If your enterprise environment uses VMware virtualization technologies, you can leverage the high-speed Interconnect and other benefits a ClearPath Forward fabric provides by configuring your environment and distributed applications to span VMware virtual machines (guest operating environments) as well as ClearPath Forward partitions.
A nonpartitionable enterprise partition platform that is included as part of the fabric can run VMware vSphere® ESXi software. All virtual machines created by that instance of VMware vSphere® ESXi software that are configured to use the appropriate network can participate as modules in a multi-partition and/or multi-platform user application.
The virtual machines communicate with other application segments as follows:
Virtual machines on the same nonpartitionable EPP communicate via virtual switches that the VMware system administrator designs and sets up.
Virtual machines communicate with partitions on other EPPs via the Interconnect.
The virtual machines are not managed by the Fabric Manager; they are managed by the VMware vSphere® ESXi software.
Only the nonpartitionable EPP itself is managed by the Fabric Manager. The Fabric Manager communicates with the nonpartitionable EPP just as it always does: via the ClearPath Forward Management LAN.