Automated deployment, enterprise open source support, and SQLFire in-memory database deliver 'cloud ready' environment for modern apps.

VMware, Inc., a cloud infrastructure provider, yesterday announced VMware vFabric Suite 5.1. With new capabilities that automate the deployment and management of complex applications on VMware cloud infrastructure and the introduction of an in-memory distributed SQL database, VMware vFabric Suite 5.1 will provide the core application services required to build, run and manage Java Spring applications whether on-premise or in the cloud.

The company avers that the VMware vFabric Suite seeks to address the complexity and cost of traditional Java platforms, providing a simple, lightweight development and runtime optimized for VMware cloud infrastructure. By combining the market-leading Spring development framework, the latest generation of vFabric application services and a per-VM licensing model, vFabric Suite 5.1 will provide the core application platform for building, deploying and running modern applications.

It says that the VMware vFabric Suite provides a complete set of runtime services to build, run and manage modern applications in distributed, cloud environments. The new capabilities in vFabric Suite 5.1 will allow customers to:

• Automate application deployment for operational efficiency
• Maximize data scalability
• Reduce database total cost of ownership
• Provide enterprise support for popular open source technologies
  

According to the company, vFabric Suite 5.1 will also be uniquely packaged and licensed to allow enterprises to purchase application infrastructure software based on virtual machines, rather than physical hardware, and to pay only for the average number of licenses in use. This model eliminates the decades-old need for organizations to purchase excess software in anticipation of peak loads, incurring significant costs and allowing software licenses to sit dormant outside of peak periods. It adds that VMware vFabric Suite 5.1 is expected to be available in Q2 2012. It will be licensed per VM with prices starting at $1,500 per VM. VMware vFabric SQLFire is currently available, and is licensed per VM with prices starting at $2,500 per VM, when purchased as part of VMware vFabric Suite Advanced.

"The cloud era is driving a transformation in applications. Today, most are built with open source development frameworks, deployed on lightweight application containers, run on virtual infrastructure and are data intensive," said Jerry Chen, Vice President, Cloud and Application Services, VMware. "This is driving a real transition in the type of technologies our customers are using to build, run and manage these new applications. Since introducing the vFabric Suite a year ago we have seen remarkable adoption amongst our customers, helping our Cloud Application Platform business to nearly double in year over year growth in 2011."

"Delivering excellent customer service is a hallmark of Southwest, so it's important to us that our customers have a seamless shopping, booking, and travel experience. We have a number of strategic initiatives underway at Southwest Airlines, and a core component in supporting these critical operations is ensuring an agile, flexible delivery of technology to all parts of the company," said Bob Young, Chief Technology Officer, Southwest Airlines. "By partnering with VMware, for example, we were able to streamline the way we deliver and deploy applications across platforms, without compromising our service-centered approach."

"From the increasing number of programming languages used to the heterogeneous nature of today's hybrid infrastructures, application development is changing quickly," said Stephen O'Grady, Principal Analyst with RedMonk. "Faced with such diversity, enterprises are increasingly turning to lightweight application containers to ease the pains of deployment."