VMware vFabric ERS
Enterprise Ready Server

Overview:

VMware vFabric™ Enterprise Ready Server (ERS) is the Web server and load-balancing component of the VMware vFabric Cloud Application Platform. The most comprehensive and widely distributed solution for Apache Web and Tomcat Application Server management, ERS provides better performance and security and improves service quality, reliability and scalability by uniquely enhancing Apache and Tomcat for enterprise use while reducing the costs and complexity of sophisticated Web infrastructures.

VMware vFabric ERS Subscription Overview

More than 400 of the world's largest organizations count on VMware to deliver mission-critical support for their Apache Web Server and Apache Tomcat systems.

Our technical staff is deeply involved with the Apache Software Foundation and we employ experts who work on the Apache HTTPD and Tomcat projects full time as code committers. Through our experience and deep technical involvement, we provide superior support to our customers to reduce costs and free resources with no license fees and no vendor lock in.

With our technical leadership on Apache projects, we are able to guarantee rapid bug fixes and provide patches to our customers' Apache code. We are then able to commit the fixes into the next release of the open source project.

Guaranteed Bug Fixes
Leading Apache developers on staff provide support and bug fixes—which they can then commit to the next version of the project.

Rapid Security Vulnerability Resolution
RADARnet™ (Rapid Detection and Response Network) delivers alerts, patches and workarounds for bug and security vulnerabilities—often before public alerts are issued.

Higher Performance
Pre-compiled builds of Apache and Tomcat deliver up to 100% performance improvement, saves costs in extra hardware capacity, and increases uptime.

Faster Deployment and Low Costs
Precompiled build yields simple installation and setup without testing, dramatically reducing time and effort (30 minutes vs. 3 days).

Managed Updates
Notifications and scheduled updates eliminate mistakes. Binary updates may be dropped into running systems.

Certified Enterprise Ready
Certified and QA tested with best security practices and correct versioning for enterprise use.

Key Features:

• Multi-Server Support: Enables installation of multiple instances of Apache and Tomcat running on a single server at the push of a few buttons—Apache 1.3, 2.0, and 2.2; Tomcat 4.1, 5.5 and 6.0.
• Scalability: Provides scalable manageability for multiple Web sites and servers; can run and manage hundreds of instances of Apache and Tomcat.
• Broad Platform Support: Provide support for heterogeneous environments (32- and 64-bit architectures): Solaris Sparc, Solaris x86, Linux, HP-UX, AIX, Win32. vFabric ERS can be updated and patched across all servers at once.
• Tightly Integrated with Popular Languages: Successfully deploy Java, Perl and PHP applications.

Product Updates and Security Patches

RADARnet™ (Rapid Detection and Response Network) provides alerts, patches, and work-arounds—often before others are aware of the existence of a problem.

Support customers receive a standard, certified, easy-to-install software build, constant product updates, security alerts and patches, guaranteed bug fixes, indemnification on all the software in the ERS bundle, and technical support all for a single annual fee.

Support Service Levels

ERS subscription plans are available with three different support offerings from business hour coverage to complete 24x7 support. All plans includes access to our online knowledge base and FAQs, as well as downloadable documentation.

Benefits Comparison
Benefits	Self- Supported Apache & Tomcat	VMware Supported Apache & Tomcat	VMware vf abric ERS
Forums & Mailing Lists
Zero License Fees for Vendor Lock In
Guaranteed Bug Fixes
Customer Support Portal & Knowledge Base
Regular Scheduled Product Updates & Upgrades
Timely Security Vulnerability Alerts & Fixes
Reduced Internal Support & Deployment Costs
Reduced Downtime (expert support and binary patches/updates)
Simple Installation & Server Deployment
Higher Performance (up to 100 percent faster than other builds)
Built-in & Configured Development Languages (WebDav, PHP, Java, and Perl)
Built-in & Configured Security (FTP, Proxy, SNMP)
Cache and Other Modules
Indemnification for All Open Source Components

Support:

VMware Production Support & Subscription

Technical Support, 24 Hour Sev 1 Support -- 7 days a week.

Focused, 24-Hour Support For Production Environments

• Global, 24x7 support for Severity 1 issues
• Fast response times for critical issues
• Unlimited number of support requests
• Remote Support
• Online access to documentation and technical resources, knowledge base, discussion forums
• Product updates and upgrades

Overview

VMware Production Support is designed with your production environments in mind. Our global support centers are staffed around the clock to provide you access to our industry-leading expertise in virtualization and years of experience supporting virtual infrastructure products in real-world customer environments. We are committed to delivering enterprise-class, worldwide support with a single objective in mind: your success.

VMware Basic Support & Subscription Service

Technical Support, 12 Hours/Day, per published Business Hours, Mon. thru Fri.

Weekday Support for Test, Dev and Non-Critical Deployments

• Global, 12x5 access to support
• Unlimited number of support requests
• Remote Support
• Online access to documentation and technical resources, knowledge base, discussion forums
• Product updates and upgrades

Overview

VMware Basic Support is designed for non-critical applications and platforms that require support during normal business hours. Our global support centers have been strategically placed to provide you with fast and efficient access to the support center in your region. Each center is staffed with engineers that can provide industry-leading expertise in virtualization and years of experience supporting virtual infrastructure products in real-world customer environments. We are committed to delivering enterprise-class, worldwide support with a single objective in mind: your success.

Feature	Production Support	Basic Support
Hours of Operation	24 Hrs/Day 7 Days/Wk 365 Days/Yr 1	12 Hrs/Day Mon–Fri 1
Length of Service	1 or 3 Years	1 or 3 Years
Product Updates	Yes	Yes
Product Upgrades	Yes	Yes
Products Supported	All Products (excluding VMware Fusion and Player)	All Products (excluding VMware Fusion and Player)
Method of Access	Telephone/ Web	Telephone/ Web
Response Method	Telephone/ Email	Telephone/ Email
Remote Support	Yes	Yes
Access to VMware Web site	Yes	Yes
Access to VMware Discussion Forums and Knowledge Base	Yes	Yes
Max Number of Support Admins per Contract	6	4
Number of Support Requests	Unlimited	Unlimited
Target Response Times Critical (Severity 1 Major (Severity 2) Minor (Severity 3) Cosmetic (Severity 4)	30 minutes or less: 24x7 4 business hours 8 business hours 12 business hours	4 business hours 8 business hours 12 business hours 12 business hours
Business Hours North America and Latin America Alaska, Hawaii South America (NASA) Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA Asia, Pacific Rim, Japan (APJ) Australia/New Zealand	Monday - Friday 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. (local time zone) 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. (PST/PDT) 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. (EST/EDT) 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (GMT/GMT+1) 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. (Singapore Time) 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Sydney AET)	Monday - Friday 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. (local time zone) 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. (PST/PDT) 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. (EST/EDT) 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (GMT/GMT+1) 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. (Singapore Time) 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Sydney AET)

1Hours of operation for Gemstone are Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (PST/PDT) globally.
1Hours of operation for VMware Go Pro and vCenter Protect products are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (CST/CDT), except holidays.
1Hours of operation for VMware IT Business Management and IT Financial Management are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (EST/EDT/GMT) except holidays.
1Hours of operation for Socialcast are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. (PST/PDT).

Documentation:

Download the VMware vFabric ERS Datasheet (PDF).