We use the solution for virtual machine virtualization and as a hypervisor.
Managing Director at Prianto Ltd
Useful for virtual machine virtualization and works as a hypervisor
Pros and Cons
- "The tool's most valuable features are CPU virtualization and RAM allocation, which are better than those of other hypervisors."
- "VMware vSphere requires a lot of paid add-ons that need to be integrated into it."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The tool's most valuable features are CPU virtualization and RAM allocation, which are better than those of other hypervisors.
What needs improvement?
VMware vSphere requires a lot of paid add-ons that need to be integrated into it.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is highly stable. It is stable as long as there are no hardware and software issues.
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
My company has hundreds of customers who use the product.
How are customer service and support?
I am very satisfied with the tool's technical support.
How was the initial setup?
The tool's deployment is straightforward. To implement it, you need to plan, deploy, and migrate the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution's licensing is costlier than other hypervisors.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the overall product an eight out of ten. It doesn't have any significant security features, and you can only get it through add-ons.
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: Reseller
Last updated: Jul 15, 2024
Flag as inappropriateCyber Security Engineer at Trend Micro
Offers a suite of software components for virtualization including ESXi, vCenter Server, and other software
Pros and Cons
- "The emphasis isn't specifically on a particular feature, but rather on the ease of use. For instance, when building a test lab or setting up an entire environment from scratch, VMware products are notably more user-friendly compared to alternatives like Nutanix. I've had prior experience with Nutanix. From my personal perspective, I found it easier to adapt to using VMware than when I started using Dynamics. This ease of use is a strong point. It's largely about how straightforward it is to navigate through VMware's user interface. In contrast, with Nutanix, there's a need to delve into smaller configurations and navigate vendor-specific settings. VMware, on the other hand, offers a more accessible management page. This difference primarily centres around usability and the overall user-friendliness of the interface."
- "Given that I've been using version seven, it seems that some of the bugs I faced during that version have already been addressed in subsequent updates. Although I haven't personally tested them yet, it appears that these issues have been resolved. In version seven, there was a problem with the network interface not responding due to certain configurations not being properly filtered. However, in version eight, this requirement has been minimized, so the mentioned bug is less likely to occur. Instead of solely addressing these fixes in newer versions, it might be beneficial for them to consider applying these improvements to the older versions as well. This approach could prevent users from feeling compelled to upgrade to version eight solely to avoid encountering the issue, and instead provide updates for version seven users."
What is our primary use case?
The focus is more on simulating various PM (Performance Management) products. This involves tasks like identifying bugs or testing new updates.
As for the workflow, it primarily revolves around working remotely due to the pandemic. Unlike having a physical lab where reconfiguration is feasible, I have taken advantage of VMware solutions, including VMware vSphere and related products. I have adapted them to match the specific configurations.
What is most valuable?
The emphasis isn't specifically on a particular feature, but rather on the ease of use. For instance, when building a test lab or setting up an entire environment from scratch, VMware products are notably more user-friendly compared to alternatives like Nutanix. I've had prior experience with Nutanix.
From my personal perspective, I found it easier to adapt to using VMware than when I started using Dynamics. This ease of use is a strong point. It's largely about how straightforward it is to navigate through VMware's user interface. In contrast, with Nutanix, there's a need to delve into smaller configurations and navigate vendor-specific settings. VMware, on the other hand, offers a more accessible management page. This difference primarily centres around usability and the overall user-friendliness of the interface.
What needs improvement?
Given that I've been using version seven, it seems that some of the bugs I faced during that version have already been addressed in subsequent updates. Although I haven't personally tested them yet, it appears that these issues have been resolved. In version seven, there was a problem with the network interface not responding due to certain configurations not being properly filtered. However, in version eight, this requirement has been minimized, so the mentioned bug is less likely to occur. Instead of solely addressing these fixes in newer versions, it might be beneficial for them to consider applying these improvements to the older versions as well. This approach could prevent users from feeling compelled to upgrade to version eight solely to avoid encountering the issue, and instead provide updates for version seven users.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using VMware vSphere for sometime.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The case of scalability of this solution is easy in a hybrid setup so I would rate it nine out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
I lack substantial experience with technical support, as my past interactions mainly pertained to license-related matters. When it comes to addressing actual technical issues, I haven't had the opportunity to gain significant experience yet.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
I would rate the initial setup eight or nine out of ten because of its easy navigation and setup.The deployment takes almost half an hour. Essentially, having the network configuration prepared is crucial, as it often represents the most time-consuming aspect when setting up an environment, whether it's on-premises, in the cloud, or anywhere else. Once the network configuration is in place, the process becomes smoother and more straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's a common trend as many progressive IT firms are transitioning towards cloud or virtual environments due to factors like pricing, SMAX, and VMatter. In this regard, I would rate VMware as moderately satisfactory. I would rate it seven out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
In fact, individuals can explore these solutions firsthand since nearly all virtual environment products offer trial periods. For instance, I personally experimented with alternative virtual environments before ultimately opting for VMware. I would rate it nine 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.
