Share your experience using VMware Aria Operations for Applications

Scalability for VMware Aria Operations for Applications is easy to implement and manage.

When it comes to integrations of VMware, it is easy with the same products from VMware, but it becomes difficult when using other software providers, such as Red Hat. In the case of AWS and Google, integration is easy.

They could work more on the integration with third-party applications, though I'm not certain about this.

VMware Aria Operations for Applications is stable, though its performance depends on the customers and their specific needs.

The support from VMware is not very helpful. This is because you always receive many questions from the support service but few actual solutions.

Neutral

On a scale of 1 to 10, the support deserves a rating of five.

VMware Aria Operations for Applications deserves an overall rating of nine out of ten.

I have been involved in several projects where I had to implement automation and monitoring alerting. I performed automation using VMware Aria Operations for Applications. There is an automation tab where you can perform automation related to environment resizing and snapshot deletion. Additionally, if any VMs are in an idle state, you can use automation to remove or power off those VMs. A small area of automation scope exists inside VMware Aria Operations for Applications.

For dashboard creation, you can use heat maps and scoreboards. When configuring alerts, you can set criteria and categories such as critical, intermediate, normal, or warning alerts. You can put these into a scheduler, and if symptoms match the alert configuration, it automatically sends alert notifications to stakeholders based on notification settings. Stakeholders receive recommendations when CPU or memory consumption reaches certain thresholds.

The tool also allows collection of compliance reports through the report tab. These reports can be exported in PDF or Excel format and sent to stakeholders.

VMware Aria Operations for Applications has extensive functionality for diagnostics. In the new version 8.18, they have introduced enhanced Skyline health diagnostics. They have also improved certificate and license management, which was previously complicated when collecting information about the entire VMware environment, including expired and soon-to-expire certificates.

The solution provides single-console management for multiple VMware environments and cloud integrations, whether hybrid, private, or public cloud. Integration capabilities with management packs and plugins such as ServiceNow enable automated alert notifications and incident creation.

The tool includes AI-enabled features for reclamation analysis and resource optimization. The workbench tab allows workload rebalancing according to business applications, with filters for DRS automations and business application types. You can segregate workloads into clusters based on CPU or memory-centric requirements using tags such as silver, gold, and platinum.

The costing feature shows potential cost reductions through reclamation. The 'What If' analysis tool helps predict resource impacts and cost implications of adding or removing nodes from clusters.

The solution offers comprehensive monitoring capabilities through matrices and super matrices. You can customize formulas and analyze historical data, including application utilization and downtime patterns over 30 or 60-day periods.

The new version 8.18 has brought significant improvements. The main purpose of using this tool is having a single console to manage all entities. The cloud integration capabilities, including private, public, and hybrid, are already well-implemented. The ability to manage multiple vCenters across different geographical locations is very effective.

The new Skyline health feature and certificate and licensing management are particularly useful improvements. The dashboard's overview tab provides comprehensive information about current vCenter status, resizable amounts, reclamation opportunities, anomalies, diagnostics, licensing, and certificates.

However, there is room for improvement in application analysis. The current functionality lacks detailed monitoring at the kernel level, focusing mainly on CPU, memory, and storage matrices. Enhanced application monitoring capabilities, including tracking downtime for specific types of applications such as transactional or e-commerce applications, would be beneficial.

I have 16 years of total experience, with 14 years specifically in virtualization technology. For VMware Aria Operations for Applications, which is now under VMware VCF 9 subscription, I have extensive experience with its various components including automation, operations, log insight, network log insight, and life cycle management. I have created dashboards, implemented alert monitoring, and performed diagnostics and troubleshooting. I have been fully involved with this technology and VCF for the past five years.

I have worked on both hybrid and private environments. The configuration was for VCF 4.3 and included Azure VMware solution (AVS). We successfully moved 300 VMs from VMware to Azure, which were monitored through VMware Aria Operations for Applications.

Scalability and high availability functionality operates at the vCenter cluster level through DRS and HA capabilities. When compared to Azure, the functionality is more limited. When a node fails, the configured HA ensures that particular VMs automatically restart on another node within the cluster.

VMware technical support has declined since the Broadcom acquisition. Previously, they were more focused on issue resolution, but now they prioritize licensing verification before providing support. The support quality was better before the acquisition.

Positive

I have experience with Azure monitoring solutions as my secondary skill. Azure Monitor provides resource monitoring, CPU utilization, right sizing, and reclamation capabilities. Azure's costing and budgeting features provide insights into public cloud expenditure.

The licensing and subscription scenario has changed following the Broadcom acquisition. Previously, VMware Aria Operations for Applications could be purchased as a separate package in standard or enterprise editions. Currently, Broadcom offers only two packages: VCF 9 and VVF. Both packages include the complete VMware Aria suite, eliminating the option to purchase individual products separately.

The solution includes cost drivers that can be configured according to your environment. You can input server-wise, CPU-wise, storage, and memory costs per hour or day. Once cost drivers are provided in the costing information tab, you can track usage costs. This feature is particularly beneficial for private cloud functionality, allowing comparison between private and public cloud costs. While this feature still exists, it is less utilized for on-premises deployments.

The choice between VMware and public cloud solutions depends on customer requirements, budget, understanding, comfort level, and security needs. Customers concerned about data security often prefer VCF 9, keeping critical workloads on-premises while potentially moving less sensitive workloads to public cloud.

Public cloud offers advantages in scalability, skill sets, availability, and managed services, eliminating the need for internal infrastructure management resources. On-premises solutions require purchasing hardware, hiring skilled personnel, and managing deployments independently.

VMware solutions, though now more expensive due to subscription-based licensing, remain popular due to familiarity with the platform and services. The decision ultimately depends on customer needs, budget constraints, and application requirements.

The integration of management packs with VMware Aria Operations for Applications has enhanced the overall functionality. The new version offers numerous capabilities that are currently being explored. Additional AI integration would be beneficial for future versions. Based on my experience, I rate this solution 8 out of 10.