VMware vSphere Reviews

The primary use case is to save us a lot of money. Really, the primary use case is to be flexible, to be scalable, to be agile, as the company changes. As a non-profit, we really change often. New programs come in every day. vSphere gives us the ability to be flexible The mission-critical apps we use it for include Exchange, SQL, Active Directory, document management systems. We use it for everything.

While we haven't seen a performance boost for these apps, they're flexible. That's really what it's about. I'm still learning how to make it boost performance.

We haven't used any of the built-in security features.

It saves us a lot of money.

VMotion is the biggest feature. It gives us the ability to move things on the fly. That's it.

I do not find it to be simple and efficient to manage. The tools, the interface to manage it, are a pain. In the latest version, they moved us to web-only, the Web Client and it's terrible. It's slow. It crashes. It's annoying. I used the Web Client in the older version and was happy. I would go back to the regular thick client but I don't have that option anymore, so I am always fighting it.

The solution itself is really stable.

The scalability is insane. It's great.

We were all physical and it wasn't scalable. Every time they came to me and said that they wanted to start a new project with a new piece of software, I had to buy hardware for it. One day we looked at it. Quick, funny story: big presentation to the Board. Spent an hour explaining what virtualization was. I said, "Okay. I can do this by spending less over the next five years and we've already budgeted more." And the Chief Financial Officer looked at me and said, "Why did you just waste our last hour? If it's going to cost us less, then just do it." Why didn't you start with that? Way to bury the lead!"

It was a no-brainer to move.

The most important criteria when selecting a vendor is support, absolutely. US-based support that doesn't pass the buck, that takes ownership of a situation and deals with it.

The initial setup was straightforward. I built the whole thing myself, without knowing anything about VMware to begin with, just learning it as I went.

Our ROI is huge. We put, in hardware and software, probably $80,000 dollars into the solution and have never spent another penny in the last five years, other than for support. Compare that to a budget of $30,000 a year, we'd be at $150,000 in those five years. So, the return on investment is huge.

For our initial look into vSphere versus others, we started with Cisco's version of virtualization. It was cool. It was free. But it was a pain. It didn't scale. When I started looking at the software we wanted to run on it, nobody supported it. That made the decision.

In terms of advice to a colleague, I'm giving it every day. I take the guy out to lunch to beat him up with vSphere. I've got a buddy who is a Hyper-V guy. He's says, "But it's free," and I keep saying, "Well, you get what you pay for." He says, "But it never gives me any problems." I say, "Then why are you calling me every week asking me why Exchange is doing stupid things? I don't have those problems and I run exactly the same version you do."

It's stable. It just works. I don't have to think about it.

Some of the new stuff that's coming out is pretty exciting, as we start thinking of moving to the cloud. But, as a non-profit, at this point, it doesn't make sense to do so, yet. But as we move to the cloud, some of the new stuff they talked about yesterday, here at VMworld 2018, is really going to help us do that.

I give vSphere an eight out of ten because of the web interface. It would be a ten otherwise.

There are two versions of function more popular in our industry. One is the VMware solution, and one is Hyper-V. We choose VMware. We manage the VMware solutions with the vSphere. If you have a VMware solution, we have to use vSphere. However, if we choose Microsoft we have to use Microsoft management tools.

It is easy to deploy and manage backups for me. That said, I've used it a long time and therefore am quite comfortable with it. Upgrades and restores are simple.

The product is stable as well.

The scalability has been good.

Technical support could be a bit better at assisting. 

The solution should be more secure. Of course, it can depend on the deployment of your system on your side. Sometimes if the system is closed, you don't necessarily need more security. However, since we use different applications and tools, we must use different tools. We don't combine our security tools. However, we need to ensure that products like these are secure, and it would be ideal if more security was baked in.  

I've been using the solution for about 14 years or so. It's been well over a decade. I've used it for a while now.

The stability is good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable. 

Scalability is very simple. You can improve or expand it as needed. It's not a problem at all if you want to expand it out. 

vSphere is for managing an organization's solutions management software. The size is not based on the number of users. Only IT, those responsible for managing the system center, or the hardware, or software of the solutions really have access to the product.

Technical support isn't ideal. They are slow to respond. We've had issues previously.

We also have used Microsoft's Hyper-V solution.

I find the solution, based on my long history with the product, very easy to set up. It's a pretty straightforward step-by-step process.

Typically, you just need one person to set it up. It only takes maybe an hour or so. Of course, the first time a person does an implementation, they might go slower.

We have two people on the system side and five people on the software side that are capable of working directly with the product.

I handled the implementation myself. I didn't need the help of any integrators or consultants. I'm capable of reinstalling it or doing a whole new setup as needed. 

We pay a yearly licensing fee. 

We're using version seven or thereabouts. 

I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten.

I would recommend it to other users and companies. 

VMware vSphere is used for server virtualization. We are using Microsoft Active Directory, file, and Linux servers

The built-in backup and hyper-converged systems have helped our organization.

