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Prince Verma - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Infrastructure consultant at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Top 5
Secure and has high availability, but the hardware cost is high
Pros and Cons
  • "The tool provides 99.99% uptime."
  • "The hardware cost is high."

What is most valuable?

We can maintain our own infrastructure according to our needs. We need to buy the solution only once, and we can do what we need to do. We can deploy several servers. We can also deploy other machines. We can create templates. OVF is the best feature. We can create an OVF, send it to the other node, and create similar VMs with the OVF.

We can deploy our own bare metal hypervisor over the hardware at the required capacity. We must know how to configure it. The product is not difficult to use. The users access their PCs using a remote desktop protocol. It is as simple as using our own laptops. The solution’s high availability is very good. The tool provides 99.99% uptime.

What needs improvement?

The hardware cost is high. We need to change the hardware after some time. It is a big headache for the organization. Private clouds are more secure than public clouds. However, public clouds offer services that we can never see in vSphere. VMware must improve its login page.

The UI must be improved. The solution must improve its log system. When a machine fails, it mentions the log but doesn't describe the infrastructure or how the code is designed. If I put one machine on migration and it fails, the log is generated as the user timed out and disconnected the host. Apart from this, there's nothing else mentioned in the log. It is difficult to identify the problem with the machine. The log system is very poor.

It is a challenge to increase the storage. If we have ten users when we start, but the load on the server increases to 20 or 30 after a month, there is a chance that the site will go down. We have to be proactive in implementing datastore. If we have ten users, we must plan to have hardware for 20 users. The cost will be high, but it will be more secure.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The on-premise version is stable.

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March 2025
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We are a client-based organization. The number of users depends on the clients. There might be 5200 people using the product in our clients’ organizations.

How was the initial setup?

We have deployed the solution on-premises. The solution has a private cloud, too. There are no hybrid connections available. The initial setup is not difficult, but it is not easy. A normal user cannot do it. We need the expertise to install bare metal. The installation is easy if we know the configuration criteria.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The tool is neither expensive nor cheap. The pricing depends on the users. Suppose we have 100 users, and the architectural team spends $10,000 on infrastructure to build the data center. After some years, we have to replace the systems and upgrade them.

What other advice do I have?

Since I am an engineer, I troubleshoot the issues I face. I recommend people use a public cloud provider. If someone requires a separate data center, they can choose VMware. It is the best solution on-premises and as a private cloud. Overall, I rate the tool a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Sr. System Engineer VMW Specialist at a government with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
We condensed our whole Data Center into three 42U racks, less power consumption, less space, less network switches.

What is most valuable?

Software Define Data Center (SDDC), easily manage couple hundred servers within one console, deploy multiple servers within an hour, capable of monitoring server’s CPU, RAM, Disk, Network activities, High availability (HA) and Cluster (DRS), vMotion and DataStore vMotion, and more.

How has it helped my organization?

We condensed our whole Data Center into three 42U racks, one rack for switches and 32 blade servers, one rack for UPS, one rack for the SAN. It uses less power consumption, less space, less network switches, Less UPS battery.

What needs improvement?

IOPs monitoring. We now monitor IOPs from SAN array. But, SAN array IOPs monitoring is based on virtual volume (vLun) not the VM. If VMware can provide VMDK IOPS information, it can help us catch performance issues.

For how long have I used the solution?

Over 5 years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No, everything works fine during deployment.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We did experience purple of death in our esxi host (HP BL685c G7) twice in the past two years after we upgraded to ESXi5.0. We are not sure if its HP’s problem or VMware’s problem.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Yes, multiple VM within one vLUN sometime cause random IOslead to performance issue. Although it is fixable, but still, when you are using large vLUN, you need to understand if that vLUN can provide sufficient IOPs for VMs that use that vLUN.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

Although, I do not call them frequently, from my three calls, I would say the customer service is great. They call back and even remote-in to assist with the issue.

Technical Support:

1 to 5 scale, I rate their technical support 4.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

No, we did not.

How was the initial setup?

