VMware ESXi Reviews

In our company, we use the solution for visualization for the servers to consolidate all the physical servers into virtualized machines.

Most of our organization's in-house developed applications reside within VMware ESXi. 

The solution brings monetary savings for our company because we use a single server, which is usually converted from ten physical servers. 

For instance, I can connect any Linux server to any host and then implement migration without affecting the server's user experience. When I migrate the virtual machine to another host, it takes only a few minutes while the VM is still running; shutting down is unnecessary. 

Presently, our company is using an old version of VMware ESXi; we are planning to upgrade to the latest version within the next year. The latest version of the solution runs on a cloud, and our company is looking forward to reaping the benefits from it. Some features should be added to the solution to enhance server management. 

I have been using VMware ESXi for six years. 

The solution is stable enough. 

It's a scalable solution. In our organization, we have three VMware ESXi users who work on visualization, including two network engineers and one system administrator. VMware ESXi was used to run 20 to 30 virtualized machines in our company, but presently, the count has been reduced to around 10 to 15 because most of the servers have already been migrated to the cloud. 

Whenever we sought support, an active response was received in a minimal amount of time. I would rate the tech support a ten out of ten. 

Positive

In our organization, we also tried using open-source virtualization tools like Proxmox and KVM. The aforementioned solutions lack certain features that can be found in VMware ESXi. But the licensing and support cost of VMware ESXi is huge in comparison to open source solutions, as they are free to use. 

The initial setup process for VMware ESXi is simple. A substantial amount of support and help is available from the vendor during the setup process. A lot of documentation is available for setting up VMware ESXi. 

For the solution's deployment in our company, we started from the vendor's initial design and then clustered the product. After the aforementioned step, the cluster was migrated to another server, a new cluster was created, and the deployment process was soon completed. About three to four professionals and a network engineer are required for the initial setup of VMware ESXi.

Our company's security team is also involved in the VMware ESXi deployment process to set up all the ports and the network needed. The solution's initial setup process takes about one week to complete. The one-week setup process in our company includes a testing period, with burnout testing and environment tests, such as physical and virtual machine transfer. 

In our company, we deploy VMware ESXi only after completing several tests. The solution's maintenance is quite easy, the hard drive just needs to be replaced when the storage is full.

The solution consolidates all of our organization's physical servers into a virtualized environment, which further improves server management. 

VMware ESXi allows the management of virtual networks within the servers; switches are not needed to patch any server to a network and allow any type of network transfer. 

After deploying the solution in our company, we have witnessed an improvement in server efficiency; there are minimal problems noticed in the servers. Most of the production services can be moved anywhere and virtualized machines can be transferred to clouds when VMware ESXi is being used. 

When one of the server's failed in our organization, VMware ESXi helped in disaster recovery by utilizing a new host. I am satisfied with the high availability and disaster recovery capabilities of the solution. 

I would advise others to check other virtualization hypervisor solutions before directly adopting VMware ESXi, as it is costly compared to other solutions. Our company is approached by two vendors, one of which is Nutanix. VMware ESXi is more cost-effective than Nutanix. Overall, I would rate VMware ESXi a nine out of ten. 

We are using VMware ESXi for running various kinds of applications in our environment that use virtual machines.

VMware ESXi provides a reliable and stable environment, which makes us confident in our IT operations. We rely on it particularly in production environments where reliability is crucial.

VMware ESXi is very reliable, especially for our production environment. The ability to collapse its vulnerabilities swiftly adds to its reliability. Hyper-threading is a feature we use extensively.

For horizontal scalability, VMware ESXi is not the right product, and we have been evaluating alternative options. There are also some complaints about the web interface and licensing issues after Broadcom's acquisition.

I have been working with VMware ESXi for more than ten years.

VMware ESXi provides a very stable environment, making it a reliable choice for our operations.

Vertical scalability with VMware ESXi is very achievable, allowing easy upgrades to physical components like CPU and RAM. However, its horizontal scalability is not as flexible.

We have received good service from VMware technical support, though the need for assistance has been infrequent.

Positive

I have not had a chance to explore many other solutions in comparison to VMware ESXi.

The initial setup process is not complex and can typically be done in a little more than one hour with the help of one resource.

We are considering moving to another product for better cost-effectiveness, which might improve our ROI.

From a cost perspective, we are not entirely satisfied with VMware ESXi.

We are considering Kubernetes or OpenShift as potential alternatives.

Technically, VMware ESXi is a mature product, and I would recommend it for reliable, stable environments.

ESXi is used to install multiple operating systems (OS) on a single server. It allows us to monitor these machines, view resource usage for each virtual machine, and adjust allocated resources like RAM, CPU, and hard disk. 

