VMware ESXi Reviews

ESXi is used to install multiple operating systems (OS) on a single server. It allows us to monitor these machines, view resource usage for each virtual machine, and adjust allocated resources like RAM, CPU, and hard disk. 

We can also easily back up these virtual machines. We use VMware vSphere to manage these virtual machines and Cisco UCS Manager to manage Cisco UCS servers.

The main function of ESXi is the ability to consolidate multiple machines onto a single server, saving space and energy. It also provides a single-user interface to monitor these machines and easily adjust resources or create backups as needed.

Integration Capabilities:

Integration within the VMware environment is not a problem. We can easily move a virtual machine from one ESXi host to another and back up a virtual machine to a different ESXi host.

If the price could be reduced, that would be good.

I think there should be a direct link for managing the OS side so we can open the web interface directly in the browser.

I have been using it for seven years now. 

I would rate the stability a nine out of ten. 

I would rate the scalability of ESXi an eight out of ten.  

Suitable for Enterprise:

ESXi is definitely suitable for enterprise and medium-sized companies. VMware Workstation is suitable for small and medium businesses.

I would rate VMware's technical support as six out of ten. The response time could be better.

Neutral

We use different firewalls, switch servers, and proxy servers. The proxy server is Squid, installed on CentOS, a Linux operating system. We use PRTG Network Monitor to monitor network traffic.

We have our own data center with servers, and one of our servers uses VMware. We use VMware ESXi for server virtualization.

We use both VMware Workstation and ESXi, each with its own benefits. Workstation is installed on the operating system, while ESXi is installed directly on the hardware. I have been working with ESXi for seven years.

The initial setup for ESXi is a bit complex and takes a couple of hours.

We use a hybrid model for deployment.

The price of ESXi is high.

VMware ESXi is better than Microsoft Hyper-V.

Nowadays, Docker is considered to be better than virtual machines (VMs). I am not very familiar with Docker, but I have learned that it is superior in many ways.

I would rate ESXi an eight out of ten overall. I do recommend it to other users.

In our company, we use the solution for visualization for the servers to consolidate all the physical servers into virtualized machines.

Most of our organization's in-house developed applications reside within VMware ESXi. 

The solution brings monetary savings for our company because we use a single server, which is usually converted from ten physical servers. 

For instance, I can connect any Linux server to any host and then implement migration without affecting the server's user experience. When I migrate the virtual machine to another host, it takes only a few minutes while the VM is still running; shutting down is unnecessary. 

Presently, our company is using an old version of VMware ESXi; we are planning to upgrade to the latest version within the next year. The latest version of the solution runs on a cloud, and our company is looking forward to reaping the benefits from it. Some features should be added to the solution to enhance server management. 

I have been using VMware ESXi for six years. 

The solution is stable enough. 

It's a scalable solution. In our organization, we have three VMware ESXi users who work on visualization, including two network engineers and one system administrator. VMware ESXi was used to run 20 to 30 virtualized machines in our company, but presently, the count has been reduced to around 10 to 15 because most of the servers have already been migrated to the cloud. 

Whenever we sought support, an active response was received in a minimal amount of time. I would rate the tech support a ten out of ten. 

Positive

In our organization, we also tried using open-source virtualization tools like Proxmox and KVM. The aforementioned solutions lack certain features that can be found in VMware ESXi. But the licensing and support cost of VMware ESXi is huge in comparison to open source solutions, as they are free to use. 

The initial setup process for VMware ESXi is simple. A substantial amount of support and help is available from the vendor during the setup process. A lot of documentation is available for setting up VMware ESXi. 

For the solution's deployment in our company, we started from the vendor's initial design and then clustered the product. After the aforementioned step, the cluster was migrated to another server, a new cluster was created, and the deployment process was soon completed. About three to four professionals and a network engineer are required for the initial setup of VMware ESXi.

Our company's security team is also involved in the VMware ESXi deployment process to set up all the ports and the network needed. The solution's initial setup process takes about one week to complete. The one-week setup process in our company includes a testing period, with burnout testing and environment tests, such as physical and virtual machine transfer. 

In our company, we deploy VMware ESXi only after completing several tests. The solution's maintenance is quite easy, the hard drive just needs to be replaced when the storage is full.

The solution consolidates all of our organization's physical servers into a virtualized environment, which further improves server management. 

VMware ESXi allows the management of virtual networks within the servers; switches are not needed to patch any server to a network and allow any type of network transfer. 