It is somewhat straightforward except for the vCenter server and SQL database ODBC. You need to use SQL ODMC client v10. Windows server 2008 R2 did not come with an older version. You need to download sqlncli driver v10.

What about the implementation team?

We did the implementation by ourselves.

What was our ROI?

We did not assess the ROI. But, as a system engineer, it is huge.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

  • SAN array with 40TB FC and 40TB NL -450K
  • 4x HP BL465c, 2x16, 256GB, 2x 10Gb FiberSwitch, 16x vSpere License, ESXi enterprise License - 200K
  • Planning to hold 300 virtual servers
  • This is based on an a quotation. I do not know the actual purchase price. The day to day cost is not much. There is no need to go to the data center unless we need to upgrade the hardware. I can power off and power on any server from my desk in case the server freezes.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

No.

What other advice do I have?

VMware is a great virtualization solution. But, if your servers are very performance-demanded, my suggestion is you must also study the shared vLUN, SAN VV and VM’s IOPs requirement. Don’t just create vLUN and dump any VM into the vLUN. Some programmers and DBAs do not have ideas of how much IOPs their applications or database servers are needed. You will experience performance issues. This is not a problem when you use physical server because physical server resources are not shared.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
VMware vSphere
March 2025
Learn what your peers think about VMware vSphere. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
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Systems Engineer at BYU Idaho
Video Review
Real User
End-user interface is more efficient in v6.7, can be used from phone, laptop, and any OS
Pros and Cons
  • "The main benefit of the version 6.7 is that it makes end-users able to use the interface much more effectively. They don't have to install a client on their machine, they can do it from their phone, their laptop, their tablet, any OS, anytime. It's a better experience for the end-user."
  • "Ease-of-Use; The solution is very simple to use and to manage. Updates are simple. The biggest feature that enables the ease of use is the fact that you can update via the web interface. With a couple of clicks, the update is done; no manual intervention, you just click Update and it automatically reboots the server for you and you're back up and going again."
  • "It would be nice to see it a little more tightly integrated with the patching solution so you could do it in one pane of glass. Right now, you have to jump back and forth. It's still not difficult, but you have to jump back and forth to do your update definitions and then go back and actually do the updates themselves."

What is our primary use case?

The use case is that we want to upgrade to the new features and functionality of version 6.7.

We run several SQL Servers on there, Active Directory Servers, file servers, web servers; multiple servers running on it.

How has it helped my organization?

The new HTML5 interface is much more robust; a lot fewer bugs in it, more features. It's an overall better experience for us.

It's hard to say there has been a performance boosts for these apps but I would say it is a boost because the servers are much more responsive, the end-users complain less about it. So it must be a good thing.

The main benefit of the solution is that it makes end-users able to use the interface much more effectively. They don't have to install a client on their machine, they can do it from their phone, their laptop, their tablet, any OS, anytime. It's a better experience for the end-user.

What is most valuable?

The HTML5 interface is much better, it's faster, faster than the old C# Client, which was very nice to have. But with the HTML5 interface, it's smooth, fast, responsive. I can do it from any device, from my Mac, my PC, even from my phone.

The solution is very simple to use and to manage. Updates are simple. The biggest feature that enables the ease of use is the fact that you can update via the web interface. With a couple of clicks, the update is done; no manual intervention, you just click Update and it automatically reboots the server for you and you're back up and going again.

What needs improvement?

As far as additional features go, they've already added the VMware Update Manager to this version, which has been great; it's been very nice to use.

It would be nice to see it a little more tightly integrated with the patching solution so you could do it in one pane of glass. Right now, you have to jump back and forth. It's still not difficult, but you have to jump back and forth to do your update definitions and then go back and actually do the updates themselves.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

In terms of stability, so far the impressions of this solution have been very good. It's been very stable. We haven't had any downtime at all with this new solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

So far, we haven't had any issues at all with scalability. We've got over 1,500 VMs, about 84 hosts right now, so it's been very scalable for us.

How is customer service and technical support?

I have used technical support before, via the web interface. You ask questions there and they respond with email or a phone call back to help you solve your problems.

