- The ability to virtualize hundreds of servers
- Hardware cost
IT Manager at a retailer with 501-1,000 employees
We're able to virtualize hundreds of servers at as low a cost as possible, with planned implementation of Operation Management and, perhaps, VSAN as well.
What is most valuable?
How has it helped my organization?
We are a small company so having a solution that bring the costs as low as possible is the most valuable thing.
What needs improvement?
Right now, I’m looking to implement v6 with Operation Management so that would be the next step, and maybe VSAN as well.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's pretty stable, coupled with good performance.
Buyer's Guide
VMware vSphere
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about VMware vSphere. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Really high.
How are customer service and support?
Luckily we have never had to use them – that says a lot.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have always been using vSphere.
How was the initial setup?
Setup was very straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented on our own.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
To be honest, I didn’t try Microsoft, or Citrix, so it's difficult to compare, but I'm used to it and it works – works great.
What other advice do I have?
Compatibilities with software, with OS, we have some applications that are only running on XP and 32 bits. You need to do some research to make it work.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Technology Services Manager at Oden
It saves me time when spinning up machines for dev environments, is stable, and scales well.
What is most valuable?
The ability to spin up machines when we need a test and dev environment for client work.
How has it helped my organization?
It saves me time, and at the end of the day, that’s it for me.
What needs improvement?
It fits my needs right now, I honestly don’t need anything else.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It’s stable – no crashes, no bugs, knock on wood, but it’s been great.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have scaled, from about one server to three now. Its very easy to just scale up.
How are customer service and technical support?
I've used them just once. They were responsive, quick, somebody got on the phone and it worked to a resolution quickly.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were limited on space in our data center, with physical servers, and we needed more.
How was the initial setup?
It was very straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
I did it, and it was easy.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Just VMware, my previous job we used it, and it was great. I’ve been a customer for a long time now. I just want something to work, and I know VMware does.
What other advice do I have?
It’s been great. I would recommend it all the time, it’s great. Peer reviews are quite important, as I need to know what others are experiencing before I do.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
VMware vSphere
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about VMware vSphere. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.
IT Director with 501-1,000 employees
We needed to reduce the number of physical servers and maximize CPU usage.
Valuable Features
- Redundancy
- Speed
- Security
Improvements to My Organization
I had 300 physical servers, but now I need only six. It’s less noisy, much cheaper, and has less of a tendency to get hot.
Room for Improvement
I want to see a better hypervisor.
Use of Solution
I've used it for five years, since.
Deployment Issues
Deployment requires a special proficiency.
Stability Issues
The product has good stability.
Scalability Issues
The stability is perfect, as long as you can afford it.
Customer Service and Technical Support
Customer Service:
We work with a company that provides this service.
Technical Support:We work with a company that provides this service.
Initial Setup
It was complex as we have many sites. Therefore, we needed to decide if we should put them all together in a single data center, or to use one instance of vSphere for all our data centers.
ROI
It's the best product on the market. I have never had anything that saved me more money than vSphere. I had 300 servers, each one cost us 15 thousand dollars, but now it’s much cheaper. Moreover, thanks to dynamic distribution I am able to maximize the servers' CPU usage.
Pricing, Setup Cost and Licensing
It requires one person to manage it on a full-time basis.
Other Solutions Considered
We tested Hyper-V, and it was awful.
Other Advice
It costs a lot. You should go to a VMware 6 course.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Technical Product Marketing Manager at SnapLogic
VMware vSphere Rocks
What is most valuable?
vSphere is very easy to navigate and manage.
How has it helped my organization?
As a Tech Mktg Engineer, this product helps us develop test environments quickly.
What needs improvement?
The scroll window of processes at the bottom of the UI for the vSphere client is sometimes is hard to adjust.
For how long have I used the solution?
About 4 months
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
No.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
No
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No.
How are customer service and technical support?
Customer Service: I did not have to contact them.Technical Support: n/a
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
No.
How was the initial setup?
n/a. It was already set up for me.
What about the implementation team?
In house.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Not sure
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
No.
What other advice do I have?
It works very well.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
One thing I noticed, there are scalability issues, this is based on the database and the distance from the primary datacenter. No matter what you use, there are limitations as it relates.
