Equinix, Inc. has announced it is teaming with VMware to offer private connectivity to VMware Cloud on AWS via AWS Direct Connect at Equinix International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centers globally. The new offer enables customers to access VMware Cloud on AWS through private connectivity that bypasses the public internet, providing high levels of speed and security as enterprises integrate their on-premises VMware infrastructure with VMware Cloud on AWS. VMware Cloud on AWS brings together VMware's enterprise-class Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC) software and cloud services to AWS cloud to provide enterprises mobility of their IT infrastructure between private and public cloud resources and services.

Equinix customers in 24 metros around the world can now directly access VMware Cloud on AWS by connecting to an AWS Direct Connect edge node deployed at Equinix IBX data centers within the same metro or via Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric™ (ECX Fabric™). Equinix customers who do not have network infrastructure in AWS Direct Connect metros can leverage ECX Fabric to extend their network reach to AWS Direct Connect markets. With ECX Fabric, Equinix customers can also discover and dynamically connect to any other customer across any Equinix location globally through an easy-to-use portal and a single connection to the Equinix platform.

"VMware is the market leader in server virtualization, and we are excited to collaborate with them and enable AWS hybrid cloud deployments for enterprises using VMware infrastructure. By offering private and secure connectivity to VMware Cloud on AWS via AWS Direct Connect in Equinix IBX data centers, we enable VMware customers to accelerate their journey to hybrid cloud by seamlessly connecting their VMware workloads between on-premises and the AWS public cloud," said Kaushik Joshi, global managing director, Strategic Alliances, Equinix.

Equinix deploys more AWS Direct Connect onramps than any other data center provider. Currently, AWS Direct Connect is available to customers in Equinix IBX data centers across 24 strategic markets including Amsterdam, Chicago, Dallas, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Los Angeles, London, Madrid, Manchester, Miami, Munich, New York, Osaka, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Seattle, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Warsaw, and Washington, D.C.

VMware Cloud on AWS is an on-demand service that enables enterprises to run applications across vSphere-based cloud environments with access to a broad range of AWS services. Powered by VMware Cloud Foundation, this service integrates vSphere, vSAN and NSX along with VMware vCenter management, and is optimized to run on dedicated, elastic, bare-metal AWS infrastructure. With VMware Hybrid Cloud Extension, customers can easily and rapidly perform large-scale bi-directional migrations between on-premises and VMware Cloud on AWS environments.

"VMware is excited to announce our collaboration with Equinix, a global leader in data center and interconnection. As the largest AWS Direct Connect provider with 24 AWS Direct Connect locations worldwide, Equinix helps VMware accelerate our customer adoption of VMware Cloud on AWS, by enabling our enterprise customers with private, secure, fast connectivity to VMware Cloud on AWS.  With AWS Direct Connect and VMware Cloud on AWS, customers will be able to deploy hybrid cloud applications across vSphere-based cloud environments with access to a broad range of AWS services," said Mark Lohmeyer, senior vice president and general manager, Cloud Platform Business Unit, VMware.

VMware is currently the leader in the server virtualization market. By teaming with VMware, Equinix is helping enterprises with on-premises infrastructure leverage the public cloud via AWS Direct Connect. Through this collaboration, Equinix and VMware are providing an effective means of consuming on-premises VMware infrastructure and VMware Cloud on AWS resources to ensure security, high performance, reliability and optimal cost efficiency.

Private connectivity to VMware Cloud on AWS via AWS Direct Connect inside Equinix IBX data centers is ideal for specific enterprise use cases, such as:

• Disaster Recovery — helps to granularly protect workloads on-premises in a cost-effective manner for either full or partial disaster recovery needs.
• Mobility and Migration — helps with migrating workloads from a simple vSphere platform on-premises, or an entire VMware SDDC stack, to a fully software-defined VMware environment in VMware Cloud on AWS.
• Hybrid Cloud — extends a data center on-premises to VMware on AWS Cloud while expanding its geographic reach.
• Multi-Cloud Applications — helps enterprises freely move application components to span from its on-premises environment to the cloud.

The need to deploy hybrid cloud architecture by connecting to public cloud service providers, such as AWS, is becoming increasingly important for global enterprises as digital transformation fuels the need for virtualized, on-demand and elastic access to public and private cloud-based services. Through this collaboration with VMware, Equinix will enable hybrid cloud deployments for enterprises using VMware infrastructure.

ECX Fabric directly, securely and dynamically connects distributed infrastructure and digital ecosystems on Platform Equinix® via global, software-defined interconnection. ECX Fabric, which is currently being rolled out globally, is designed for scalability, agility and connectivity over a self-service portal or API. Through a single port, customers can discover and reach anyone at Equinix on demand, locally or across metros.

To support real-time workloads, an Equinix customer can use ECX Fabric to easily connect to VMware Cloud on AWS and other AWS services via an AWS Direct Connect location in the same metro where the customer's infrastructure is located. For other workloads like data backup, Equinix customers can use ECX Fabric to easily connect to VMware Cloud on AWS and other AWS services via an AWS Direct Connect location in a different metro from where the customer's infrastructure is located.

Direct and private connectivity to strategic cloud service providers like AWS is essential as digital transformation fuels higher demand for localized digital services at the edge. According to the Global Interconnection Index, a market study published recently by Equinix, the capacity for private data exchange between enterprises and cloud providers is forecast to grow six times faster than public internet traffic between 2017 and 2020.