VMware embarks on game of Go

VMware has taken another step to lure small businesses into its fold with the release today of its Go web application.

The US maker of products and services that help businesses lower their IT costs through a process called virtualisation called the free service built on its ESXi enterprise product an "easy on-ramp" for small businesses yet to wet their feet with the technology.

Virtualisation has gained adherents because it allowed more than one operating system to be run on a physical computer - for instance, Windows on a Mac - or for devices such as storage arrays to be banded together to appear to the user or administrator as a single, logical unit. It may also reduce the need to invest in new devices as excess capacity can be more easily mopped up and an older asset given a new lease of life.

But it was stymied by perceptual difficulties and lack of understanding especially among small business users, said VMware Australia and New Zealand product manager Andre Kemp.

"[Go] hides the complexity, the plumbing away from the person responsible for setting this stuff up," Kemp said.

"If you have the basics of a name of a server and functionality that you want you don't even have to install an operating system."

He said Go, which was in testing since last August, offered resellers the opportunity to expose more customers to the benefits of virtualisation, especially those with only a handful or fewer servers that wouldn't have been targets. The vendor will also make "big noises" about the platform at its partner and trade events this year, he said.

So easy is the system to deploy that for the first time Kemp sees a market emerging in the home and businesses so small they don't have an IT person.

He said that small business owners had problems conceiving virtualisation because "they're not exposed to the new technology that comes across enterprise administrators desk on a daily basis".

"SMB customers are focused on running business versus running their IT shops - even if they have an IT shop."

Kemp said it's just the first step and further updates will be made to the VMware Go service over the next year.

"This is not just a SMB-only play in which the customer will not be able to build on this platform," Kemp said.

"This will be the first stepping stone to bigger and better things. As enhancements are added to the Go platform it offers possibilities for customers and resellers to build on this web-based management to fit in the enterprise."

VMware Go allows potential virtualisation users to interrogate their network and find devices such as physical servers compatible with VMware using a web browser and wizards to speed the setup process.

It then creates the virtual machines on the customers' physical servers and allows the customer to install a virtual appliance - software and operating system bundle that performs set task - as needed.

Finally, the user can manage their pool of servers from a central location and perform basic operations such as stopping and starting them and managing patches. Go will also identify when there are problems such as memory problems with virtual servers and how to fix them, Kemp said.

"Customers, resellers and VMware customers with limited or no experience, limited or no staff can easily virtualise those environments," Kemp said.

"It's more of a learning process for customers who want to engage in virtualisation without having to outlay a lot on expenses at the beginning."

Kemp said Go users could identify and repurpose older servers or eradicate them, saving on power and management costs.