I am submitting the min/max guides for your review - www.vmware.com
Todd
Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Great product with great feature set (edition license). Manageability, scalabilty, transportation and low footprint.
What is most valuable?
This really depends on the customers requirements. Manageability, transportation and low footprint (and thus higher consolidation ratio) are ones that are often referred to by customers.
How has it helped my organization?
Central management, easy deployment, easy management. This simplifies IT management processes and cuts on project costs and power/data center costs.
What needs improvement?
Licensing cost together with SA.
For how long have I used the solution?
Since ESXi version 3.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
None.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Depending on guest OS, there are some issues with controller type/driver versions.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
None, if you have the resources you can easily scale out (or up)/down depending on your scalability requirements. Autodeploy, host profiles and customizations are a great help here. Further vCOPS will give you valuable capacity management options.
How are customer service and technical support?
Customer Service: Great.Technical Support: Excellent.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
No.
How was the initial setup?
Straightforward, must have some knowledge though how to implement in the organizations required solution.
What about the implementation team?
I do projects for customers.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Not at liberty to share.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Yes, XenServer and Hyper-V are often evaluated by customers.
What other advice do I have?
Don't be intimidated by all the possible functions and comparison reports out there. Look what is needed for your requirements and match to available editions. Also when looking into costs, take the whole into account (not just initial costs, but also consolidation ratios, managebilty and the returns you get from those.)
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
I have installed both Solaris 10 and 11 without any issues..
Director of IT at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Good entry level product
Valuable Features:
Great product for users stepping into virtualization and consolidation
Room for Improvement:
Management requires vCenter, with additional expense
Other Advice:
This makes sense for smaller companies that are looking to start the consolidation process, or smaller divisions of large companies.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Is there any limit of cluster nodes while creating a cluster in ESXi?
Old, almost dead, but still great software to play with, but not for your production environment
Valuable Features:
Unlike VMware workstation where we have to log in to desktop to run VM(s), with VMware Server we can run VM on the background. It also have a web based management interface so you don't have to install a software on your desktop to manage VMware server. It’s still quite useful virtualization software that you can use for free if you want to spend extra mile patching some files before you can compile support for your kernel.
Room for Improvement:
VMware server already reaches its end of support on June 30, 2011. Since it’s not supported anymore, and new support for newer OS, if you use a new Linux distro, you have to patch some files before you can compile support for you running kernel.VMware itself suggest its users to move to VMware Player if you only need to run small number of VMs on your desktop, or VMware vSphere Hypervisor if you want to run on dedicated machine.
Other Advice:
Not the best choice if you want to start learning virtualization. You better choose VMware Player, or VirtualBox if you want to run virtualization software on your desktop or VMware vSphere Hypervisor and XenServer Free edition if you want a free virtualization software on a dedicated machine.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Lead Security Engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Helps to deploy and manage VMs but needs to enhance stability
Pros and Cons
- "The tool makes virtualization easy. It was free, and we could profit from its GUI. It helps to manage VMs easily."
- "The solution needs to improve its stability."
What is our primary use case?
We use VMware vSphere to deploy and manage VMs.
What is most valuable?
The tool makes virtualization easy. It was free, and we could profit from its GUI. It helps to manage VMs easily.
What needs improvement?
The solution needs to improve its stability.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for six to seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
VMware vSphere is stable. I rate it seven out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is not available in the free version. However, you can get support from the community.
How was the initial setup?
VMware vSphere's deployment is easy. It doesn't take more than 20 minutes. You can download it from the official website and install it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are using the tool's free version.
What other advice do I have?
VMware vSphere's community is good. I recommend using the product if you are in the initial career phase and need to deploy a few virtual machines for testing purposes. For more extensive virtualization needs in a production environment, especially when dealing with many VMs, opting for VMware ESXi, its upgraded version, would be a prudent choice. I rate it eight 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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Please tell us a little more information. The review is very general and doesnt tell us anything accept you really like the product. Are you using vmotion? Did you pool the resources and does it provide more CPU or memory for your applications? Is everything running on one virtual switch? Did you use ISCSI or a NAS type solution? What made Hyper-V "Awful" ?