IBM PowerVM vs RHEV comparison

IBM and Red Hat are both solutions in the Server Virtualization Software category. IBM is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.5, while Red Hat is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.7. IBM holds a 1.3% mindshare in SVS, compared to Red Hat’s 3.7% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 78% of Red Hat users who would recommend it.

IBM PowerVM

Read 37 IBM PowerVM reviews

1,688 Views
1,383 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

RHEV

Read 35 RHEV reviews

4,696 Views
3,623 Comparison Views

78% willing to recommend

IBM PowerVM

RHEV

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 6, 2024

IBM PowerVM and RHEV are competitors in the virtualization solutions market. IBM PowerVM holds the advantage due to its stability and performance in high-demand environments.

Features: IBM PowerVM offers robust security and stability with high availability through LPAR, shared processor pools, and active memory sharing. It efficiently manages hardware resources and integrates seamlessly with Oracle databases. RHEV provides open-source flexibility with ease of use, cloud management, and integration capabilities. It supports a wide range of environments and offers cost-effective virtualization features.

Room for Improvement: IBM PowerVM could improve with lower pricing, better OS compatibility, and enhanced cloud service integration. A more user-friendly GUI for VIOS and transparent pricing are suggested. RHEV needs an improved interface, detailed documentation, and faster updates. Enhancing third-party integration and management features would also benefit users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM PowerVM is primarily deployed on-premises, with users praising its reliable and prompt customer service, which is crucial for critical applications. RHEV offers deployment flexibility across various cloud environments but has average service in some areas compared to IBM.

Pricing and ROI: IBM PowerVM is more expensive but justifies the cost with comprehensive features, offering substantial ROI for Oracle deployments due to targeted core licensing. RHEV, as an open-source option, presents a more affordable alternative with subscription-based pricing, though it requires traditional enterprise feature enhancements to better compete with pricier solutions like VMware.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM PowerVM vs. RHEV Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM PowerVM vs. RHEV

June 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

IBM PowerVM

Ranking in Server Virtualization Software

10th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

RHEV

Ranking in Server Virtualization Software

12th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of IBM PowerVM is 1.3%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of RHEV is 3.7%, up from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Server Virtualization Software

Featured Reviews

Desianto Abdillah

System Administrator at Japfa Comfeed Indonesia

A practical virtualization environment with a Live Partition Mobility feature that help us handle virtual adapters effectively

The practicality of IBM PowerVM is a crucial feature, especially with the help of HMC (Hardware Management Console). The Live Partition Mobility help us handle virtual adapters effectively when we need to upgrade firmware or the system, and LPM helps us transfer workloads with minimal downtime. This feature ensures that our systems remain online even during maintenance, significantly minimizing any potential disruptions.

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Sujeet-Kumar

Project Manager Cloud Infrastructure at Path Infotech ltd

The solution is scalable and affordable, but it lacks features, and it is not easy to manage

Management of RHEV is not as easy as VMware. Some features do not work. The product does not provide features similar to VMware’s VMotion. After creating the cluster, the VM is moved to another node if we move down. However, the VM does not move the parent node automatically. It has to be moved manually. VMware moves it automatically. RHEV moves it to the parent node only if we restart. Everything can be handled in VMware through the GUI. However, in RHEV, some things can be managed through UI, and others cannot. We have to troubleshoot and use CLI. A few features of the product do not work as well as those in VMware.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The tool's performance is top-notch."

"The most valuable feature of IBM PowerVM is the performance of the database workload."

"The support is easily reachable."

"The product never fails to work and is very stable in general. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"The stability is the most valuable aspect of this solution. IBM is the most powerful and stable platform."

"Active Memory Sharing dynamically reallocates memory of running partitions based on changing workload demands. The memory for the pool is carved out from Physical memory and is made logical memory. The said memory is not available to be assigned to partitions as dedicated memory. A min, max and desired as well as weight is assigned to the memory of each lpar to help hypervisor make a decision in case a condition where priority is to be given to a certain lapr to use the memory form shared pool."

"The most valuable feature is the flexibility in terms of managing the hardware resources such as RAM, CPU, and the network."

"Managing other operating systems is also straightforward with IBM PowerVM."

More IBM PowerVM pros

"Customers are moving to open source and Red Hat is the leader in this particular space. I think customers feel more confident running Red Hat Virtualization than VMware."

"It is very stable."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is the support portal."

"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."

"The biggest aspect for me is the disk usage, the virtual manager, and the deployment of machines."

"The solution has a good licensing module."

"The most valuable feature of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization is its pricing."

"Technically, the main reason why I'm using Red Hat is because of its stability."

More RHEV pros

Cons

"IBM should review the price of this solution in my opinion; it is too high."

"The performance should be improved."

"The product's pricing could be less expensive compared to other competitors."

"Stability could always be better."

"It is solely command-line based."

"From a product perspective, I would like to see faster certification of open-source products on IBM Power Systems. While the product has robust features and functionalities, the availability and certification of certain open-source products could be improved to avoid potential challenges."

"The interface is not user-friendly in places, so it could use some improvement."

"As understand it, IBM sells all its hardware to Lenovo, and only PCs servers are managed by IBM. It's uncertain how much longer IBM will continue in this way, especially with the current trend of transitioning from on-premises to cloud and hybrid models. The market is evolving. Given this market shift, it's essential to identify areas for improvement. IBM has introduced the PowerVM Series, including Linux, which is a positive step. However, customers are already moving towards x86 servers due to cost considerations. The cost of PowerVM compared to x86 servers appears to be a significant factor."