We can also easily back up these virtual machines. We use VMware vSphere to manage these virtual machines and Cisco UCS Manager to manage Cisco UCS servers.

The main function of ESXi is the ability to consolidate multiple machines onto a single server, saving space and energy. It also provides a single-user interface to monitor these machines and easily adjust resources or create backups as needed.

Integration Capabilities:

Integration within the VMware environment is not a problem. We can easily move a virtual machine from one ESXi host to another and back up a virtual machine to a different ESXi host.

If the price could be reduced, that would be good.

I think there should be a direct link for managing the OS side so we can open the web interface directly in the browser.

I have been using it for seven years now. 

I would rate the stability a nine out of ten. 

I would rate the scalability of ESXi an eight out of ten.  

Suitable for Enterprise:

ESXi is definitely suitable for enterprise and medium-sized companies. VMware Workstation is suitable for small and medium businesses.

I would rate VMware's technical support as six out of ten. The response time could be better.

Neutral

We use different firewalls, switch servers, and proxy servers. The proxy server is Squid, installed on CentOS, a Linux operating system. We use PRTG Network Monitor to monitor network traffic.

We have our own data center with servers, and one of our servers uses VMware. We use VMware ESXi for server virtualization.

We use both VMware Workstation and ESXi, each with its own benefits. Workstation is installed on the operating system, while ESXi is installed directly on the hardware. I have been working with ESXi for seven years.

The initial setup for ESXi is a bit complex and takes a couple of hours.

We use a hybrid model for deployment.

The price of ESXi is high.

VMware ESXi is better than Microsoft Hyper-V.

Nowadays, Docker is considered to be better than virtual machines (VMs). I am not very familiar with Docker, but I have learned that it is superior in many ways.

I would rate ESXi an eight out of ten overall. I do recommend it to other users.

I use the solution in my company for hosting machines and storage.

In our data center operations, the tool is used just as a server for computing, storage, and networking.

The most valuable features of the solution are that it is efficient, fast, and affordable.

I think the tool can do better in terms of pricing.

The tool offers an open-source version, which is not really well supported.

I have been using VMware ESXi for five years.

It is a very stable solution.

The solution's scalability part is a bit tough, but I think it is due to our own implementation. It is a bit difficult currently. In terms of scalability, there are other ways of scaling it, like setting multiple nodes, and all that, but we are not that advanced. In our company, we don't set it up. I think in terms of scalability, it is limitless.

There are 100 users with two appliances in my company.

I have not contacted technical support for the solution.

I have tried a few other tools.

The product's initial setup phase is quite simple, and I think anybody can do it.

You just purchase the server, and then you do the installation. To purchase the server, you have to look through the hardware compatibility list and make sure the equipment is all supported. There are enough available drivers for it. Once it is approved, you can download the installation package and then put it in. After that, you do the patching. Whatever patches that need to be updated and just put it in.

The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.

The solution can be deployed in around four hours.

Two people were needed for deployment.

The tool was deployed with the help of an in-house team.

The tool is cost-effective.

Broadcom recently purchased VMware, and the pricing scheme has changed. If I need any more features in the tool, I can actually purchase them. If the product includes it in the current base package, it will be good. If not, then I will have to purchase it.

Compared to other tools, VMware ESXi is more stable than the other offerings. I think the support from the parent company is good, and it releases patches quite often, so it is better supported.

The feature or the functionality of the tool is good for virtualizing everything.

The tool is able to offer protection requirements and helps the organization's compliance and data as there are frequent patches being released, which are well supported.

My company does not use any AI initiatives for the product at the moment.

The tool's maintenance is easy.

I recommend the tool to others. Everyone should follow the tool's documentation.

I rate the tool a nine out of ten.

We use the product as a virtual infrastructure to hold applications. 

The main features of VMware that are most effective for managing virtual environments include creating and managing both Windows and Linux virtual machines. 

Using VMware ESXi for server management significantly simplifies the process. Traditionally, procuring physical servers was necessary, but now, we can create virtual machines on VMware ESXi based on our requirements. As long as resources are available, we can create as many virtual machines as needed.

This is particularly useful for deploying applications that require additional resources, as we no longer need physical servers. Instead, we create virtual machines using VMware and host the applications on those servers. This approach allows for quick deployment.

The solution's pricing could be improved. It has become expensive after the Broadcom acquisition. 

I have been using the solution for more than three years. 

I rate VMware ESXi's stability an eight out of ten. 

Our organization has around 250 virtual machines running on VMware ESXi. The system can accommodate more, depending on our number of clusters. From the IT administration side, we have about ten system administrators who manage and interact with the tool's interface to resolve any issues.

