On March 10, 2020, VMware announced the latest version of vSphere, VMware vSphere 7, with that they announced expanding Tanzu to releasing vSAN 7. With this new release, there are many new features and capabilities, one of the key features is native support for Kubernetes which allows you to run containers and VMs on the same platform.
vSphere 7 delivers the essential services for the modern hybrid cloud. It powers the computing environment for modern applications, AI/ML, and business-critical applications. Applications can be deployed using any combination of virtual machines, containers, and Kubernetes. vSphere 7 with Kubernetes, available through VMware Cloud Foundation, delivers VMware Cloud Foundation Services and application-focused management for a streamlined development, agile operations, and accelerated innovation.
Key capabilities in vSphere 7
- Simplified Lifecycle Management
As our customers start providing infrastructure services with a cloud consumption model, it is critical to have a solution that allows you to fully automate and simplify the lifecycle management of the infrastructure software and hardware firmware. With vSphere 7, we are introducing the next generation of the vSphere Lifecycle Manager and Update Planner. It allows you to seamlessly manage the lifecycle of the infrastructure using the desired state paradigm. In addition, we have added vCenter Server profiles to provided desired state configuration management for vCenter Server instances
- Intrinsic Security and Control
- Performance and Resiliency for Application Acceleration
- Common Platform for Running both Kubernetes/Containerized Workloads and VMs
No need to have multiple separate systems for your virtual machines and containers. This release will have a transformative impact by removing a key barrier to the adoption of Kubernetes in enterprises: multiple, silo technology stacks.
- Streamlined Development of Kubernetes Applications
vSphere 7 enables the DevOps model with infrastructure access for developers through Kubernetes APIs. It includes the Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Service, which is VMware’s compliant and conformant Kubernetes implementation for building modern containerized applications
- Agile Operations for Kubernetes Applications
we are introducing a lot of value in vSphere with Kubernetes for the VI admin. We deliver a new way to manage infrastructure, called ‘application-focused management’ for containerized applications. This enables admins to apply policies to an entire group of objects and organize multiple objects into a logical group and then apply policies to the entire group
- VMware Cloud Foundation Services
Powered by innovations in vSphere 7 with Kubernetes, VMware Cloud Foundation Services is a new, integrated Kubernetes and REST API surface that enables you to control the infrastructure through API access to all core services.