down the path of private and public cloud computing.”

Cloud computing represents a new model for the way IT services are developed, provisioned and consumed.  VMware virtualization enables enterprises and service providers to lay the foundation for cloud computing by aggregating an elastic pool of computing resources that can be accessed on-demand while enabling policy-based automation and management to increase efficiency.   VMware vSphere 4.1 and the VMware vCenter™ product family are cornerstone solutions for customers and service providers building private and public cloud environments. As such, these technologies have attracted a broad partner ecosystem of industry leaders that support and extend this foundation.

“Virtualization occupies an increasingly central position within IT strategy as the cornerstone of modern infrastructures and the foundation for cloud computing,” said Raghu Raghuram, senior vice president and general manager, virtualization and cloud platforms, VMware. “As the market leader, VMware vSphere™ is redefining the economics of computing, while helping customers to achieve the levels of utilization and automation that underpin the promise of cloud computing.” 

VMware vSphere 4.1 Advances the Foundation for Cloud Computing
With groundbreaking new memory management and expanded resource pooling capabilities, VMware vSphere 4.1 promises to accelerate the evolution of datacenters and service providers into cloud computing environments, setting the standard for key tenets of cloud computing: 

• 2X larger resource pools with 3X the management power. Already the most powerful virtualization platform on the market, VMware vSphere 4.1 includes dramatic scalability enhancements, enabling customers to aggregate twice the computing resources within a single pool. VMware vCenter Server can now manage up to 10,000 concurrently powered on VMs – three times as many as before. 
• Up to 25% better performance and reduced cost per application. With the addition of new memory compression technology, VMware vSphere 4.1 preserves the performance of systems under heavy load, resulting in up to 25% better performance over previous approaches. Memory compression also contributes to further increased consolidation ratios in VMware vSphere. Already the highest consolidation levels in the market, this increase reduces customers’ cost-per-application, a critical measure of value delivered through virtualization.
• 5X faster virtual machine migrations for increased agility. Speed and scale enhancements to VMware vMotion™ deliver superior platform response and availability by migrating virtual machines up to five times faster and enabling up to eight concurrent vMotion events per server pair.
• New network and storage I/O controls deliver Quality of Service guarantees. VMware vSphere 4.1 introduces new controls that allow better alignment of storage and network I/O resources to business priority. VMware vSphere network and storage I/O controls provide granular control over how applications access shared storage and network resources. Administrators can set quality of service priorities per virtual machine and VMware vSphere 4.1 automatically manages resource allocation accordingly.
• Increased performance through open integration with storage environments. VMware vSphere 4.1 already supports more operating systems, devices, applications, and service providers than any other virtualization solution. With the introduction of new VMware vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI), VMware vSphere 4.1 enables tighter integration with solutions from VMware’s storage partners to increase the efficiency and performance of the platform in cloud environments.  

“Over the past two and a half years as we’ve significantly reduced IT cost and complexity while increasing efficiency, VMware has become a central part of our IT strategy,” said Brad Blake, CTO at Boston Medical Center. “VMware vSphere™ has proven its ability to handle the most demanding applications and scale to support an increasing percentage of our infrastructure.  Through VMware’s continued innovation and vision, VMware vSphere has become the foundation for our cloud computing strategy.”

“With this release, VMware has once again raised the bar in virtualization,” said Rob Zelinka, Director of Infrastructure at TTX. “As we increasingly virtualize more of our production systems and mission-critical applications, advancements like memory compression and storage and network I/O controls ensure that we can maintain – or improve – service levels while creating a more flexible, scalable and cost-effective infrastructure.”

Expanded Management Portfolio and Licensing Model for Cloud Environments
VMware vCenter helps customers further reduce complexity of their IT environment while increasing operational efficiency through policy-based management of provisioning, deployment, and performance optimization. VMware has broadened its management portfolio to deliver a complete set of solutions to automate the management of dynamic virtualized systems. Today VMware is introducing:

• VMware vCenter Configuration Manager (formerly EMC Ionix Application Stack Manager and EMC Ionix Server Configuration Manager) ensures policy based compliance and avoids configuration drift by automating manual configuration tasks across virtual and physical servers and workstations.
• VMware vCenter Application Discovery Manager (formerly EMC Ionix Application Discovery Manager) quickly and accurately maps application dependencies to accelerate datacenter moves, precisely plan infrastructure consolidations, and confidently virtualize business-critical applications. 

VMware is also introducing a new per VM licensing model for the VMware vCenter management solutions. This new model aligns licensing costs to the number of virtual machines being managed, rather than to the physical hardware. As virtualization and cloud computing become more prevalent models of IT infrastructure, the virtual machine is rapidly becoming the standard measure of infrastructure deployments. In a virtualized environment, the hardware configuration is abstracted and changes frequently due to virtual machine migrations across the datacenter, making hardware-based licensing complex. The new virtual machine-based licensing model for VMware vCenter offers customers better alignment between software costs and benefits delivered. This new model will also better support customers’ needs to port computing environments across diverse hardware configurations, including multiple CPU scenarios, without incurring additional costs. This new licensing model will be in effect on September 1, 2010 for VMware vCenter products only.

Pricing and Availability
VMware vSphere 4.1 is currently available in packages and prices that address the widest range of customer requirements, from Small and Mid-size Business solutions starting at $83 per processor to full enterprise editions for the most demanding environments at $3,495 per processor.

VMware vCenter AppSpeed, VMware vCenter Chargeback, and VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager will be sold in VM packs on a per VM basis starting on September 1, 2010. VMware vCenter Application Discovery Manager and VMware vCenter Configuration Manager are already licensed on both a per VM and physical server model. Per VM licensing for VMware vCenter CapacityIQ will take effect in the fourth quarter of 2010.

About VMware?
VMware delivers virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable IT organizations to energize businesses of all sizes. With the industry leading virtualization platform – VMware vSphere™ – customers rely on VMware to reduce capital and operating expenses, improve agility, ensure business continuity, strengthen security and go green. With 2009 revenues of $2 billion, more than 170,000 customers and 25,000 partners, VMware is the leader in virtualization which consistently ranks as a top priority among CIOs. VMware is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.

# # #

VMware, VMware vCenter and VMware vSphere are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. The use of the word “partner” or “partnership does not imply a legal partnership relationship between VMware and any other company.

Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made in this press release which are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements and are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements relate, but are not limited, to the impact of server virtualization on IT and its effect on business, the future role of virtualization and our vSphere product in IT infrastructure and cloud computing and the ability of businesses to realize the benefits of cloud computing.   Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to: (i) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (ii) delays or reductions in consumer or information technology spending; (iii) competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures, industry consolidation, entry of new competitors into the virtualization market, and new product and marketing initiatives by our competitors; (iv) our customers’ ability to develop, and to transition to, new products and computing strategies such as cloud computing, (v) the uncertainty of customer acceptance of emerging technology; (vi) rapid technological and market changes in virtualization software and platforms for cloud computing; and (vii) our ability to protect our proprietary technology.

These forward looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in condition, significance, value and effect as well as other risks detailed in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K that we may file from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. VMware disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

[1] Gartner, Inc “Server Virtualization: One Path That Leads to Cloud Computing,” Thomas Bittman, October 29, 2009.