After deploying the solution in our company, we have witnessed an improvement in server efficiency; there are minimal problems noticed in the servers. Most of the production services can be moved anywhere and virtualized machines can be transferred to clouds when VMware ESXi is being used. 

When one of the server's failed in our organization, VMware ESXi helped in disaster recovery by utilizing a new host. I am satisfied with the high availability and disaster recovery capabilities of the solution. 

I would advise others to check other virtualization hypervisor solutions before directly adopting VMware ESXi, as it is costly compared to other solutions. Our company is approached by two vendors, one of which is Nutanix. VMware ESXi is more cost-effective than Nutanix. Overall, I would rate VMware ESXi a nine out of ten. 

The tool mainly serves the virtual machines for the development team and the production requirements.

The migration and combination of vCenter, where I can manage everything at once, has helped me do my job.

It would be really helpful if there were options to do things in one or two clicks rather than doing everything through more manual interaction.

I have been using VMware ESXi for six to seven years.

I rate the solution’s stability a nine out of ten.

Scalability is one of VMware ESXi's major factors. Compared to real hardware in virtualization, there are multiple options for scalability and other options on the OS level as well. More than 1,000 users are using the solution daily in our organization.

I rate the solution’s scalability an eight out of ten.

The technical support team is good and responsive.

Positive

I also use the Hyper-V tool.

On a scale from one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy, I rate the solution's initial setup an eight out of ten.

I and the storage engineer at the data center deployed the solution in-house, which took only a few hours.

The solution has made a lot of major improvements, such as high availability and scalability. There are a lot of functions that make your life easier. The solution's integration with other tools in the infrastructure is very easy.

I would recommend the solution to other users. VMware ESXi is a very user-friendly solution, and it is now being adopted on the cloud platform. Instead of changing their infrastructure, people already on VMware can directly go to the cloud and use exactly what they use in the data center.

Overall, I rate VMware ESXi a nine out of ten.

In our data center operations, we use the product for high availability, snapshots, cloning, and various features integral to our operations.

ESXi is a more mature product than other industry virtualization solutions. It is more user-friendly and mature, even compared with Nutanix.

It allows us to reduce costs while improving performance, especially using VMware Ops Manager.

The solution's cost is a concern. Due to management's focus on costs, we have had to consider moving to a cheaper, more competitive product like Nutanix.

We have been using ESXi since VMware version 4.1.

We did encounter a performance issue with IBM DB2, but the solution has been working stable since a recent patch.

The platform has good scalability. 

The setup was relatively easy for me.

We configure new servers as needed, setting IPs, passwords, and internal details according to requirements. The process is straightforward since we've done it many times.

Maintenance can be challenging when updating firmware, which sometimes requires downtime due to server load.

We are satisfied with the platform's security features. 

We use its AI features to monitor performance and improve system efficiency.

VMware is the industry leader, and I recommend it if the company is prepared for a virtual environment. Overall, I rate it a ten out of ten. 

From a technical perspective, VMware ESXi's best advantages are its reliability and high availability features. It's a very mature and good environment.

The main disadvantage is that the tool requires a significant, expensive initial investment. VMware ESXi requires a large upfront investment that depreciates over three to four years compared to cloud solutions with pay-as-you-go models. You should only choose it if you plan to use it for at least three years. Its deployment process is complex and requires an experienced team. 

I have been using the product for 20 years. 

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

VMware ESXi is very capable regarding scalability. You can easily add more servers to double or triple the environment's capacity, so scaling the solution is not a problem.

The installation requires a skilled team with at least five to ten years of experience. It's complex to set up initially, but it's not too complicated once it's running. One person can install it, but having a couple of professionals is better, especially if managing installations across multiple countries.

I rate the solution's pricing a five out of ten. 

I rate the overall solution a ten out of ten. 

ESXi with Hyper Converged Infrastructure and Horizon for hosting virtual machines. There is also AHT for VDI environments.

It's a bare-metal hypervisor, mainly used for hosting virtual machines. The applications vary based on customer requirements. It can be used for running applications, database connectivity, infrastructure applications like software-based networks or firewalls, and managing on-premises applications.

The most beneficial features for me are DRS and HA (High Availability). In case of an interruption at the OS level, they ensure the virtual machine automatically comes back up. 

Another benefit is load balancing with the DRS feature.

Apart from that, it's the main source for us as consultants or architects to manage the infrastructure.

