Introduction to VMware Tanzu and Tanzu Editions

Today we are going to start discussing on the VMware Tanzu portfolio. VMware Tanzu is a solution to manage Kubernetes container-based applications. With the help of Tanzu, you can build, run and manage these applications.

You have multiple vendors in the market on Kubernetes based application managed products which we came to know when we attended KubeCon EU meet. 

We will discuss on the other vendor soon in our next article and compare these vendors with each other. Another awesome product on Kubernetes backup and restore features along with Disaster recovery is K10 Kasten by Veeam.

VMware vSphere with Tanzu
When you want to creates a Kubernetes control plane inside the hypervisor layer you need to have the vSphere with Tanzu enabled on a vSphere cluster. A cluster that is enabled for vSphere with Tanzu is called a Supervisor Cluster and contains specific objects that enable the capability to run Kubernetes workloads within ESXi. 

Fig 1.1- VMware Tanzu

Source : VMware 

We can run workloads consisting of containers running inside vSphere Pods and create Tanzu Kubernetes clusters.

We will talk about this in our upcoming articles and elaborate the VMware vSphere with Tanzu Architecture.

VMware Tanzu Editions
VMware Tanzu has three editions that support modernization and simplifying Kubernetes for the applications. These editions are Tanzu Basic, Tanzu Standard and Tanzu Advanced. Lets check out overview of these three editions offered by VMware Tanzu.

Tanzu Basic Edition
VMware Tanzu Basic Edition simplifies operation of Kubernetes on-premises by putting cloud native constructs as part of vSphere 7. It delivers an open source-aligned Kubernetes distribution, packaged for the enterprise and delivered as part of your existing infrastructure to support application modernization

Fig 1.2- VMware Tanzu Basic Edition ( Source: VMware)

Tanzu Standard Edition
VMware Tanzu Standard simplifies operation of Kubernetes for multi-cloud deployment, centralizing management and governance for many clusters and teams across on-premises, public clouds, and edge.

Fig 1.3- VMware Tanzu Standard Edition ( Source: VMware)

Tanzu Advanced edition
VMware Tanzu Advanced simplifies and secures the container lifecycle to speed the delivery of modern apps at scale. With its modular, full-stack capabilities, you can embrace DevSecOps and stand up a platform for modern apps that works for your organization. Automatically build a stream of compliant containers.

Fig 1.4- VMware Tanzu Advanced Edition ( Source: VMware)

When comparing all these editions you can have the below image to clarify

Fig 1.4- Compare Tanzu editions

Tanzu Basic and Tanzu Standard are focused on infrastructure transformation initiatives, simplifying the adoption of Kubernetes and Tanzu Advanced builds on Tanzu Standard to simplify and secure the container lifecycle, enabling teams to accelerate the delivery of modern apps at scale across clouds.