More IBM PowerVM cons

"The UI should be more interactive with additional features."

"The solution could use network virtualization."

"We should improve how we manage storage domains and make more comprehensive control available through the command line."

"Specifically, enhancements in managing virtual machine migrations, cloning, and the creation of different VMs could further optimize its functionality."

"The support is tricky in a few places. We're facing some challenges within Malaysia where we don't really have the system integrators available who can provide extended support. When we need personnel on-site, we can't get them."

"The solution should be made more user-friendly."

"There is not any proper documentation on the site to reference."

"I would love to see better documentation and ease of use."

More RHEV cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"IBM PowerVM's pricing is cheap."

"We have to purchase the product's licenses."

"The solution is expensive."

"The price of the solution could improve, it is expensive."

"IBM PowerVM costs more than other products but the customer does not need to pay additional money for the licenses. In VMware, you need to license everything. With IBM PowerVM it is unlimited and all-inclusive in the price you pay."

"The price varies from case to case and you have to negotiate it for every project."

"The license cost is bundled with IBM Power Systems as it is limited to RISC-based IBM systems only."

"Even if the product is expensive, it works well in the long term. The tool is more or less expensive, and I would presently describe it as an optimally priced product."

More IBM PowerVM pricing and cost advice

"I would say the price is acceptable."

"It's a budget product as far as I'm concerned. It's way cheaper than any of its competitors. The only thing cheaper than Red Hat is that the people who take the Red Hat code clone it and then self-support it."

"RHEV offers pricing based on a per-physical-machine licensing model."

"Its price depends on the use cases."

"This product has a variety of licensing options available. However, the level of licensing, and therefore the cost of licensing, is dependent on the number of servers being utilized."

"The solution does not require licencing but a subscription is necessary, which is very affordable."

"This is an open-source solution."

"The price of RHEV is high. It is an open-source solution, the price should be less. The price should not be on par with a solution, such as VMware. It's not more or equal to VMware, it's less, but the difference should be more substantial."

More RHEV pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

Thang Le Toan (Victory Lee)

CIO at Robusta Technology & Training

Jan 13, 2015

vSphere vs. RHEV vs. Hyper-V vs. XenServer

We have used the following functions: 1. Hypervisor: to ensure that the virtual server provide web and email services to the company, thus providing a stable operation a with single sign-on integration of an AD server and vCenter. 2. Network and Storage: centralized data server…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

20%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Educational Organization

23%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM PowerVM?

Managing other operating systems is also straightforward with IBM PowerVM.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM PowerVM?

IBM’s licensing model offers flexibility in subscription terms, now allowing one- to five-year options. They have introduced a subscription-based model for some systems, creating a more cost-effect...

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What needs improvement with IBM PowerVM?

From a product perspective, I would like to see faster certification of open-source products on IBM Power Systems ( /products/ibm-power-systems-reviews ). While the product has robust features and ...

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What do you like most about RHEV?

The initial setup is fairly straightforward and well-documented. The process is very similar to its competitors. The success of your setup depends on how well you plan.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for RHEV?

It's the open source. There's not much cost. It's very minimal comparably. Compared to what I am paying for VMware, it's negligible.

See all answers

What needs improvement with RHEV?

My teammates and I often complain that VMware is well-documented and has a large community since it is the de facto standard. I would love to see better documentation and ease of use. For newcomers...

See all answers

Comparisons

VMware vSphere vs IBM PowerVM

Compared 61% of the time

KVM vs IBM PowerVM

Compared 10% of the time

Hyper-V vs IBM PowerVM

Compared 9% of the time

Proxmox VE vs IBM PowerVM

Compared 8% of the time

Nutanix AHV Virtualization vs IBM PowerVM

Compared 4% of the time

More IBM PowerVM Competitors

VMware vSphere vs RHEV

Compared 48% of the time

Proxmox VE vs RHEV

Compared 22% of the time

Hyper-V vs RHEV

Compared 10% of the time

KVM vs RHEV

Compared 9% of the time

Nutanix AHV Virtualization vs RHEV

Compared 7% of the time

More RHEV Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM PowerVM

June 2025

Download IBM PowerVM product report

Buyer's Guide

RHEV

June 2025

Download RHEV product report

Also Known As

PowerVM

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization

Overview

Power is server virtualization without limits. Businesses are turning to PowerVM server virtualization to consolidate multiple workloads onto fewer systems, increasing server utilization and reducing cost. PowerVM provides a secure and scalable server virtualization environment for AIX, IBM i and Linux applications built upon the advanced RAS features and leading performance of the Power Systems platform.

IBM

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization, or RHEV, is a leading open standard enterprise virtualization management solution. This solution supports virtualization of servers and desktops using the same infrastructure and a single easy-to-use interface.

Because RHEV is based on open standards, it is vendor-independent and a lot more cost effective and flexible than proprietary solutions.

Red Hat

Sample Customers

Sto, Soitec, SNO, Bundesrechenzentrum GmbH, Al Mansour Holding, Baptist Health of Northeast Florida, Huhtamaki, ELK Group, IT-Informatik, Arkansas Tech University, Pneuhage

Qualcomm and Bonham's Auction House.

Buyer's Guide

IBM PowerVM vs. RHEV

June 2025

Free Report: IBM PowerVM vs. RHEV

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM PowerVM vs. RHEV and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.

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