VMworld 2011 kicks off today, and it will be a pretty important event for the virtualization company.  Coming off a major server release earlier this year, VMware faced a bit of backlash after its price hike for the new vSphere 5.  VMware is also facing increasing competition from Microsoft, which has been ramping up efforts around Azure, and Oracle, which debuted a new virtual machine offering just days prior to VMworld 2011.  But VMware’s coming out the gates pretty strong for this week’s event, with a handful of new products for simplifying the virtualization process, and a slew of new partners all anxious to share their VMware support and integration products.

We’ve got the full story here, from every angle, as we’ll be covering the entire event with live coverage, in-depth interviews and commentary, and summary articles to keep you in the know.  If you’re interested in watching live coverage or video recaps, tune into our SiliconAngleTV station, or check back at our blog, as we’ll have regular and frequent updates.

After a rough patch with its vSphere 5 launch, VMware’s out to woo it customers.  One attractive release is the vFabric Data Director, designed to give IT admin more control over the variety of databases they have to manage.  It provides policy-based automation for management, enabling self-service provisioning of databases for developers to access the DB service they need.  The idea here is to reduce the dissonance amongst database architecture, helping to solve the problem of where to find the right databases for creating necessary applications.  It’s a problem many startups are also out to solve, with companies like HotLink addressing certain issues from a management standpoint, unifying from the bottom up.

VMware’s vFabric Postgres is the first database supported on the new Data Director, an offering that’s compatible with PostgreSQL.  Sybase and Greenplum will also support Data Director, immediately extending access for the new product.  Data Director is expected to be available for download in the coming weeks, for about $600 per managed VM.

VMware’s also launching some new programs and technology to help customers find their way around managed cloud services.  One such program is Global Connect, combining products from service providers around the world.  There’s also a new website for vCloud services, where you can play around with product offerings.  Here VMware boasts 48 participating partners, all contributing to this very virtual community shaping up around VMware’s ecosystem.  When it comes to building a community like this, it really extends customer relations, resources and services.  Cloudera and OpenStack both recently launched something similar for its growing community, providing a haven of sorts for developers, CTOs and other members.

VMware already has some serious supporters making announcements today, including parent company EMC.  The company is introducing a new VMware system management support tool for new storage arrays, intending to replace Clariion and Celerra by the end of the year.  It works with VMware View 5.0 for its VNX unified storage system, which is a refreshing update to the outdated Clariion and Celerra midrange storage systems.

Dell is also extending its cloud services with the launch of an IaaS cloud built on VMware technology.  It’s the first step in Dell’s long-term goals to provide IaaS products, with support for Microsoft Windows Azure and OpenStack later on.  Data centers are becoming vital components of growing cloud services, and Dell’s been hedging its bets in the open source arena for several months now.  With support for Hadoop and Cloudera as well, Dell’s intentions for the cloud are clear.  The OpenStack support is also notable, as RackSpace’s open source cloud initiative is competing against VMware in some regards.  It’s all part of shaping cloud environments for the enterprise, and the commercialization of open source is the new trend.

Juniper Networks is also expanding its cloud computind defense platform with antivirus protections, marking a significant update to its Virtual Gateway solution for virtualized environments.  New features include virtualization-specific antivirus protection, continuous monitoring against malware and hackers, and keeping security services from slowing down performance.  Version 5.0 integrates monitoring, firewalls, intrusion detection and compliance capabilities with the new features, looking to provide a universal threat management solution.

“Businesses have a lot to gain from optimizing their data center operations through virtualization, and security concerns should not impede those potentially huge cost savings,” said Douglas Murray, senior vice president and general manager, security business unit at Juniper Networks. “The latest version of our vGW Series not only enhances security protections without compromising capacity, but enables scalable management across global virtualized environments with multiple data centers.”