The most valuable features of VMware vSphere are backup and recovery.

I have been using VMware vSphere for approximately 10 years.

The solution is stable. However, sometimes it goes down, which can be time-consuming because it requires some complex scripts only the support team know.

I am the only person doing the maintenance of this solution.

VMware vSphere is scalable.

We have approximately 500 users using the solution.

The support has been good.

We have used Microsoft previously and we have found VMware to be more mature.

The setup is easy. However, the configuration expansion can be difficult. The full implementation took three to four days. This included the move from physical servers to virtual ones.

We used a reseller for the implementation and had a good experience.

When you spend on this solution you will get it back.

We pay for the solution on an annual basis. There are no additional fees other than the standard license.

It's quite stable, has good support available, and is a mature product.

I rate VMware vSphere a nine out of ten.

VMware vSphere is the basic application for making the virtualization on our environment.

VMware vSphere helps us in not wasting resources like we did when we were using physical servers. It changed our whole environment.

The features that I have found most valuable are its vMotion and the other features that are basic in any product. Snapshot, Virtual switch, and VDS are very useful. Its features are so good and fit our needs.

In terms of what could be improved, we do face some bugs when cloning the virtual machine - it fails sometimes. Also, using the customization certification also fail sometimes. Sometimes powering-on the virtual machine fails. But we opened the ticket with VMware as we have the warranty.

I have been using VMware vSphere for three years.

VMware vSphere is very stable.

Of course VMware vSphere is scalable.

In our 15 member team, all of us work on vSphere. We are all system operation engineers.

Overall, we just require two people for deployment and maintenance.

Of course we'll increase our license in the future. Our business needs to improve every time. So we'll use it extensively.

The technical support is so good. My friend works at the support team for VMware.

The initial setup is straightforward. It is so easy.

The ISO file is available for everyone to download and there is a trial period so if you don't purchase this product, you can try it for free.

We increase our servers every year. So for one server, deployment takes about one hour or less to deploy a product.

There are many strategies to install the product using vCenter. We can make clones from the profile of the server itself so it could take less time. 

We deploy it ourselves.

I did an overview on the Hyper-V, which is another solution. VMware vSphere was simpler and easier to use and had a lot of features. The Hyper-V must be installed on a Windows server which has a lot of vulnerabilities and it's not stable as VMware vSphere.

So after I did an overview I thought this solution is the best in the meantime.

I don't need to give any advice - this product sells itself.

My recommendation to anyone considering VMware vSphere is that if you need to virtualize your environment, you will buy this solution for sure. But you have to have the servers before buying the license. You can first install it for free on a demo, or you can get the virtual environment to try the solution. But it doesn't need any advice, it is quite simple.

After working on this solution, I have joined the official course for vSphere and I took the certificate, so it allowed me to know all the features in this product.

On a scale of one to ten, not to be extreme, but I would give VMware vSphere a nine.

We primarily use the solution for virtualization.

The solution offers a very stable performance. 

It's a scalable product. 

The solution is extremely reliable. It's an excellent product.

The initial setup is pretty straightforward.

Technical support has always been great.

The pricing of the product is reasonable.

The latest version of the solution has a few bugs. This may be due to the fact that they moved to web-based management. There are some problems in that web-based management, however, it's a minimal issue.

I've been using the solution for seven or eight years at this point. I've used it for a while. 

The solution is very stable and very reliable. The performance has been great. In the version we are using, there are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

The solution is very scalable. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so.

I'm not sure of the exact number of users, however, we do have the solution installed on 4,000 machines. 

Technical support has been excellent. They are helpful and responsive. We have no complaints. Their level of service is always good. 

The initial setup was straightforward and not overly complex. Although it took us a couple of weeks before we installed it, the deployment only took about one day or one and a half days.

We had three engineers that handled the deployment. 

We handled the initial setup ourselves. We did not need the assistance of an integrator or consultant.

There's a yearly licensing fee, however, it isn't overly expensive. 

Up until now, we use the product on-premises, however, currently, we are developing a hybrid cloud. We are moving to the cloud solution and the base, the transition system is, VMware vSphere.

While we use the solution's 6.7 version, the latest version is version 7.

I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten. I've been very happy with the capabilities of the product.

I would recommend the solution to other users and organizations. 

We provide basic VMware virtualization platforms basically for private clouds and hybrid clouds.

These are being used in the case of server consolidation for reducing the hardware sprawl and also, for a lot of the monitoring solutions now, so that companies can have their own virtual machines. For that, many of the clients need a virtualization platform. That's where we recommend vSphere.

It's the de facto leader in the virtualization market as of now and it's been the pioneer and it's got the maximum breadth of the features available across the virtualization sphere. 

It has got almost all the features that one can expect to find in a solid platform. It has good features performance-wise and offers a very small footprint. They're top-class security-wise. 

The latest innovation always comes from VMware.

The stability is very good.