We follow the best practices as per Broadcom and VMware, and we do timely patching on ESXi to ensure security.

The license model has recently changed, which is a bit worrying for customers.

The only other issue is that since changing the portal, downloading patches or images for maintenance or deployment has become slightly more difficult because engineers are facing issues. 

I have been using it for more than ten years now. 

It's very stable because we do regular maintenance. It is not difficult to maintain at all. 

It is a scalable product. That's the reason it's number one, even after a decade.

I get a good response, but in a few cases, I have experienced delayed responses. I'm not sure, but maybe it's because of the transfer to Broadcom.

So, there is a slight delay in getting the support. 

Neutral

VMware is a leader with the new features they introduce on every major release. But regarding licensing, when I talk to Nutanix, they give it for free. With the Hyper Converged solution, we have to pay additional charges based on the core count. But feature-wise, I don't see any additional features that other hypervisors have.

The complexity of the initial setup is fine. We've been doing it for a long time. Compared to other hypervisors, it's very good. On average, it should be around 30 minutes to an hour.

Currently, we use version 7.0. We may upgrade to 8.0, but that will take a few months.

Deployment process: It's all internal discussions based on the load. We select the hardware vendor and do the installation via the ISO image. We do the configuration part ourselves. I take care of the ESXi infrastructure once the parts are delivered to the site.

I would recommend using it b, but it depends on their interest and budget.

Overall, I would rate it a nine out of ten. 

I recommend VMware ESXi to mid-level and mid-enterprise customers. I also recommend it to those who are looking for more Windows and Linux workloads.

VMware ESXi's most proven and beneficial area for our virtualization needs revolves around clustering.

I don't see any technical weaknesses in the product, especially after VMware's acquisition by Broadcom. There have been issues with the tool's technical support and pricing of licenses, making them areas where improvements are required.

I have fifteen years of experience with VMware ESXi.

For most of the customers, the SLAs have been down lately, and it may be because of the transition from VMware to Broadcom. I rate the technical support a six out of ten.

Neutral

I use VMware ESXi and VMware vSphere Foundation.

I have used IBM PowerVM. I rate the technical support for IBM as nine out of ten.

I have worked with Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization and Nutanix for HCI. In terms of cost, Nutanix will be advantageous. In terms of use cases, one of the direct alternatives to VMware will be a Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization.

My company has operated as a partner and reseller for Nutanix and Redshift for a bit less than ten years.

The tool has become expensive.

Over VMware ESXi, I can recommend Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization and Nutanix for HCI to my customers.

Considering how VMware ESXi has affected our customers' overall IT cost, most are now looking to move out of VMware.

There are no issues with the product's performance.

Right now, Broadcom's acquisition of VMware has impacted the cost plus support. Maybe the recommendation will be for a different virtualization technology, such as Nutanix and Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization.

I rate the tool a five to six out of ten.

I have used the solution at home and in my company's departments.

When my company decided to go virtual, we chose VMware for the main reason, which was to comply with the other tools on our campus, like ZenSource and Citrix. My department was the lone runner of ZenSource and Citrix, so it was not the right thing to continue with them. The technology was great, but we didn't want to be the only department using such solutions, and so we moved to VMware. VMware and Nutanix have complex setup phases, especially in the beginning.

VMware ESXi has a complex setup phase, making it an area where improvements are required.

I have been using VMware ESXi for ten years.

It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

My company had worked with the limited capabilities of the tool's scalability features. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

A few hundred people use the tool in my department, but around 5,000 people use it throughout the organization.

The tool is used regularly as part of our virtual infrastructure.

I have had no issues with the technical support for the solution. I rate the technical support an eight out of ten.

Positive

I have used ZenSource and Citrix.

VMware ESXi has a complex setup phase.

The installation of VMware and Nutanix was done together, and it took a couple of days. After the setup phase, you can fine-tune it, and it takes time for everything to run as you expected or as you want it, but it took a few days to get it up and running and back in production.

My company did not set up the tool by ourselves. After the initial setup, we ran it and managed it, but the initial setup was done by the company that we bought it from. It was a sort of a two-key solution until we got everything running. A third party was involved in the setup phase.

I am not sure about cost savings, but efficiency-wise, it has improved our company.

If one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the tool's price as an eight.

I have not faced any challenges while integrating VMware ESXi with existing infrastructure.

My company doesn't handle any AI-driven projects with the tool.

I rate the tool an eight out of ten.