Buyer's Guide
VMware vSphere
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about VMware vSphere. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
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Director, Windows Server Infrastructure at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Gives us high-availability, easier management, and a lower cost of support
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features are its flexibility and the ability to move workload."
- "Scalability is the big advantage of it. The product itself allows us to scale on the fly as we need it, and plan for the future."
What is our primary use case?
We use it for virtualization of approximately 90 percent of all of our computing. In terms of mission-critical apps, quite honestly we use it for the majority of them on the banking side: our financial apps, loan accounting, loan origination, etc.
How has it helped my organization?
We have seen performance boosts for our mission-critical apps, with the ability to add compute at any time. We've been using this for so many years, so over that time we have probably seen performance increases of three to four times. As compute has increased we've been able to offer that to the apps. I don't know that I can give you a total percentage increase but it's a lot.
Other benefits include high-availability, uptime, management is a lot easier, and a lower cost of support but with increased availability. That's a win.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are its flexibility and the ability to move workload.
The built-in security features, such as VM Encryption and support for TPM and VBS, are all important for us, but I can't go into specifics about them.
It's also simple and efficient to manage. It's a complex environment but it is one that we can get our staff trained on, it's not like a one-off environment.
What needs improvement?
In terms of additional features I would like to see, I just heard about them here at VMworld 2018. They're rolling in security to be a core feature. Built-in app defense is something we'll take advantage of. The ability to utilize tools that are in the cloud - we don't really use the cloud - will be available for use on-premise, and that is a pretty big feature.
For how long have I used the solution?
More than five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability has been huge for us. We have a very predictable environment, robust, fault-tolerant. It's great.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is the big advantage of it. The product itself allows us to scale on the fly as we need it, and plan for the future.
How are customer service and technical support?
We are a Business Critical Support customer, so we have an engineer dedicated to our team. We use them on a day-to-day basis.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We didn't have a previous solution. We just had challenges that everybody was faced with and VMware, back in its core, back in its early days, had the capability to move compute from one data center to another and that was huge. We wanted to be able to do things in a secure, safe manner with low risk.
How was the initial setup?
I was involved in the initial setup, back in 2005. Back then it was fairly complex but that's because we were early adopters of it.
What was our ROI?
I don't know that I can give you a number, but our ROI has been significant.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
At that time, VMware was an innovator in this technology so it was a question of learning more about what they offered and taking advantage of it.
What other advice do I have?
If you're not already looking at vSphere, you're probably behind. I don't really have any colleagues who aren't utilizing this product.
I rate this solution as a nine out of 10 because I think you can always improve. But it's a tremendous product. We consider VMware a partner, we work with them closely.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 5,001-10,000 employees
Changing hardware is quicker, but the web client is browser-dependent
Pros and Cons
- "One of the things I like with the web client, versus the thick client, is that we're able to access all the vCenters that we manage. With the thick client, you have to log in to one vCenter at a time."
- "As far as the web client goes, one of the frustrating things is that it's dependent on different browsers. One day it may work with only a given browser or there may be issues with Flash. So I look forward to being able to use the HTML 5 client."
What is our primary use case?
We use vSphere to manage the various vCenters that my group is responsible for. We use it for the main controllers. We have VMs that that manage access to buildings. Until there's a problem you don't realize, necessarily, how many key systems have been virtualized. If we shut everything down, then maybe people would realize how virtualization has really changed things.
We don't do anything active with the built-in security features, such as VM Encryption and support for TPM and VBS.
How has it helped my organization?
It's a big difference compared to having everything on hardware. In that situation, if you want to change memory, you have to bring your system down, open up the box, put new memory in - or a new processor, or any other hardware changes you want to make. With VMware, you may have to bring it down to make some changes, but then it's right back up again in a few minutes. It's a lot easier than if it was hardware.
What is most valuable?
There are various clients, for the environment that we have, that can be used. There's the thick client, there's the web client, there are obviously new clients when we upgrade to vSphere 6.7. One of the things I like with the web client, versus the thick client, is that we're able to access all the vCenters that we manage. With the thick client, you have to log in to one vCenter at a time.
What needs improvement?
As far as the web client goes, one of the frustrating things is that it's dependent on different browsers. One day it may work with only a given browser or there may be issues with Flash. So I look forward to being able to use the HTML 5 client. Hopefully, it will be a lot more stable and not have the kind of issues that I necessarily run into with the web client today.
