KVM vs Oracle VM comparison

KVM and Oracle are both solutions in the Server Virtualization Software category. KVM is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.2, while Oracle is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.4. KVM holds a 11.3% mindshare in SVS, compared to Oracle’s 7.2% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of KVM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of Oracle users who would recommend it.

KVM

Read 42 KVM reviews

24,233 Views
19,329 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Oracle VM

Read 80 Oracle VM reviews

13,964 Views
10,003 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

KVM

Oracle VM

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

Oracle VM and KVM are leading virtualization solutions competing in the infrastructure domain. KVM often has the edge over Oracle VM due to its superior features and integration capabilities.

Features:Oracle VM is recognized for its scalability, compatibility with enterprise applications, and favorable pricing. KVM stands out with agile resource management, seamless Linux integration, and lightweight architecture that appeals to users needing flexible and efficient environments.

Room for Improvement:Oracle VM users report issues with complex configuration, limited third-party integrations, and usability. KVM is noted for its steep learning curve, occasional performance issues under heavy loads, and the need for simplification to boost its user-friendliness.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service:Oracle VM is appreciated for its comprehensive support and structured deployment model. KVM offers a straightforward deployment process but lacks the extensive service Oracle VM provides. Oracle VM often receives praise for direct customer support, whereas KVM's reliance on community-driven support may not meet all users' needs.

Pricing and ROI:Oracle VM is seen as budget-friendly with a favorable cost of ownership and ROI. KVM, while having higher setup costs, delivers significant returns due to its open-source nature and minimal recurring expenses. Oracle VM is perceived as more cost-effective initially, whereas KVM's long-term benefits make the initial investment worthwhile.

To learn more, read our detailed KVM vs. Oracle VM Report (Updated: October 2024).

Buyer's Guide

KVM vs. Oracle VM

October 2024

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Categories and Ranking

KVM

Ranking in Server Virtualization Software

4th

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Oracle VM

Ranking in Server Virtualization Software

7th

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of KVM is 11.3%, down from 12.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle VM is 7.2%, up from 5.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Server Virtualization Software

Featured Reviews

Lan Tuong

Technology and System Infrastructure Architect / Senior Technical Support at TELUS Communications Inc.

Jul 17, 2024

Useful to manage the virtual environments

The most valuable features of KVM for us are the console, which allows us to build or clone VMs quickly, and the ability to take snapshots and recreate new VMs rapidly. That's one of the things we love about KVM. The built-in management console, Auto KVM, is the most valuable tool for managing our virtual environments. We use it most to create and fire up new VMs or clone them for customers based on requests. The migration tools have worked quite well for us. We're moving from an Oracle Solaris platform for KVM logical domains, upgrading, and using KVM from Red Hat. It's slightly different but very similar to Oracle Unbreakable Linux, which is basically a clone of Red Hat. Oracle's console is easier to use than Red Hat's, though.

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Rasika Sudasinghe

Senior Director - Systems Architecture at MIT ESP

Aug 15, 2023

A cheap option available for Linux environments which is useful for many workloads

Oracle VM is an obsolete product in that no new features are coming for it. The new version is called Oracle KVM. The only improvement needed for Oracle VM is the look and feel of the interface. When comparing the user console with vCenter, the interface used to control VMware environments, Oracle VM's user interface is not that rich in terms of user experience. If Oracle could improve that, it would be good. Besides that, we don't know if the solution comes with a roadmap because it comes free of charge with Oracle x86. We can't expect something similar to vCenter in KVM, but at least if you can improve what users can experience, then it would be good.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The most valuable feature of KVM is its stability."

"KVM has a rich options set which can be directly used or via wrappers, such as libvirt."

"The key aspect is that the KVM directly interacts with the Kronos. There's no clear indication of indirect communication with Kronos. It is not linked to Kronos, and interaction is straightforward without any intermediaries."

"A very reliable solution which can be used for x86 architecture virtualization with reasonable overhead."

"It is an open ecosystem, and we see there is a benefit in open-source solutions."

"The initial setup was very easy."

"The built-in management console, Auto KVM, is the most valuable tool for managing our virtual environments. We use it most to create and fire up new VMs or clone them for customers based on requests."

"I like that it's easy to manage. It's also more powerful when it comes to security than others. That point of view is the one consideration. The other consideration is that it's cost-effective."

More KVM pros

"Its technical support is quite good."

"Overall, the biggest performance is around virtualization and automation, you can build private clouds with Oracle VM using Enterprise Manager."

"It's quite stable."

"VMware is user-friendly, with clear integration and detailed migration."

"The solution is very stable. I don't recall any bugs or glitches. It's reliable. It doesn't crash or freeze."

"The support staff in the tech support team at Oracle has improved. I find them extremely helpful and they give very solid support."

