VMware Rolls Out Its Zimbra Virtual Appliance for Email and Collaboration
The Zimbra Collaboration Suite Appliance is designed to run on the VMware vSphere platform.
Virtualization innovator VMware Inc. has launched a virtual appliance for email and collaboration. Named Zimbra Collaboration Suite Appliance, the product is designed to run on the VMware vSphere platform as a means of reducing the costs and complexities associated with infrastructure management.
VMware acquired Zimbra in February. Zimbra specializes in open source email and collaboration software. VMware has since announced complete interoperability between VMware and Zimbra products.
According to VMware, customers may run the new Zimbra Appliance either within exising datacenters or via one of VMware’s more than 2,000 VMware vCloud hosting partners as a service.
Because it is delivered as a virtual appliance, customers can deploy the Zimbra within minutes instead of hours. As a result of this simplified virtual appliance model, customers and partners can manage their email and collaboration needs with fewer resources, less costs and lower risk.
The Zimbra Appliance provides a personal and team cloud for the end user, administrator, and datacenter. The virtual appliance model enables also features integrated security technologies, including a firewall, anti-virus and anti-spam solutions.
“The Zimbra Collaboration Suite Appliance delivers customers secure email with the assurance that [SMBs’] data is protected on our VMware vSphere virtualization platform, and a collaboration solution that they can fully deploy in a matter of minutes,” says Zimbra’s general manager Jim Morrisroe.
Zimbra Appliance features include:
- Zimbra Email and Collaboration Server — Email and collaboration solution that incorporates email, contacts/address book, calendaring, document management, file sharing, tasks, and search and indexing
- Zimbra Advanced Web Client–Multiple-browser, multiple-platform Web-client with a rich AJAX interface
- Zimbra Mobile — Native “over-the-air” synchronization to iPhone, Windows, Palm, and Symbian OS Smartphones with customizable mobile security policies
- Zimbra Appliance Migration Wizard–For rapid migration from Microsoft Exchange and Domino environments
- Web-Based Administration— Task-oriented, Web-based administration console
- Zimbra Appliance Integrated Application Stack–Rapid deployment of integrated operating system and application stack, combined with firewall, anti-virus, and anti-spam filtering
- Zimbra Appliance Automated Software Updates–A single, lifecycle management policy, with remote configuration capabilities and Web-based administration
- Open Virtualization Format (OVF)
The Zimbra Collaboration Suite Appliance is currently available starting at $625 per 25 mailboxes for a perpetual license. The full suite of Zimbra products is now available through the VMware sales and via VMware’s channel partners.
