VMware vSphere 8 and vSAN 8 are now available

VMware vSphere 8 and vSAN 8 are now available

VMware vSphere 8 and vSAN 8 are now available under TAP NFR and EVAL licenses.

vSphere 8 and vSAN 8 were introduced on August 30. We covered the releases in an extensive article. VMware recently announced that the products are now available under TAP NFR and EVAL licenses.

TAP NFR licenses are exclusively accessible to members of the VMware Technology Alliance Partner (TAP) program. The TAP program is designed for manufacturers and developers that produce joint solutions with VMware. Under a TAP NFR license, a product may only be used for development, testing, training and demonstration purposes.

EVAL licenses, short for evaluation licenses, provide a trial of a product. Unlike TAP NFR licenses, EVAL licenses are available to anyone interested. You can find vSphere 8 and vSAN 8 EVAL licenses on the Try VMware website. Members of the TAP program can access TAP NFR licenses through the partner portal.

VMware vSphere 8

The primary update to vSphere 8 is support for Data Processing Units (DPUs). DPUs allow network and security functions to be offloaded from CPUs. These functions easily consume 20 percent of a CPU’s capacity. Offloading the functions to DPUs makes the capacity available for other workloads.

Cybersecurity is a secondary benefit. Isolating workloads on a DPU can bolster the defence of an environment. In addition, vSphere 8 makes it possible to offload the new NSX Distributed Firewall to DPUs. According to VMware, security and observability workloads run faster and more cost-effectively as a result.

VMware vSAN 8

Like vSphere 8, vSAN 8 is all about improving performance, efficiency and cybersecurity. For this purpose, VMware included all-new vSAN Express Storage Architecture. vSAN 8 provides support for modern TLC storage devices. According to VMware, the release outperforms the previous generation by up to 400 percent. In addition, VMware promises nearly half the total cost of ownership (TCO). The latter is made possible by improved data compression.

Tip: VMware introduces vSphere 8 and vSAN 8