How was the initial setup?

I was an initial installer and I was actually a beta customer as well. The setup was very straightforward. Compared to the previous versions, it's much easier. You can upgrade from a Mac or a PC or via a web interface.

What was our ROI?

The biggest ROI has been technical. Technically, it's much easier to deploy, much easier for the end-user to use, we have much happier end-users. As they manage their systems, they're much happier without having to install a client, which takes time, takes resources on their machine. They can do it from any device, anywhere, at any time, which is very nice for them.

What other advice do I have?

Anybody who's looking to research this, to upgrade in the future, should go for it. It's a very easy upgrade. The features are very beneficial. It's very worth the time to update. It's a much easier solution for the future, and it's a better experience for all involved.

Regarding using VMware Cloud on AWS, we use AWS right now, but for our backup solutions, is all. Cold backup, long-term storage out to the cloud, is all we do right now.

For us, the biggest criteria for selecting a vendor, right now, are the pricing and the support. Because we are higher education, we have to find the best price, and support comes right behind that. We need the best support as well.

I would rate the solution as about a nine out of ten right now. It could be better but it's very close to perfect right now.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Emanuele-Gnali - PeerSpot reviewer
Owner at NetArt
Real User
Top 5
Used for clusters with shared storage on-premises with stability
Pros and Cons
  • "It offers a good return on investment because its maintenance and subscription costs are very durable."
  • "It is pricey for small business."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for clusters with shared storage on-premises with recovery. We use Veeam to back up some replication of these installations.

What is most valuable?

It provides stability with performance and broad support for hardware solutions.

What needs improvement?

It is pricey for small business. There are bundles that make competitive for out-of-bundle solutions that smaller businesses can't afford. If they will be the end of the sale, a cost problem arises for them.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using VMware vSphere for over ten years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is recommended for small and medium-sized businesses.

How are customer service and support?

I have no directly needed VMware support. We always have resolved our troubles with documentation.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward because of good documentation. It depends on the installation. Optimizing deployment takes a few days for a cluster with shared storage. One person can deploy the smaller clusters. We are training the lab to deploy the different solutions.

What was our ROI?

It offers a good return on investment because its maintenance and subscription costs are very durable. So once you deploy the first installation, upgrading or the infrastructure is quite easy and straightforward in the future.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The small distribution price is very convenient because they are really affordable bundles for three or fewer nodes. For bigger installation, it starts to be pricey, but it's also scaled with the business side.

What other advice do I have?

Maintenance is required as long as any other products to check for troubles and some security patching.

The version enables automatic maintenance, easy maintenance, and performance performance. A good performance use of the hardware allows for quick infrastructure maintenance and a quick structure upgrade so you can change hardware servers quickly and cheaply.

It's useful for critical workloads. When there are inevitable failures, it can keep up the business.

The server was particularly limiting performance-wise, while Hyper V lacked stability and flexibility in the setups.

Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Zack Baraci - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Engeneer at Wurth Australia Pty. Ltd.
Real User
Top 10
Comes with remote replication feature and reduces deployment timeframes
Pros and Cons
  • "The tool comes with scale-out capabilities. Deploying new infrastructure became much quicker, saving significant time previously spent sourcing hardware for each installation. It also has the ability to downscale on rack spaces, reducing the number of rack units needed to accommodate our servers."
  • "I would suggest that the tool reconsider its pricing strategy. The recent price hikes could potentially pose a problem for VMware in the future. The recent price increases, especially since Broadcom acquired them, seem excessive. There are reports of businesses experiencing massive price hikes, sometimes as much as 10-30 times higher. This is causing smaller businesses to consider exiting the space altogether."

What is our primary use case?

We have been virtualizing our on-premises data center. We relied heavily on VMware vSphere to manage our servers; all our virtual server loads are hosted on it.

What is most valuable?

The tool comes with scale-out capabilities. Deploying new infrastructure became much quicker, saving significant time previously spent sourcing hardware for each installation. It also has the ability to downscale on rack spaces, reducing the number of rack units needed to accommodate our servers.

