VMware recently unveiled VMware vSphere 4, with new features and product editions to deliver ‘Always on IT’ for SMBs and remote and branch office (ROBO) IT environments. The company says that the new version will deliver zero-downtime application availability and enterprise-class data protection managed under a single pane of glass, providing simplified and affordable disaster recovery previously out of reach for most small IT organizations.

“As a heavily distributed organization, we rely on Exchange as our primary communication tool,” said Kirk Patten, IT Director for RotaDyne, a manufacturer of rubber and polyurethane rolls with approximately 500 employees worldwide. “It’s crucial that our email be highly available, and that’s one of the main reasons why we deployed it using VMware. I don't really want to have to worry about clustering vs. backup vs. site recovery. All I want is for my applications and data to be safe. VMware makes it easy for me.”

The new version hopes to address the growing demands of SMB customers, by providing zero-downtime application availability and comprehensive data protection features that are ideal for smaller IT environments.

VMware will introduce three new VMware vSphere 4 product editions for SMBs, that the company claims will deliver cost-effective server consolidation, high availability and data protection to enable ‘Always on IT’. Small businesses can deploy a server consolidation and management solution for only $166 per processor with VMware vSphere 4 Essentials and get higher application uptime with VMware vSphere 4 Essentials Plus (only $499 per processor)—features which VMware claims are out of reach for most small companies.