"Good visualization hypervisor."

"It's not a very expensive product."

More Oracle VM pros

Cons

"They could provide a more comfortable and easier-to-manage interface for the product, whether text-based or graphical. It can be challenging to manage without the support of additional tools."

"The networking with wireless devices needs improvement."

"The product must provide better performance monitoring features."

"Business continuity features need to be added."

"The only negative aspect of needing hardware support is a fully functional KVM can be dropped. It would be nice if the support for other platforms, like ARM or Risk, were as good as the x86 one. However, with the democratization of Chromebooks based on these chips and mobile devices, it will not take long for that to happen."

"The grid interface of KVM needs improvement. It could be more beautiful, especially when compared to VMware."

"Lacks high availability across clusters as well as support for Apache CloudStack."

"I would like to see more focus on microservices and integration with Kubernetes or OpenShift."

More KVM cons

"There are currently issues with centralized storage."

"Integrating with the internal system is not very easy."

"It was a complex setup. It was very difficult for me."

"Deployment should be simplified."

"The only improvement needed for Oracle VM is the look and feel of the interface."

"Oracle VM should have centralized storage, without which you can't clone or move one VM to another."

"You need to have a model for documentation available for the users. Right now, if you have to search for some troubleshooting, you need to have Oracle login. Many personnel might not have that login. The reach, the availability of information to the end-user, is not there."

"Productivity in Oracle VM could still be improved, and an additional feature to make the product better is compatibility with Kubernetes and other modern technologies."

More Oracle VM cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is free for everyone."

"KVM is an open-source product that works well for us."

"The tool is free."

"KVM is priced reasonably."

"One only needs a subscription to Oracle Linux. So, it's cheaper with Oracle Linux's subscription. It is not very expensive. In short, the solution is open source, and you need only a subscription."

"It is cheaper than other solutions out there on the market."

"I have no information on the cost of KVM because I downloaded it for the lab and not for production. It's free, but I don't know if that's the case for people using it in a production environment."

"It is cheaper than other competitors like VMware or Hyper-V."

More KVM pricing and cost advice

"If you choose Oracle hardware, then this virtualization software is included along with support."

"The user will be charged accordingly as well—pay as you go. Basically, you get charged only for storage. If I stop a VM, then I'm not charged for the CPU usage. So, that's fine."

"If you buy an Oracle server, this solution is free. You have to only pay for support."

"The cost of scalability. You pay for what you use. It's free to download, free to install, and the support side has been very helpful."

"Oracle's VM VirtualBox is a powerful, free, and open-source virtualization tool."

"Licensing costs are less for Oracle Linux and for clients moving to the Oracle Cloud, as it is included in the price of the subscription."

"The licensing for Oracle VM solution is very nice because you license the box."

"All other vendors are selling their licenses to use the VM, but Oracle isn't doing that, which is its biggest advantage. It is free. All you have to do is get the hardware. You can create an unlimited number of VMs for free. With VMware, you have to purchase licenses for the number of VMs that you want to create. You only pay for their premium support, and even that is optional. I am now learning this product, and we can even do without the support."

More Oracle VM pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Educational Organization

46%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Why KVM??? Help please!

KVM scales better, orchestration better, performs better and supports a wider range of hardware and, also, you can implement at ZERO cost and with a very powerful web interface for management, from...

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Why KVM??? Help please!

Small support team, small cluster, low core count, use VMware products Large support team, large clusters with many cores, use KVM. KVM scales better, orchestration better, performs better and supp...

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Why KVM??? Help please!

Far from being an expert, my opinion is that the positive sides of KVM are: Lower costs and open-source which gives the abilities to customize it according to the specific needs of each customer.

See all answers

Which is better - Oracle VM or KVM?

I would prefer if KVM was easier to scale and not so limited. Overall the product has been helpful. It is easy to use, and was quite straight-forward to set up. Since I have been using KVM, I have ...

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Which is better - Oracle VM or VMware VSphere?

Oracle VM seems to me to be kind of outdated. Nevertheless, it is fairly straightforward to use and maintain. The solution can just be set and you can forget about it, and the scalability is consid...

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What do you like most about Oracle VM?

If you want to access the VM from anywhere over the Internet, you put it in a public subnet. So, VMs are linked to that. The subnets are linked to it. So, it's perfectly secured if it's a private n...

