VMware focusing on higher tolerance for hardware failure

VMware says the next phase of virtualization will focus on technologies that allow higher tolerance of hardware failures.

VMware plans to improve virtual infrastructure through technologies such as high availability, automatic restart, better tolerance and masking of hardware failure, and site disaster recovery, the company's chief scientist and co-founder, Mendel Rosenblum, told reporters in Bangalore on Monday.

A virtual machine would, for example, be able to record its execution on another virtual machine in a compact form, so that if one of them dies the other one takes over, Rosenblum said. He did not disclose the time frame when products based on these technologies will be available.

Virtualization will be more attractive if companies are pinched by a recession, said Diane Greene, VMware president and CEO. "People can do more with less, include perhaps postpone opening a new data center for three years, and do things more rapidly with fewer IT people," she added.

VMware, which had 88 percent revenue growth last year, expects 50 percent growth in revenue this year, after taking into account competition, a larger revenue base and the rate of adoption of its technologies, according to Greene. The competition is, however, far behind in virtualization technologies, Rosenblum said.

VMware also announced Monday that it plans to double its R&D (research and development) staff in India to over 1,000 by 2010. The company is also investing US$100 million during the period to expand its development team and its sales and marketing organization in the country.

The company has development centers in Bangalore and Pune, though most of the development staff is currently in Bangalore.