VMware virtual infrastructure software helps organizations increase availability by reducing both planned and unplanned downtime.

Most data center downtime is typically planned. Organizations using VMware software can slash planned downtime by eliminating most scheduled hardware maintenance outages. VMware's groundbreaking VMotion™ technology allows IT administrators to move running virtual machines (software containers that hold a complete operating system and applications) from one physical server to another without downtime. This capability makes it possible to conduct zero-downtime hardware maintenance by simply using VMotion to move running applications to other physical servers as needed. VMware DRS even automates pre-maintenance VMotion migrations when a server is placed in "maintenance mode."

VMware software also helps organizations to reduce unplanned downtime by providing new capabilities and by making existing solutions simpler and more cost-effective. For example, standby servers can be easily created by provisioning virtual machines to underutilized servers without requiring the purchase of additional hardware. Support for servers with multiple network and storage interfaces is built into VMware ESX Server, significantly cutting the cost of fault-tolerance by sharing redundant hardware between multiple virtual machines. VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) can reduce unplanned downtime by automating the process of using VMotion to migrate running applications away from servers that cross utilization thresholds.