Dell EMC is continuing to improve its server portfolio, with a series of announcements made during VMworld 2018 Europe.
Among the announcements are enhancements to the VxRail and VxBlock system 1000 converged systems, providing improved networking, automation and management capabilities. VMware is a Dell Technologies family company and there are synergies and technology integrations between Dell EMC and VMware.
VxBlock
Among the integrations is the VxBlock system, which is the successor to a nearly decade-old effort that was originally known as the Virtual Compute Environment (VCE) coalition. VCE was a partnership between VMware, EMC and Cisco that provided multiple iterations of converged hardware platforms.
EMC acquired Cisco’s interest in VCE in October 2014, and EMC itself was acquired by Dell in September 2016, and the VCE assets are now included as part of the Dell EMC converged hardware portfolio. The VxBlock goes beyond what the original Vblock system provided by integrating VMware’s NSX virutal networking technology into the hyperconverged, storage, compute and networking platform.
The VxBlock 1000 enhancements announced at VMworld Europe 2018 include the introduction of the Dell EMC VxBlock Central software into the platform. With VxBlock Central, Dell EMC is aiming to provide server administrators with a single pane of glass for managing and orchestrating VxBlock systems. The software also includes automation capabilities for orchestrating different server and application functions.
VxBlock Central can now also be integrated with VMware’s vRealize suite, which is a hybrid cloud management platform.
“VxBlock Central’s CI-aware integration with vRealize Operations and vRealize Orchestrator software provides greater visibility into CI system status and time-saving orchestration workflows,” Dell EMC stated in a product release.
VxRail
Dell EMC also announced improvements to its VxRail HCI (Hyperconverged Infrastructure) appliance lineup. VxRail benefits from VMware’s vSAN to provide integrated storage capacity.
VxRail HCI now also benefits from Dell EMC Smart Fabric services for networking, which is part of the company’s OS10 Enterprise Edition networking firmware. Additionally, integration with the VMware Cloud Foundation for cloud management is now part of VxRail, enabling the creation of a fully software-defined data center approach.
“Both VMware and Dell EMC are making cloud adoption even easier for customers by introducing VMware Cloud Foundation on VxRail and VMware vRealize Suite integration with VxBlock – both integrated cloud platforms that automate deployment and simplify hybrid cloud operations,” Rajiv Ramaswami, Chief Operating Officer, Products and Cloud Services, VMware, wrote in a statement.
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at ServerWatch and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.