Key Features and Improvements in VMware 3.1

VMware’s 3.1 release brings significant enhancements across multiple areas. Here’s a comprehensive overview of the new features:

Hardware and Infrastructure Improvements

Storage Enhancements

• Solid State Drive (SSD) Boot Support
  • Special ESX Server version for OEM vendors
  • Enables ESX Server hardware appliances
  • Offers smaller form-factors and improved reliability
  • Dell and IBM support expected in Q3 2007

Networking Capabilities

• Support for 10Gbit Ethernet network cards
• TCP/IP Offload Engine (TOE) network card support
• Enhanced network load balancing algorithms
• IPv6 support in virtual networking
• Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) integration

Resource Scaling

• Support for up to 200 hosts and 2000 virtual machines
• Increased memory support:
  • 128GB RAM per host
  • 64GB RAM per virtual machine

Management and Operations

DMotion Improvements

• Hot migration between ESX 3.1 hosts via Ethernet
• No mandatory shared SAN LUN requirement
• Backwards compatibility with ESX 2.5.x hosts

Update Manager 1.0

• Automated patch management system
• Supports both host and VM updates
• Compatible with Windows and Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Automatic snapshot and rollback capabilities
• Integration with Shavlik Technologies

Enhanced Security

• New Lockdown Mode
• Disables local admin access after VirtualCenter 2.1 remote control
• Improved disaster recovery capabilities for guest OS

Infrastructure Management

Server Consolidation Tools

• Built-in consolidation advisor
• Physical-to-virtual analysis capabilities
• VM placement optimization
• Integrated with VMware Converter 4.0

Power Management

• Distributed Power Management feature
• Automated host power optimization
• Smart VMotion integration for resource efficiency

Storage and Network Integration

Storage Support

• SATA storage device support
• N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV)
• VCB support for iSCSI SANs

Network Integration

• CDP support for network topology discovery
• Potential third-party virtual switch support
• Para-virtualization guest OS support

This release represents a significant step forward in VMware’s virtualization capabilities, particularly in areas of management automation, hardware support, and infrastructure scaling.