Cisco, NetApp and VMware has announced that they are expanding their collaboration to deliver new design architectures.

The three companies introduced an end-to-end Secure Multi-tenancy Design Architecture that provides enhanced security in cloud environments by isolating the information technology (IT) resources and applications of different clients, business units or departments that share a common IT infrastructure.

As part of their collaboration, Cisco, NetApp and VMware will also offer a cooperative support model for these pretested and validated design architectures to help customers quickly build a unified, virtualized infrastructure.

"It’s clear that a tremendous opportunity exists for Cisco, NetApp and VMware to enable real change in the data center," said Tom Georgens, president and CEO of NetApp. "Our visions are aligned around the concept of a dynamic data center that will be the foundation of cloud computing and that will enable enterprises, integrators and service providers to deliver IT as a service [ITaaS]. In this scenario, IT becomes a dynamic asset that is more efficient and can better adapt to changing business needs. This new era of IT has stringent infrastructure requirements that our companies are ready to meet today—together."

"Virtualization of the network, server and storage infrastructure is radically reshaping today's data center," said Paul Maritz, president and CEO, VMware. "The dynamic data center built on VMware vSphere, along with Cisco and NetApp technologies, will provide the foundation for both private and public clouds and the ability to move data and applications between these clouds. A shared virtual infrastructure requires that resources for different tenants are isolated while delivering on promised service levels. We have integrated our technology with Cisco and NetApp not only to accelerate our customers’ journey through their data center transition, but also to deliver an outstanding customer experience."

"A unified architecture approach is more important than ever before," says Tony Bates, senior vice president and general manager, Enterprise, Commercial and Small Business at Cisco. "Our joint vision with NetApp and VMware centers on delivering a unified architecture for customers to design and build a complete, virtualized data center that will streamline operations and improve their business resilience."

Secure Multi-tenancy Design Architecture is an end-to-end, validated design architecture that isolates IT resources for enhanced security in shared virtual and enterprise cloud environments. The design architecture helps enterprise customers, systems integrators and service providers develop internal and external cloud services that isolate clients, business units, departments or security zones for enhanced security across the computing, networking, storage and management layers of a unified infrastructure. The Secure Multi-tenancy Design Architecture provides details about implementing and configuring the architecture, as well as best practices for building and managing best-in-class solutions from Cisco, NetApp and VMware. This validated design architecture significantly increases business agility by helping IT administrators to establish the appropriate quality of service for each resource layer and to deliver consistent service performance levels for the applications in each layer.

"ExamWorks requires a flexible and dynamic infrastructure that allows us to rapidly integrate disparate technologies, virtualize key applications, and then offer them as a service to our broad family of companies via a secure, internal cloud infrastructure," said Brian Denton, chief technology officer, ExamWorks. "By integrating best-in-class technologies, Cisco, NetApp, and VMware have delivered unprecedented agility, efficiency, and cost savings. A validated Secure Multi-tenancy design architecture from these three industry leaders will be a necessity for companies looking to develop cloud services that isolate data across a highly secure, shared virtualized infrastructure."

The Secure Multi-tenancy Design Architecture is based on Cisco Nexus Series Switches and the Cisco Unified Computing System, NetApp FAS storage with MultiStore, and VMware vSphere and vShield Zones. The design reference architecture has been jointly tested and validated as a Cisco Validated Design.

As part of this collaboration, Cisco, NetApp and VMware also introduced a global 24-hour cooperative support model. This model offers customers a more streamlined response from Cisco, NetApp and VMware to identify and solve potential issues related to the solutions used in the Secure Multi-tenancy Design Architecture.

The architectures are already available around the world. Cooperative professional services and support are also available.