The vRealize Suite is a well-established tool for managing and automating VMware environments. Like many other products, the suite has evolved toward the cloud in recent years, bringing numerous new features as well as some updates. Since 2019, vRealize has been available in version 8, and the latest update, version 8.2 Patch 1, was released just before Christmas 2020.
Licensing Options
The vRealize Suite offers multiple licensing models: the products can be purchased either as standalone solutions or as part of bundles. For instance, vRealize Operations can be included in a vSphere bundle or the vRealize Suite itself.
The suite is available in Standard, Advanced, and Enterprise editions. A common feature across all editions is the vRealize Lifecycle Manager, an appliance for installing, configuring, and managing the other vRealize products.
- Standard Edition: Includes vRealize Operations Advanced and vRealize Log Insight.
- Advanced Edition: Adds vRealize Automation in the Advanced Edition.
- Enterprise Edition: Includes all features, requiring an Enterprise-level license.
New: vRealize Cloud Universal Suite
The vRealize Cloud Universal Suite is a new offering from VMware that allows customers to install vRealize products locally or use them as SaaS solutions, eliminating the need for installation. The SaaS products are similarly named: for example, the cloud version of vRealize Operations is called vRealize Operations Cloud.
During VMworld, VMware announced a new product: vRealize AI Cloud, which, as the name suggests, will run exclusively in the cloud. This product leverages the metrics collected by vRealize Operations and uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to optimize infrastructure concerns.
Version 8 Moves Toward Cloud Environments
With the new version, VMware aimed to make its product suite ready for the cloud era, providing customers with a cloud management platform for daily operations and automation. The focus is on hybrid cloud environments, supporting VMware Private Cloud as well as major hyperscalers like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