Its most valuable feature is remote replication which comes with high availability. 

What needs improvement?

I would suggest that the tool reconsider its pricing strategy. The recent price hikes could potentially pose a problem for VMware in the future. The recent price increases, especially since Broadcom acquired them, seem excessive. There are reports of businesses experiencing massive price hikes, sometimes as much as 10-30 times higher. This is causing smaller businesses to consider exiting the space altogether.

Overall, it's a functional system that works well. However, I believe that systems like Nutanix offer better integration and functionality. While both are solid hypervisors at level one, VMware vSphere's management, especially through the web-based interface, could use improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with the product for 15 to 16 years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate the tool's stability a nine out of ten. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

VMware vSphere is highly scalable, and I rate it a ten out of ten. My company has 400 users. 

How was the initial setup?

I rate the tool's ease of deployment a six out of ten. It was quite complex due to various hardware restrictions and issues. We had to address several technical issues with VMware along the way.

I would rate the deployment process as typical regarding time and considerations. However, the migration from on-premises to the cloud was a bit cumbersome. It required a bit of work. 

The installation phase took about three months initially when we deployed on-premises. This duration was understandable as we had to virtualize numerous physical servers and handle various complexities. Transitioning to the cloud extended the project timeline to approximately six months.

What was our ROI?

I believe the biggest return on investment stemmed from significantly reduced deployment time frames. Commissioning and deploying systems and accommodating growth became much faster—measured in days rather than months. This efficiency and consolidation efforts resulted in a high long-term ROI.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I rate the solution's pricing a ten out of ten due to the recent price changes. 

What other advice do I have?

My advice to those considering VMware vSphere would be to carefully assess your business's size and the product's value proposition. It may not be well-suited for smaller enterprises due to its prohibitive cost. It's important to consider alternative solutions. I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Egor Marachev - PeerSpot reviewer
IT systems engineer at VeriFone
Real User
Top 10
Allows for easy management of snapshots for virtual machines and good web console
Pros and Cons
  • "The web console is the most valuable feature for me. Because no matter what happens with the server, I can still get to it with the web console."
  • "There is room for improvement in Google Cloud. The reason thing there was, like, when I type something in the terminal and then immediately, I need to go to edit the certain like file for Node.js, for the server, or for Kubernetes. So I have to do it from the terminal to the editor."

What is our primary use case?

This solution has a very comfortable interface for snapshots for my virtual machines. That's very comfortable.

For example, if I want to make templates to create a certain type of virtual machine, I have it in vSphere. Moreover, it includes things like deployment, implementation of different templates, snapshot deleting snapshot, restoring a machine to snapshot or administrative administration things.

What is most valuable?

The web console is the most valuable feature for me.  Because no matter what happens with the server, I can still get to it with the web console.

What needs improvement?

There is room for improvement in Google Cloud. The reason thing there was, like, when I type something in the terminal and then immediately, I need to go to edit the certain like file for Node.js, for the server, or for Kubernetes. So I have to do it from the terminal to the editor.

And for some reason, each time I had to switch, I had to literally switch between the terminal and the editor. I wish I could have it on one screen to have the terminal and on the other to have the editor.  This would greatly improve my experience with this solution. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using it for a couple of years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate the stability a nine out of ten. It is very stable, and I have never had any major problems with it.

There are over a few hundred users using this solution in our organization. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would rate the scalability a solid eight out of ten.  It is scalable enough for my needs, but there is always room for improvement.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was very easy and intuitive.

If I didn't understand something, this solution provides tons of information,e explanations,  courses, and instructions on their website. We also live in a reality of chatbots and AI, so everything is very easy to set up. 

What other advice do I have?

I would advise you to check out the VMware website and watch some of the initial and fundamental courses. The web console is very intuitive, but it can be helpful to see how it works before you start using it. 

Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user
SigfridCecillon - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at Arsium
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Stable solution and easy to setup
Pros and Cons
  • "I like stability and the organization of the different functions into the I#M feature which is also quite useful, quite stable."
  • "In future releases, I would like to see less pricing. The license can be improved."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case is virtualization. All the clients who want to virtualize can use vSphere to do it.

