David Floyer, resident CTO at analyst firm The Wikibon Project, noted in a blog post that VMware is likely responding to an increased focus by Microsoft on virtualized storage. The most recent edition of Windows Server 2012 integrated technology from Storage Servers into the product. "VMware is aiming to provide the same type of simplicity and software-led services that Storage Spaces provides to Hyper-V and Windows 2012," Floyer notes. "This (acquisition) is a move away from the complex APIs that have previously been provided to help integrate storage arrays with VMware."
In that sense, the move is just the latest in an intensifying competition between VMware and Microsoft at the hypervisor layer.
Network World staff writer Brandon Butler covers cloud computing and social collaboration. He can be reached at BButler@nww.com and found on Twitter at @BButlerNWW.
Read more about data center in Network World's Data Center section.