We have contacted tech support. They provide good support, but due to our policy, we usually rely on vendor support. After deploying the solution for more than three years, it has worked properly, and we haven't needed to request much support from the vendor side.

You need a professional to assist with the deployment. 

I rate the overall solution a ten out of ten. You should use it to start exploring the virtualized environment. 

ESXi with Hyper Converged Infrastructure and Horizon for hosting virtual machines. There is also AHT for VDI environments.

It's a bare-metal hypervisor, mainly used for hosting virtual machines. The applications vary based on customer requirements. It can be used for running applications, database connectivity, infrastructure applications like software-based networks or firewalls, and managing on-premises applications.

The most beneficial features for me are DRS and HA (High Availability). In case of an interruption at the OS level, they ensure the virtual machine automatically comes back up. 

Another benefit is load balancing with the DRS feature.

Apart from that, it's the main source for us as consultants or architects to manage the infrastructure.

We follow the best practices as per Broadcom and VMware, and we do timely patching on ESXi to ensure security.

The license model has recently changed, which is a bit worrying for customers.

The only other issue is that since changing the portal, downloading patches or images for maintenance or deployment has become slightly more difficult because engineers are facing issues. 

I have been using it for more than ten years now. 

It's very stable because we do regular maintenance. It is not difficult to maintain at all. 

It is a scalable product. That's the reason it's number one, even after a decade.

I get a good response, but in a few cases, I have experienced delayed responses. I'm not sure, but maybe it's because of the transfer to Broadcom.

So, there is a slight delay in getting the support. 

Neutral

VMware is a leader with the new features they introduce on every major release. But regarding licensing, when I talk to Nutanix, they give it for free. With the Hyper Converged solution, we have to pay additional charges based on the core count. But feature-wise, I don't see any additional features that other hypervisors have.

The complexity of the initial setup is fine. We've been doing it for a long time. Compared to other hypervisors, it's very good. On average, it should be around 30 minutes to an hour.

Currently, we use version 7.0. We may upgrade to 8.0, but that will take a few months.

Deployment process: It's all internal discussions based on the load. We select the hardware vendor and do the installation via the ISO image. We do the configuration part ourselves. I take care of the ESXi infrastructure once the parts are delivered to the site.

I would recommend using it b, but it depends on their interest and budget.

Overall, I would rate it a nine out of ten. 

We use it for virtualization. We have about 500 virtual machines that run on eight hosts running ESXi. It's pretty good and robust. It does what we want it to do. That's why we never change. We just stay with VMware and ESXi because it always works. I normally never have a problem with it. It's very stable.

I like VMotion. We can update hosts without affecting the VMs. VMotion would be number one.

It's a good product. For what we use it for, probably just the pricing. To make it cheaper. Pricing is always the first thing to look at for improvement.

Probably just integration of firmware updates could make life easier. But I think that comes with VxRail, not if you buy separate servers. It would be good to do the VMware and ESXi updates at the same time.

I have been working with this product for 15 years. A long time. Since the first version, maybe even more than 20 years.

I would rate the stability a nine out of ten.

It's quite high. I would rate the scalability a nine out of ten. We use it at an enterprise level.

The customer service and support are pretty good. If you've got a major problem, they come and fix it pretty quickly.

Positive

I also use VMware vSphere 7. It runs on the servers, and we have Fibre switches and Unity for storage.

We do ESXi, Cisco firmware, and Dell firmware.  

The initial setup is very easy. 

It's maybe 30 minutes to set up, and then it's working. It's really quick.

It is a hybrid model. 

It is suitable for medium to enterprise levels. 

Overall, I would rate it a nine out of ten. The recommendation is very high. It's probably the best hypervisor we've used.

I use the solution in my company for virtualization.

The most valuable features of the solution are its high availability and resource scheduling areas.

Recently, the tool's licensing model has become complicated, making it an area where improvements are required.

The tool's downtime is an area of concern where improvements are required.

The solution's technical support team's response time has to be a bit faster.

I have been using VMware ESXi for five years.

There is some downtime with the tool. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

Though I don't have any experience with the scalability part of the product, I can rate it as an eight out of ten.

The product is suitable for small, medium, and large companies.

I rate the technical support a seven out of ten.

Neutral

The product's initial setup phase is somewhere in between being an easy and difficult process. The product's initial setup phase is difficult, but one can manage to set it up.

The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.

The solution can be deployed in a couple of days.

For the deployment phase, my company received support from Dell, who used to own the solution.

The product helps our company save time.

I rate the product price as one on a scale of one to ten, where one is high price and ten is low price.

The product has improved the overall performance of my company.

I can recommend the product to others who plan to use it.

I rate the tool an eight out of ten.