What is most valuable?

I like stability and the organization of the different functions into the I#M feature which is also quite useful, quite stable. I would prefer the old solution because before, you had to install software on your client's desktop to administrate the environment. Since five or seven years, it's not needed. You can do everything through your web interface. And I prefer when it was more reactive, so when you have a client instead of using your desktop. But it's a good solution, quite stable and quite efficient.

What needs improvement?

In future releases, I would like to see less pricing. The license can be improved. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used this solution for over 15 years. So it's one of the first products we've used with a client.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable solution. Around 20 to 30 customers are using this solution. 

How are customer service and support?

The customer service and support are good. However, it could be faster and more qualified. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy. It is intuitive-- Next. Next. Next. Next. Finish. Easy. Great.

What about the implementation team?

For the deployment process involves materials, equipment, licenses, and the availability of the client team.

It took about one or two hours for one server; it's okay. The deployment was super quick. 

A team of engineers and admins is required to deploy and maintain the solution. We have a team of ten people. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The licensing model is yearly-based. It is quite expensive.  Moreover, there are extra costs to the standard licensing fees. 

What other advice do I have?

I would definitely recommend using the solution. I would rate the solution a nine out of ten. 

I would advise to be sure that the functionality brought by VMware aligns with the good functionality because there are other products in the market like ISPs, KV M, Oracle, Microsoft, and some other stuff. And VMware is a well-known product. But to be sure that the functionality provided by VMware is needed.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
NipunaNakandala - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Engineer at V S Indormation Systems
Reseller
Top 20
Offers good performance and efficiency
Pros and Cons
  • "With VMware vSphere, it is easy to manage the scaling of our company's virtual infrastructure."
  • "The solution's technical team is an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required."

What is our primary use case?

I deal with the solution in my company to work in the area of data center virtualization.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of the solution are in areas like VMware vSphere vMotion and vSphere HA.

What needs improvement?

From what I know, the area revolving around the licensing part of the product is not quite friendly. The licenses for those who have a partnership with VMware are not a good thing because we have to use the tool for demos and simulate it in a customer environment. In our company's setup, considering that we have a partnership with VMware, it is very hard to have licenses, making it an area where improvements are required. VMware's NFR licenses were previously available for partners, and the tool used to provide demo centers within such licenses, but the aforementioned licensing structure for partners has been presently discontinued. The product should also provide the partners with the facility to provide the tool's demo in a test environment for customers.

The solution's technical team is an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using VMware vSphere for five years. My company has a partnership with VMware.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight to nine out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Our company's main customers who work with the solution use it in sectors like banking, finance, and government.

My company deals with small, medium, and enterprise-sized customers who use the tool.

How are customer service and support?

I rate the technical support a seven out of ten.

The solution's technical team offers fairly good support in some cases, and in a few other cases, they need to offer more help, which is quite difficult to get, and it also depends on the support engineer our company gets.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

I rate the initial setup phase an eight on a scale of one to ten, where ten means that the setup was a very easy process.

The solution is deployed on the public cloud and hybrid cloud.

The tool's deployment phase takes time, as it is not a quick process. The tool's deployment phase takes a few days to be completed.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The tool is a bit expensive.

What other advice do I have?

With VMware vSphere, it is easy to manage the scaling of our company's virtual infrastructure.

VMware vSphere helps our company's customers in the area of virtualization since it provides good scalability features. In the government sector, people need to engage in a lot of documentation work when purchasing new hardware, and it can be helpful to use the product in such a scenario. In any environment, the product is easy to scale for general usage.

VMware vSphere's high availability or FT feature is used by our company's customers in their clusters to keep their servers available as much as they can. The use of the product ensures minimum downtime, and its users prefer to use the high availability feature of the tool.

The performance and efficiency of the use of the solution have improved our company's customers' organizations. From the use of VMware vSphere, the performance and efficiency of your customers have increased by 30 to 40 percent.

I rate the tool an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free VMware vSphere Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free VMware vSphere Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.