VMware Cloud On AWS Outposts: 5 Big Things To Know

From the AWS hardware and VMware software inside the offer, to how and when customers and partners can sell and buy the solution, CRN breaks down five key things to know about the new VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts.

Everything You Need To Know About VMware Cloud On AWS Outposts

Amazon Web Services is doubling down on data center infrastructure and VMware’s enterprise customer base with the launch of VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts.

“I’m really excited now that VMware Cloud for AWS now includes Outposts,” said AWS CEO Adam Selipsky at VMworld 2021 this week. “So now you can have AWS running in your own data center on a managed and maintained and patched basis for you—all with VMware as well. … It’s the next horizon in what we’re delivering to customers together.”

AWS and VMware executives are bullish on what VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts can do for customers on-premises environments, which is a direct shot at infrastructure market leaders like Dell Technologies and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

From the hardware and software inside VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts to how and when you can buy the solution, CRN breaks down the five biggest things you need to know about the jointly engineered offering.

VMware Cloud On AWS Outposts Sold As-A-Service, On-Premises

The solution combines VMware software on top of AWS hardware and services, with VMware being the single point of contact for any kind of support.

VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts is a jointly engineered on-premises as-a-service solution powered by VMware Cloud Foundation that runs VMware’s software-defined data center software—including vSphere, vSAN, NSX and vCenter management—on dedicated Amazon bare-metal instances provisioned in AWS Outposts.

The turnkey solution offers a hybrid cloud environment with a unified control plane that provides access to VMware Cloud on AWS capacity and regional native AWS services. VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts includes access to containers and cloud services and expertise in infrastructure operations.

Sonali Desai, VMware’s product line marketing manager for VMware Cloud on AWS, said VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts is for customers looking to extend their AWS-centric model to their on-premises data center.

“Customers want to leverage a cloud operating model on-premises so that they can focus on strategic business priorities rather than focusing their resources on managing infrastructure,” said Desai in a blog post this week. “And that’s why we have come up with VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts- bringing best of both the worlds- public cloud and private cloud.”

Runs On Nitro-Based EC2 Bare-Metal Servers

VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts is priced as a package on a per-configuration basis. The configurations start with 3-hosts configuration and goes up to 8-hosts configuration. The “dark capacity” is included in the package and pricing at no cost to the customer, said VMware’s Desai. It is available to purchase as a three-year subscription option.

VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts comes on dedicated Nitro-based EC2 metal servers with local SSD storage. AWS Outposts is a 42u rack that includes VMware’s vSphere, vSAN, NSX-T and vCetner. The solution also includes VMware HCX, an application mobility platform that streamlines application migration, workload rebalancing and business continuity across data center and clouds.

Lastly, the offering comes with VMware Global Support.

Availability, Access, And How To Purchase

VMware Cloud for AWS Outposts will become generally available in VMware’s third fiscal quarter, which ends Oct. 29, meaning the offer will hit the market sometime in the next few weeks.

In terms of shipments, VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts can be shipped to the United States. The offer must be connected to an AWS region where VMware Cloud on AWS is supported, which includes Northern Virginia on the east coast and Oregon in the west, according to VMware. VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts includes direct access with more than 200 native AWS services available in the local AWS region via Elastic Network Interface or VMware Transit Connect

Minimum connectivity requirements are 1-GB and at least 150ms of latency between region and rack location.

Customers will soon be able to purchase VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts via the VMware Cloud Service Portal.

Top 3 Use Cases

VMware highlights three major use cases that VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts was tailored-made for.

One is around data and application locality. The solution targets cloud-first organizations who want to keep data on-premises for a variety of reasons such as low latency, local data processing needs or data sovereignty and regulatory compliance.

Another major use case is data center elasticity and resiliency. VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts is suited for organizations who want to leverage a hybrid cloud model to address static data center limitations. This includes infrastructure scaling for customers who want to cache data locally for fast response but use cloud for long term storage or for data analytics needs.

The third, most typical use case is around data center and application modernization. VMware says the solution is suitable for organizations who want to accelerate their digital transformation initiatives by modernizing infrastructure and applications such as customers wanting to containerize applications with Kubernetes support across hybrid cloud environments.

CEOs Raghu Raghuram And Adam Selipsky Weigh In

Both VMware’s CEO Raghu Raghuram and AWS’ CEO Adam Selipsky (pictured) expressed their excitement about the new VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts solution coming to market this month.

“I’m really excited now that VMware Cloud for AWS now includes Outposts. So now you can have AWS running in your own data center on a managed and maintained and patched basis for you—all with VMware as well. It’s just a great offering,” said Selipsky. “It’s the next horizon in what we’re delivering to customers together. I couldn’t be more delighted to be doing it.”

Raghuram touted the solution as well as the two companies growing partnership, which was first formed in 2016.

“It’s an exciting announcement with Outposts,” said Raghuram at VMworld. “With all of our joint success, it’s no surprised that AWS is VMware’s preferred public cloud partner for all our vSphere-based workloads.”

Raghuram also added that VMware and AWS are “very well aligned” to drive sales around their joint customers digital transformations strategies.

“Our companies are very well aligned to meet our customers transformations, not only today, but well into the future. Like you, I look forward to a very continued and successful partnership for a long time to come,” said Raghuram.