One thing that is a little frustrating for me is that you have the network side with bandwidth and, if it's a system that's virtualized, obviously, you have VMware vSphere in the mix. There are all the different components. If someone has a VM and they don't like the performance or they see something that causes them to say, "Oh, this seems a little sluggish," they contact us and say, "Hey, what's going on?" And that becomes a kind of "magical mystery tour," a black box sometimes. I think, "Okay, where do I need to look? Is it even a problem within the virtualization infrastructure or is it somewhere else?" So that's what I'm hoping to find out about in some of the sessions, here at VMworld 2018, and maybe get some answers.
I haven't seen the new client with vSphere 6.7, so it's hard for me to say what additional features I would like to see.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is pretty good. If there is a stability issue it's probably something else, for instance, the power for the building or something like that. It's usually not an issue with VMware.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
As long as you got the ESXi hosts with the resources necessary, scalability isn't a big problem. We don't really lock down a lot of our clients which are still within our organization. We don't really limit the resources. If it becomes an issue we'll look at that, but for the most part, it hasn't been a problem. If we look like we're getting a little tight on resources, then we look at getting and setting up a new ESXi host.
How is customer service and technical support?
I've had pretty good results with VMware technical support. It's not uncommon for us, if we're doing some kind of an upgrade that we're not necessarily familiar with, to open up an incident and tell them we're going to upgrade this to this version on this hardware. We just want to have an incident open. If something does happen, they're more than willing to work with us. I've had positive results.
How was the initial setup?
I was not involved with the initial setup but I've been involved the last couple years or so with setting up some new ESXi hosts and I've gone through some practice in our test environment to upgrade to 6.7.
Overall, it's okay. There are some good resources out on the web or through VMUG that you can go through.
What was our ROI?
I don't really deal with the budget so it would be hard for me to say what our ROI is, but my boss does the budget and he seems happy. We keep getting more resources and more things are being virtualized.
What other advice do I have?
I would tell colleagues to take a look at vSphere, if it makes sense for their organization. I've been working with VMware products in one way, shape, or form since the late 90s. Originally, I used it for training purposes and I wasn't even thinking about production. But I have no qualms today, if it's a production system, virtualizing it, as opposed to keeping it on hardware.
There is always a learning curve and there are also functionality differences between the clients.
For the most part, if everything is working fine, it's efficient to manage. But if you have people say, "Hey, I see performance issues," that's where it becomes a little more of a problem. That's one issue that we're trying to address right now: being able to capture more logging for longer periods of time. Perhaps we need to use a Syslog Server to be able to help troubleshoot some issues by being able to look at particular periods of time.
I rate this solution as a seven out of 10 because of the issues with the clients, especially the web client, at times. And there is also the "black box" nature of understanding what's going on when there is a problem.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Monitoring Tools Analyst at a individual & family service with 10,001+ employees
We're able to have all VMs use the ESXi and to move all blades without ever affecting the user experience.
What is most valuable?
The HA and DRS capabilities are great. Right now, we’re able to basically use the ESXi and move all the blades without the users ever knowing anything was different.
How has it helped my organization?
Having all the VMs and everything work without the user experience being affected.
What needs improvement?
That’s a hard question since I don’t know what new features there are in v6 other than single-user sign-on. I’m curious to see the release of v6 here, as I want to see how the client version works. I also want to get an overall view of how it works, as well as how well the mobile management works.
Of course it has room for improvement, but it’s the best in the field as there’s not many better options.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It’s been very stable for us. I’m still on version 5.5, so one of the things I wanted to do is check out if 6 is worth upgrading to.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We don’t have many users, and right now, it’s just me who's running this solution. For the VMs, we’ve been able to get requests from my internal customers to just improve on the sizes, and it works very, very well.
How are customer service and technical support?
I’ve had mixed results primarily because I’ve had issues that have dragged on for a while, but for the most part in terms of responsiveness and explanation they’ve been very good. Once I articulate my problem to them, they explain the steps to take next very well.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We had lots of servers, and the costs were also huge. The cost was not only in buying hardware, but also looking at, in the data center, the footprint that we were taking up, and having to pay for all of that. Thus, we knew we needed to become more cost effective, and we were able to move from many locations into one server location in a chassis.
How was the initial setup?
The environment that I manage now was set up about six years ago. We had an outsourcer (third-party) set it up since we wanted a professional to setup a new technology. He royally screwed it up, and we had to come back, completely rip it up, and restart. VMware had to help us get it back up to speed since that point.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Capabilities, as we do a bake-off to essentially evaluate options. We look at multiple vendors, and see if they meet X and Y demands, and see who does it best.
I have a list of things that I think I need, but it helps to see what others need and want as well. After seeing their pros and cons, we can reevaluate on what we need in our environment accordingly.
VMWare was the vendor that won last time, nobody wanted Hyper-V. We looked at Hyper-V and VMWare only, and nobody wanted Hyper-V. VMWare delivered far better test results.
