VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2: ESXi now with live patching
A major update for VCF significantly expands Broadcom's virtualization package. In addition to live patching, a new import function has been added.
(Image: iX)
With VCF 5.2, Broadcom is updating its VMware package: this is a whole series of technical updates that are practical for both administrators and software developers.
Smoother administration
A key update is live patching for VCF and ESXi. This means that administrators can at least reduce or completely eliminate the downtime of their infrastructure - workloads can continue to run, hosts no longer need to be put into maintenance mode and VMs no longer need to be moved. However, live patching will not work with all updates at the start; users will have to carry out VMkernel patches as before, for example.
Broadcom also wants to make the deployment of patches more flexible: Administrators are to be given more control over this and be able to specify in advance when they want to apply updates.
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VMware Cloud Foundation will also receive an import function for vSphere and vSAN. This means that users can transfer previously independently operated infrastructure directly into VCF and manage it centrally there. This also means that patches and upgrades arrive in a bundle and administrators no longer have to keep an eye on different lifecycles.
Broadcom is also introducing a package for distributed industrial systems under the name VCF Edge. It consists of the software including orchestration and management and is designed to be completely hybrid, i.e. from the edge appliance to the public cloud connection.
Dual DPU support is also new. Two data processing units can either be used so that one acts as a backup - meaning they are configured redundantly for failures. Alternatively, users can operate them in parallel to further reduce the load on the host. DPUs are processors that specialize in processing data streams and were initially supported in vSphere 8.0.
Kubernetes independent of VCF
All these and other updates from the announcement mean stronger integration of the products under VCF. The exception, however, is Tanzu Kubernetes Grid, as users will be able to obtain TKG as an independent service in future. The reason: Updates for Kubernetes are released much more frequently than for the other VMware software - and by decoupling, developers do not have to work with old versions.
All these functions should be generally available in Broadcom's third quarter, so users will receive them before September.
(fo)
