VMware is largely responsible for creating the VPS or Virtual Private Server industry with their breakthrough technology first released in 1999. The company currently has a market cap of nearly $12 billion USD, though less than half of its value at the height of the last business peak, and its yearly sales figures totaled nearly $2 billion USD in 2008. VMware has stayed an independent, publicly traded company despite persistent rumors of a buy-out by Microsoft. VMware software currently works on Windows, Linux, and OS X with some versions being able to run directly on a machine level without any OS.

“VMware vSphere is the industry’s first cloud operating system, transforming IT infrastructures into a private cloud—a collection of internal clouds federated on-demand to external clouds—delivering IT infrastructure as an easily accessible service. Enable the next generation of flexible, reliable IT services with the efficiency and low cost of cloud computing—featuring uncompromising control over service levels.. VMware’s enterprise software, VMware ESX Server, runs directly on server hardware without requiring an additional underlying operating system. This is known as being platform- or hardware-agnostic.”

VMware is similar in philosophy and technique to “smart grid” applications that are being developed to optimize the use of local resources and conserve energy. It not only optimizes server efficiency but provides a cost savings in technology investment, especially for large intranets or web hosting providers, that can be passed on to procure faster processors, more machines, or increased profits from the savings.

“Don’t let server sprawl and platform dependencies prevent your organization from achieving its goals. Take control of your IT infrastructure with VMware vSphere. Cut capital and operating costs while increasing IT service delivery without being locked into limited choices of operating systems, applications, and hardware.

* Reduce hardware and operating costs by as much as 50% and energy costs by 80%, saving more than $3,000 per year for every server workload virtualized

* Reduce the time it takes to provision new servers by up to 70%

* Decrease downtime and improve reliability with business continuity and built-in data disaster recovery

* Deliver IT services on-demand now and in the future, independent of hardware, OS, application or infrastructure providers”

There are currently 4 different versions of VMware vSphere on the market for different sized groups and organizations. With pricing starting just over $150, the software is certain to be an important upgrade for data centers that are struggling in the current economic climate to meet costs. As Fredrik Sjostedt, Director of EMEA Product Marketing at VMware, stated in an interview:

“Data centres are spending three quarters of their budget just to keep the lights on… They are not spending much on innovation, which is a real challenge in these financially tight times, as the budget for innovation is smaller than ever. We have been working on the next iteration for quite a long time now. It is an extension of where we were with VMware Infrastructure 3. It is an ongoing evolution from an engineering perspective.”

With cloud computing being the undisputed business mantra of the year, what is the VMware definition of it and why do we need it?

“…a private cloud—a pool of virtualized resources within a datacenter, or internal cloud, federated on-demand to external clouds—delivering IT infrastructure as an easily accessible service. This cloud model enables IT to best align the service level agreement and the infrastructure to the needs of the business and the applications. This gives IT the cost savings seen from external clouds, with the security, compatibility and control needed for the enterprise.”

Considering the gains available from miniaturization and virtualization and the increasing complexity of tasks even simple processing devices are required to do, the VMware software is likely to become ever more fundamental in the sub-configuration of web and network enabled devices.

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VMware Launches vSphere4 – First “Cloud Operating System”