VMware and Cloud Computing

VMware President and Chief Executive Officer Diane Greene,in her keynote address at the JP Morgan Technology Conference in Boston, described cloud computing as the final evolutionary step for virtualization.

In her view, cloud computing starts with workloads being assigned to connections, software and services, which are accessed over a network of servers and connections in various locations, collectively known as “the cloud.” Using a thin client or other access point, like an iPhone or laptop, users can access the cloud for resources on demand. The evolutionary steps are:

1. Users deploy virtual machines (VMs) for testing and development;
2. VMs are then employed for server consolidation in production environments;
3. Datacenter resources are then aggregated, virtualizing the entire center;
4. Automation of all aggregated workloads; and finally
5. Datacenter are finally seen as virtual resources of the "cloud"