Convirture has released a new version of its ConVirt Enterprise and ConVirt Enterprise Cloud software that can now be used to manage VMware vSphere and ESXi in addition to virtual and cloud technologies including Xen, KVM, Eucalyptus, OpenStack and Amazon EC2.

ConVirt is an open source-based tool that is used by IT organizations worldwide to manage virtual and cloud infrastructures. This new version adds VMware to the list of supported technologies. It provides sophisticated management capabilities to operators of heterogeneous data centers that employ multiple technologies and platforms, including major public and private clouds.

"The response to the beta was even more dramatic than we expected as it becomes increasingly evident that IT managers do not want to be locked into a single platform or vendor," said Arsalan Farooq, CEO of Convirture. "Being able to deploy the right technologies to get the job done and not have to deal with multiple management layers is proving to be a real game-changer."

Managing Platform Proliferation
ConVirt Enterprise now includes support for VMware-based data centers that employ both ESXi and vCenter, in addition to Xen and KVM-based systems. Previously, a management tool this sophisticated for VMware users was only available to buyers of vSphere, which came with a significant price tag and restricted management to VMware platform only. For existing VMware vCenter users, there is no "rip-and-replace" required. ConVirt works alongside vCenter and is available to handle many of the most commonly executed tasks.

Centralizing Virtual and Cloud Infrastructure Management
The addition of VMware as a supported platform for ConVirt Enterprise lets IT managers manage all of their virtual infrastructure side-by-side with their private and public cloud deployments.

"ConVirt Enterprise is a superb onramp to a unified cloud strategy," said Farooq. "It gives IT managers the peace-of-mind of knowing that they are in control of which tools are available to them, while not having the to worry about the additional cost and complexity concerns associated with operating a heterogeneous virtual data center."

New Features For VMware Users
Data center personnel can now use ConVirt Enterprise and ConVirt Enterprise Cloud to manage their VMware instances along with Xen, KVM, and cloud platforms. VMware-specific features include:

• Unified virtual machine management - The ability to manage VMware, KVM and Xen platforms in a uniform way from a single console.
• Centralized Management of ESXi environment - With this release, users can manage their ESXi servers from a central console. ISO-based templates can be used to easily provision multiple virtual machines. Common virtual machine operations like start, stop and connect to VM console are provided within ConVirt.
• Day-to-day management of vCenter environment from ConVirt - Users can discover and manage vCenter deployments.
• Unified virtualization and cloud management - VMware users can centrally manage their virtual servers and cloud platforms, such as Eucalyptus, OpenStack, and Amazon, from a single console.

Details on ConVirt's features can be found at http://www.convirture.com/products.php.

Availability
ConVirt Enterprise and ConVirt Enterprise Cloud with VMware support is now available directly from Convirture at http://www.convirture.com/contact.php. Volume pricing for a perpetual license starts at $495 per host for single socket servers. Users of ConVirt 3.0 with a current Gold Support and Maintenance package will receive VMware support as a free update.

About Convirture
Convirture was founded in 2007 to help organizations effectively manage open source and proprietary virtualization and cloud platforms. More information is available at www.convirture.com.