See all answers

Comparisons

Proxmox VE vs KVM

Compared 17% of the time

Hyper-V vs KVM

Compared 15% of the time

VMware vSphere vs KVM

Compared 14% of the time

Nutanix AHV Virtualization vs KVM

Compared 14% of the time

RHEV vs KVM

Compared 4% of the time

More KVM Competitors

VMware vSphere vs Oracle VM

Compared 38% of the time

Proxmox VE vs Oracle VM

Compared 18% of the time

Oracle VM VirtualBox vs Oracle VM

Compared 15% of the time

Hyper-V vs Oracle VM

Compared 4% of the time

RHEV vs Oracle VM

Compared 3% of the time

More Oracle VM Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

KVM

November 2024

Download KVM product report

Buyer's Guide

Oracle VM

November 2024

Download Oracle VM product report

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KVM

Oracle

Overview

KVM stands for Kernel-based Virtual Machine, which is an open-source virtualization technology that is embedded in Linux. KVM allows users to seamlessly transform their Linux system into a hypervisor that, in turn, will enable a host machine to run numerous, isolated virtual environments or virtual machines (VMs).

KVM is part of Linux. Users with Linux 2.6.20 or newer already have KVM. As KVM is already a component of the current Linux code, it automatically improves with every new Linux fix, feature, or upgrade. So KVM users are always current and up to date.

KVM automatically transforms Linux to a type -1 (bare-metal) hypervisor. All hypervisors need operating system components, such as a process scheduler, I/O stack, device drivers, memory manager, and more, to run a VM. KVM already has these components embedded, as it is part of the Linux kernel. Each VM is generated as a basic Linux proces,s which is maintained by the standard Linux scheduler, with dedicated hardware such as a graphics adapter, memory, disks, network card, and CPUs.

KVM Key Features:

KVM has many valuable key features. Some of its most useful features include:

Storage: KVM has the ability to use any storage protocol supported by Linux, including network-attached storage (NAS) and some local disks. Multipath I/O can be utilized to provide redundancy and improve storage. Disk images use thin provisioning, ensuring storage is used on demand. KVM is also able to use shared file systems, enabling VM images to be shared on multiple hosts.
Hardware: KVM is able to use a vast number of Linux-certified supported hardware platforms. As hardware vendors routinely contribute to kernel improvement, the most up-to-date hardware features are generally quickly added to the Linux kernel.
Memory: KVM effectively utilizes the memory management features of Linux, such as kernel same-page emerging and non-uniform memory access. The memory of a VM can easily be switched, supported by large volumes for improved performance, then backed by a disk file or shared.
Migration: KVM actively supports live migration so users have the ability to move any running VM between physical hosts with no downtime.
Security: KVM uses a blend of secure virtualization (SVirt) and security-enhanced Linux (SELinux) for improved VM security and isolation. SELinux determines security boundaries surrounding VMs. sVirt expands SELinux’s processes, permitting Mandatory Access Control (MAC) security to be used for guest VMs and preventing any manual labeling issues.

Reviews from Real Users

“The most helpful aspect of KVM is the fact that the interface is so minimal. It includes just what you need to set up the VMs and manage them, and it's very simple to do so. KVM, as a native virtualization solution, is a complete and fully adequate system for small businesses that need to reduce costs, and also to make maintenance easier. “ - Georges E., Business Engineer and Consultant at All-Tech

“The most valuable feature of KVM is the hypervisor environment and how we can configure it with ease. Additionally, the interface is intuitive.” Sonu S., Senior Solution Architect at Micro Focus

Oracle VM for x86

Oracle VM for x86 is a Xen based server virtualization platform for public and private cloud and traditional on premise deployment. Oracle VM offers full lifecycle and application deployment from disk to cloud.

Designed and optimized for security, efficiency and performance Oracle VM supports major hardware vendors x86 and storage platforms and can run workloads on Linux, Windows and Oracle Solaris. Uniquely for our virtualization platform it offers live patching via Ksplice enhancing security and minimizing service disruption. Oracle VM supports hard partitioning which can significantly reduce software applications licensing costs.

Oracle VM for SPARC

Oracle VM for SPARC is a firmware based virtualization platform for Oracle and Fujitsu SPARC based servers running Solaris. Oracle VM supports hard partitioning which can significantly reduce software applications licensing costs.

Sample Customers

MediaWiki, Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia, Wikivoyage, Wikidata, Wikiversity, Commons

Ambulance Victoria, Australian Finance Group (AFG), Avnet Technology Solutions, CERN, cloudKleyer, Danish Tax Authority (SKAT), Data Intensity, Dubai World, Engineers Australia, Enkitec, Groupe FLO, Guerra S.A. Implemento, s Rodovišrios, Interactive One, IT Convergence, Jesta Digital, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, KT, Kyoto Prefecture, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory / National Ignition Facility, Multinet Pakistan, National Australia Bank (NAB), Navis LLC, Overhead Door, Overstock.com, Paragon Data, Parks Victoria, Pella, Sunway Shared Services, St. Louis Metro, Terminales Ro de la Plata S.A., University of Massachusetts, Versace,

Buyer's Guide

KVM vs. Oracle VM

October 2024

Free Report: KVM vs. Oracle VM

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