VMware Explore Is on the Horizon
VMware Explore Is on the Horizon

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VMware Pulls the Wraps Off GSX Server 2.0

VMware Academic Program Membership Quadruples to 1,350 University Departments in 54 Countries

Virtualization Leader Unveils GoVirtual.org to Facilitate Global Knowledge Sharing for Virtualization Researchers and Academics

LAS VEGAS, Nevada, September 15, 2008— Today at VMworld 2008, VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop to the datacenter, announced that membership in the VMware Academic Program has quadrupled in the last 12 months. 1,350 computer science, engineering and information systems academic departments in 54 countries now have access to industry-leading virtual infrastructure technology and a comprehensive set of resources to accelerate instruction and research in the rapidly expanding areas of virtualized datacenters and desktops.

To address the growing interest in virtualization at academic institutions around the world, VMware has introduced GoVirtual.org, an online destination for virtualization researchers and academics.  GoVirtual.org is one of the first sites of its kind devoted to facilitating research and instruction on virtualization-related topics by enabling the sharing of ideas, results, materials and tools among members of the community.  The site is a comprehensive resource and knowledge base academics can count on to find the latest research and interact with the leading researchers in the field.  The site is open to all virtualization platforms and technology and features:

  • Courseware - Materials including lecture slides, lecture notes, instructor's guides, reading lists, and class assignments covering a wide range of virtualization topics.
  • Papers - Scholarly works related to the field of virtualization.
  • Downloads - Source code and software tools to assist with educators’ and students’ virtualization research efforts.
  • Conferences & Events - Comprehensive list of academic and research oriented virtualization conferences.
  • Community - Blogs, discussion forums and other ways to communicate with people with similar interests.

“GoVirtual.org is a much-needed resource given the rapid growth of the VMware Academic Program and the academic community’s high interest in virtualization and VMware products,” said Dr. Stephen Herrod, CTO, VMware.  “I invite educators and students to use the site as a forum to exchange ideas, papers and courseware, to discuss new ways to use virtualization in the classroom and labs, and to brainstorm ground-breaking research ideas to make virtualization even more useful and impactful for datacenter and desktop management.”

The VMware Academic Program, introduced in 2006, offers source code access to qualified faculty members and students and free licenses for classroom, lab and research. VMware products are being used to teach traditional computer science and engineering curricula – including Networking, Information Security, Operating Systems, Database Management Systems, Forensic Computing, Software Development, System Administration, Advanced Systems Architecture and more – in a whole new way that highlights the benefits of virtualization from the datacenter to the desktop.  With the addition of VMware Fusion, which provides desktop virtualization for Mac users, the list of products that can be used freely for faculty in labs and classrooms continues to grow.

The long list of universities benefitting from the VMware Academic Program, which includes Carnegie Mellon University, Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne (EPFL), Georgia Tech, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and University of California at Berkeley, speak to the rewards of program involvement below:

"We have benefited from the VMware Academic Program in many ways,” said Dr. Greg Ganger, Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Director of the Parallel Data Lab, Carnegie Mellon University.  “Source code access, as well as access to VMware's virtualization technology, ensures that our research is relevant.  In addition, our interaction with VMware engineers gives us the opportunity to exchange research ideas and helps us identify important new problems to work on.  We are excited about the launch of VMware's GoVirtual.org site, which we hope will become a fertile ground for collaboration and research dissemination." 

"Students and faculty at EPFL are thrilled about the launch of GoVirtual.org,” said Dr. Willy Zwaenepoel, Professor and Dean, School of Computer and Communication Sciences, EPFL.  “EPFL has many courses and research projects focused on operating systems and distributed systems, including microkernels, fault tolerance and mobile computing.  GoVirtual.org is a rich addition to VMware's Academic Program and provides tremendous resources in the field of virtualization to support the EPFL systems curriculum and related research."

"We have benefited from our relations with VMware and the VMware Academic Program in many ways,” said Dr. Karsten Schwan, Center for Experimental Research in Computer Science Director, Georgia Tech.  “Numerous Georgia Tech MS and Ph.D students have deepened their knowledge about virtualization and the technical challenges and opportunities it presents by spending their summers at VMware as technical interns.  These internships, coupled with source code access as well as access to VMware's virtualization technology at Georgia Tech, allow students to build on such expertise during their studies.  It also makes sure that our research and student skills are relevant to industry needs."

“Harvard University has been an active member of the VMware Academic Program for several years.  Our membership has not only offered us free licenses of VMware products and source code, but also valuable support of our research via industry feedback and sponsorship of our student’s thesis work,” said Dr. Greg Morrisett, Professor and Associate Dean for Computer Science and Engineering, Harvard University.  “GoVirtual.org is an exciting new addition to VMware’s Academic Program.  The site provides our faculty and students with countless resources in the field of virtualization to support their courses and research.”

"Many of the faculty and students of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) are active members in VMware’s Academic Program.  The program has afforded CSAIL students with the tools necessary to develop their understanding of the role virtualization technology and operating systems in computer architecture,” said Victor Zue, Delta Electronics Professor, Department of EECS, and Director, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory MIT.  “GoVirtual.org further complements VMware’s Academic Program, and we are thrilled to both use and contribute content to this valuable new website."

“The Reliable Adaptive Distributed Systems Laboratory (RAD Lab) at the University of California at Berkeley uses virtualization as one of its key technologies.  The RAD Lab's charter is to enable large, Internet-scale web sites and services to be built quickly and easily,” said Dr. Randy Katz, Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Department, University of California at Berkeley.  “VMware’s Academic Program has helped us through access to VMware Infrastructure source code and industry feedback and direction for our research over the past few years.  We are excited about GoVirtual.org, a comprehensive resource we can count on to find the latest research and interact with the leading researchers in the field of virtualization.”

About VMworld 2008

VMworld 2008, now in its fifth year, with more than 14,000 attendees and 206 sponsors and exhibitors, is the must-attend event for IT professionals looking for actionable ideas, innovative products and best practices for virtualizing the enterprise – from the desktop to the datacenter.  Under the theme, "Virtually Anything is Possible," VMworld celebrates what is happening today and what the future of virtualization holds.  Keynotes are being given by Platinum Sponsors Cisco, Dell, EMC, HP, IBM, Intel, NEC, NetApp, Symantec and VMware.  VMworld features more than 285 breakout sessions and hands-on labs, led by VMware and industry professionals, and is being held September 15-18 at the Venetian in Las Vegas.

About VMware

VMware (NYSE: VMW) is the global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop to the datacenter.  Customers of all sizes rely on VMware to reduce capital and operating expenses, ensure business continuity, strengthen security and go green. With 2007 revenues of $1.3 billion, more than 120,000 customers and nearly 18,000 partners, VMware is one of the fastest growing public software companies. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, VMware is majority-owned by EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) and on the web at www.vmware.com.

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