What other advice do I have?
Without explicitly saying look at VMWare, understand what functions you need in your products, look at different vendors and what they claim to provide, and then bring them in house to see if they deliver on their claims. They have to pass all of the tests that your company needs.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Provides good virtualization and used to host virtual machines
Pros and Cons
- "We use the solution's vMotion feature to migrate VMs from one host to another across different environments and data centers."
- "It is not easy to upgrade VMware vSphere from an old version to a new version."
What is our primary use case?
VMware vSphere is the virtual platform for our company, where we host all the virtual machines.
What is most valuable?
We use the solution's vMotion feature to migrate VMs from one host to another across different environments and data centers.
What needs improvement?
It is not easy to upgrade VMware vSphere from an old version to a new version. We have to work with the support to upgrade the solution.
For how long have I used the solution?
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the solution an eight out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the solution a seven out of ten for scalability.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of the solution is not easy, but it's also not very complex. If you don't have experience working with VMware vSphere, it's pretty hard for you.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
VMware vSphere is a more mature and stable virtualization tool than Microsoft Hyper-V.
What other advice do I have?
VMware vSphere saved us a lot of costs and easily deployed the server from templates. We use the solution to make capacity changes, increase the memory, and increase the CPU. The reason we use VMware vSphere is its high availability feature.
VMware vSphere integrates well with our existing IT security measures. We have all the agents on the VM and a central console for the security, patching for the security, and monitoring. My team has less than 1,000 VMs, and we have three resources working to support their virtualization.
I would recommend VMware vSphere to other users because it is the best virtualization solution in the market. From what I know, most companies use VMware vSphere.
Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Good virtualization, flexible, and is simple to install
Pros and Cons
- "We could easily move workloads from on-premises to the cloud and vice versa if we were running on-premises and cloud, which is one of the most important points in the new releases, in particular."
- "The quality of support could be better."
What is our primary use case?
The most common use case for VMware vSphere is, of course, virtualization, specifically operating system virtualization. We also have containers that are running on them.
What is most valuable?
Essentially, we have the flexibility for a hybrid cloud. We could easily move workloads from on-premises to the cloud and vice versa if we were running on-premises and cloud, which is one of the most important points in the new releases, in particular.
What needs improvement?
The quality of support could be better.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using VMware vSphere for six to seven years.
We have dealt with various versions that range from 5.5 to 7.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
VMware vSphere is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In our organization, we have at least 60,000 users.
It is being used extensively. It is one of the core products in the infrastructure.
How are customer service and support?
Support has not been as good as it once was. It used to be better, but it appears that the quality of support is declining for some reason. I'm not sure why.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, we were using Hyper-V, but I don't have a lot of experience using it.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was quite straightforward. It's very simple.
The time it takes to set up will vary, but it will most likely be within a day. You could set up the environment in a day. It is determined by a variety of factors. If it is done by an experienced engineer, it will be done within a day. If not, it will take longer.
We have a team of three engineers to deploy and maintain this solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis. The license is a one-time payment. You buy it once and own it forever, but you must pay for support, which is provided by the vendor, on a yearly basis.
What other advice do I have?
We are also using NSX and vSAN. We have been using NSX for three years.
It's not strictly a cloud solution; it can be on-premises as well as in the cloud. It is, in essence, a network virtualization solution. It can be used for virtualizing the network, virtual routers, virtual switches, and virtual firewalls.
Virtualization and on-demand networking are two of the benefits. On-demand networking is the best option if I can memorize it. If you need virtual switches, we can create them as well as routers.
Virtualization would be our area of expertise.
VMware vSphere is, in my opinion, one of the best in its class on the market. However, depending on the use cases, we could certainly recommend it.
I would rate VMware vSphere a nine 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.
Head Of Infrastructure & Cloud ops at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Helps with large scale deployments and maintenance
Pros and Cons
- "Also, the automated builds are being done through it, and we don't have to manually do it anymore. All of my AIS platforms are completely automated now with the VM suite."
- "It could be more composable. At present, a fluid pool is not available to us. It would be great to have the flexibility."
What is most valuable?
VMware vSphere gives us a complete landscape to manage the infrastructure in one view. With the REDOPS automation in place, it is easy for us to manage our VMs on top of it.
Also, the automated builds are being done through it, and we don't have to manually do it anymore. All of my AIS platforms are completely automated now with the VM suite.
What needs improvement?
It could be more composable. At present, a fluid pool is not available to us, and it would be great to have the flexibility.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been working with VMware vSphere for more than eight years.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support has been good. On a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the best, I would rate technical support at 4.5.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price is reasonable.
What other advice do I have?
VMware vSphere helps with large scale deployments and maintenance. On a scale from one to ten, I would rate it at nine.
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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