VMware has released version 5.1 of its centralized image management for Windows desktops: Mirage.
VMware Mirage is also part of the Horizon Suite, VMware’s end user computing suite that includes View, the company’s VDI product.
The main new features introduced in this release can be resumed as follows:
- Bandwidth Control – Managing desktops and PCs across many remote branch sites is difficult. With that in mind, Mirage was designed to help IT manage devices across distributed environments. And in these distributed environments, bandwidth is usually a concern. Image management solutions like Mirage require at least some bandwidth to deploy operating systems and applications. In Mirage 5.1, IT can control the amount of bandwidth Mirage clients consume directly from the Mirage management console. IT can set bandwidth limitation based on categories like per subnet, or per Active Directory site. Setup is simple and allows IT to not have to rely on QoS tools on their network when working with Mirage client to server communication.
- API Extensibility – As part of Mirage 5.1, we’ve started formalizing and publishing APIs. Customers and partners can use the data that Mirage collects to integrate their own systems with Mirage. If you have a tool that requires plugging into data and services provided by Mirage, now you can connect through with our documented API set. This is the beginning of our journey to make Mirage more extensible.
- Reporting Framework – We’ve enhanced our reporting framework in Mirage 5.1. IT can create and run reports that are output into HTML or CSV format. Scheduling automatic generation and email of reports helps give IT better analytics and visibility into the different Mirage operations that are being performed. Overall support time can be reduced with easier to consume reports based off of this new framework.
- Customer Experience Improvement Program – We’re always looking for feedback from customers using Mirage. With 5.1, Mirage now includes the VMware Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP). This an optional, encrypted and anonymous method to send technical data from the Mirage database and log files back to VMware. This helps us improve the Mirage solution.
For the full set of the new features please refer to the Release Notes.
Due to the acquisition of CloudVolumes, announced this August, we would have expected some news about its integration into the Horizon Suite but nothing has yet come from that side.