The scalability is excellent.

While they have got enough integration as of now, they definitely need to get more cybersecurity integration as that is always beneficial.

The installation is complex and you need to have a good understanding in regards to what you are doing when you are setting it up.

The solution is relatively expensive. It's a big downside. 

I've been using the solution for six to seven years. It's been a while. 

The solution is excellent in terms of stability. There aren't issues around bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. the performance is reliable. 

The scalability is top-notch. There is nothing to complain about. It scales quite well.

We have about 50 to 60 customers that use the solution. 

The tech support is world-class and we are very happy with their level of service.

Virtualization is always a challenge. It's never a straightforward task as there are so many variables and parameters to consider. There's nothing straightforward about virtualization. Having said that, vSphere is so widespread and available, that you get access to the knowledge and the resources you need to implement it very easily. In that sense, you don't really have to struggle too much regarding the installation. You get a lot of help, however, you need to know what you're getting into and what you're doing.

We have about three to four engineers who support VMware and then a couple of guys managing customers.

The biggest pain when it comes to VMware is that licensing costs are pretty high.

The product itself has been around for so many years, I'm sure they can offer much better terms.

The licensing is paid on a yearly basis. 

I'd rate the solution at a ten out of ten.

I'd recommend the solution. Most people cannnot ignore VMware unless they are looking for something very, very, very, very minimal. It's best in class. 

We use this solution for network virtualization.

The most useful features are ESXi, DRS, Auto Deploy, and the Lifecycle Manager.

We would like to see the container-based operating system launched soon for this solution.

In a future release, multi-cloud capability should be simplified and easy to handle for administrators. For example, if I have a private cloud and public cloud and we have a feature to run VMware between these two, currently there is some complexity. We are hoping this can improve to allow us to run the workload anywhere.

I have been using this solution for approximately 10 years.

We have had some minor issues with stability in the past that has now have been resolved. 

The architecture has been redefined and the scalability is good. In the previous editions, we had boot failing issues but they have resolved them and introduced a new model of high availability in vSphere for vCenter. Scalable is just a single click and is very easy.

We were having some network glitches and some other issues known by VMware, they were all resolved through provided patches. Now everything is working fine.

We have also been working with AWS and Azure. We normally recommend VMware solutions for private cloud, and for public cloud, AWS or Azure. However, VMware is also having capabilities on AWS and Azure which we recommend.

The setup of this solution is very easy now, it was a bit difficult before and now has been simplified.

When comparing the price of VMware solutions to other vendors, such as Nutanix, they are costly.

We have compared this solution to Nutanix.

My advice to small to large-scale enterprises companies wanting to move to virtualization, vSphere is highly recommended for effective cost savings. The future is in virtualization, the industries are moving in that direction. Everything is in virtualization, such as networks, storage, and desktop applications. We can reduce the data center space, power cooling, and hardware lifecycle. However, the licensing costs are expensive.

I rate VMware vSphere a nine out of ten.

The product is primarily used for my main server for the main business. All the servers are on it.

The interface that the product offers is very easy to navigate. I learned it quite easily. I check the hypervisor interface on it. It's much easier for one who is familiar with the technology. 

The details that I get from the solution are great. It gives a lot of detail.

The product has been pretty easy to use overall.

The stability is okay.

Technical support was helpful and knowledgeable. 

I would prefer it if there was a better connection between the storage and the server. For that reason, I'm going to HCI or dHCI. I want to integrate it all into one interface and I can't do that here. That's why I'm going to HCI or dHCI.

The initial setup is a bit complex. You likely will need some help with the implementation. It's not something just anyone can do.

I've been using the solution for 15 years at this point. it's been a long time. I have a lot of experience with the product as I've worked with it for over a decade now. 

The solution's stability is okay. For us, it's enough. There aren't issues with bugs or glitches and it doesn't seem to crash or freeze. It's reliable.

The scalability depends on the hardware. If your hardware allows you to expand, it shouldn't be an issue.

Every year we increase storage, and therefore we regularly increase usage. However, I am planning to replace our current storage.

I have dealt with technical support in the past. It was less with VMware, and more with the vSphere storage. Once or twice I needed help. It was pretty good. I found them to be knowledgeable and responsive. I would say we are satisfied with the level of support on offer.

The initial setup is not really straightforward or simple to execute. 

I didn't do it myself. That would have been a bit much for me. I needed an integrator to do it. It's a bit complex to do.

In terms of the deployment time, when we last did it four years ago, it took about one week to get everything up and running.

We have one technical person on our team that assists with deployment and maintenance. They are an admin.

I enlisted the help of an integrator that mostly did the installation for us.

We do pay for the solution. It's on a yearly basis.

We did not evaluate other options before choosing this product. When I started to use it about 15 years ago, it was the only tool option to work with.

I'd recommend the solution to other users and companies. 

Overall, I would rate the solution at an eight out of ten. I would say that we are quite happy with its capabilities overall.