Tomas Sajauka - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Engineer-Consultant at Blue Bridge Bond, UAB
Real User
Top 20
Feature rich, high availability, and scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "VMware vSphere has a lot of features that are valuable, such as multiple clusters, VM mobility, VDI, and virtual desktop."
  • "The support for VMware vSphere can be fast or it can be slow. Recently it has been slow, they need to decrease the wait time and quality of their support."

What is our primary use case?

A lot of people use the VMware vSphere solutions because most operations are virtualized. Small and mid-range companies are using VMware vSphere for all their infrastructure virtualizing applications, this is what the solution is mainly used for.

What is most valuable?

VMware vSphere has a lot of features that are valuable, such as multiple clusters, VM mobility, VDI, and virtual desktop.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using VMware vSphere for many years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of VMware vSphere is great. It has high availability. 

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April 2024
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

VMware vSphere is scalable.

I am in Lithuania and we have approximately 100 customers. Most companies use some kind of virtualization. It can be VMware or Citrix, or something else. Our clients mostly use VMware vSphere.

How are customer service and support?

The support for VMware vSphere can be fast or it can be slow. Recently it has been slow, they need to decrease the wait time and quality of their support.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of VMware vSphere is simple. However, I have been using similar solutions for 15 years making the process simple.

The installation took approximately 15 minutes. However, the installation itself is very easy but you need to do the configurations and integrations which can be more difficult depending on the customer's needs and their infrastructure.

What about the implementation team?

We use one person for the implementation of VMware vSphere. For the maintenance and support of the solution, the amount of people needed depends on the infrastructure and size of the customer.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Our customers typically use permanent licenses, not subscription-based. However, there are subscript-based licenses.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate VMware vSphere a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Database Administrator at a government with 1-10 employees
Real User
Setup is simple; offers stability and scalability
Pros and Cons
  • "This solution is very stable. It's scalable and simple to set up."
  • "Archiving, exporting, and backing up need to be improved for this solution, because they're slower than expected."

What is our primary use case?

We're using VMware vSphere for our server services. We're using it primarily for hosting services. As an example, our mail server: Zimbra Mail is hosted on that virtual environment. Our web server, our DNS server, and all our public servers are also hosted in that environment.

What needs improvement?

An area for improvement for VMware vSphere is the archiving tool, because sometimes we are using the VMware OVF Tool for backups, but archiving is not very fast when we are backing up the virtual machines. It needs improvement.

What we'd like to see in the next release is for the exporting process to be improved, because what we've observed is that when exporting VMware graphically, sometimes the process stops. We have to use the command-line utility: OVF Tool which is more reliable, so we'd like VMware vSphere to have a better and faster exporting process.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using VMware vSphere for five years now.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

VMware vSphere is a very stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

VMware vSphere is scalable.

How are customer service and support?

We have not contacted the technical support of VMware, because whenever we found difficulties, we either Google or check forums for solutions.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup for this solution is simple.

What about the implementation team?

I deployed this solution myself.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Pricing can still be improved for this product.

What other advice do I have?

I've been using the VMware Workstation for eight years, while the VMware vSphere, I've been using for five years.

This solution is deployed on-premises on a physical server for hosting services. Our public server is on a virtual environment.

I'm very satisfied with VMware vSphere.

Deployment of this solution took one day for the supervisor cluster and the virtual machine.

I can't say exactly how many users are using VMware vSphere in our organization, but it's more than 1,000. We have a virtual mail server with 1,000 accounts. We have a website with approximately 200 to 300 visits per day. We also have an internet proxy used regularly by all the internal users to access the internet. We have not measured usage for the DNS server. We have no statistics for it.

We have plans to use other tools from VMware like the vCenter. We have not yet explored it sufficiently, so we use it more. We have plans to use the vMotion to move virtual machines.

My advice to people who plan to use VMware vSphere is to first pay more attention to the materials, e.g. the physical server, because all the virtualization performance resides and depends on that physical server. This means it has to have a good dimension, a good amount of memory and disk space, and a good network controller card. You have to choose a server which is physically robust, strong, and powerful, so you can deploy with the best performance in your virtual environment.

I'm rating 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.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
VMware vSphere
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about VMware vSphere. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
771,170 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Freelance, Automation Project Administration, DCS, I&E at Centennial Cayman Corp Chile S.A
Real User
The connectivity is good, and many functions can run together in one server
Pros and Cons
  • "The connectivity is fantastic, and many functions can run together in one server. If you need to scale, we can continue to add components or modules. It's a beautiful virtual solution that has many advantages over physical hardware, where you have to use devices and wiring to connect all your projects."
  • "I'm using vSphere at a high level. Sometimes, I find it challenging to integrate different networks, but I think it's just my lack of knowledge."

What is our primary use case?

vSphere is for virtualizing some real computers, and then they can be used as hot spares. Sometimes you need to complement some functions or perform some work on them.

What is most valuable?

The connectivity is fantastic, and many functions can run together in one server. If you need to scale, we can continue to add components or modules. It's a beautiful virtual solution that has many advantages over physical hardware, where you have to use devices and wiring to connect all your projects.

What needs improvement?

I'm using vSphere at a high level. Sometimes, I find it challenging to integrate different networks, but I think it's just my lack of knowledge. For example, some companies have private internal networks, so we must connect to external networks, routers, or switches. 

And the backups are something we have to integrate with one of them because they are just running with what they have. And I don't know why it wasn't considered from the beginning because they believe that they can back up the whole computer, but it's not a good solution. I have taken measures like exporting critical databases that I normally modify and figure out, but I would prefer a centralized system.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I haven't had any problems with stability.

How are customer service and support?

I'm usually able to find solutions for my issues by logging into the blogs and searching for answers. 

How was the initial setup?

When I first got involved with vSphere, I thought it was fantastic to use the default. Once it was deployed, I could check on the rail systems, and everything worked very well. The best thing is that the tests I run to understand the situation can also run parallel. So I found it all straightforward. However, primarily I'm working on a platform already built by the companies that provide them. I do some maintenance and modifications of the customer's applications. Setting up this solution isn't generally part of my job. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate vSphere 10 out of 10. It's perfect. I know some people are very conservative and don't want to even mess with them, but I would argue that it's a way to avoid risking physical installations or making mistakes in real life. You can do all your testing virtually.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Cloud Professional Architect at FPT Software
Real User
It's straightforward to scale and configure virtual machines
Pros and Cons
  • "The fact that vSphere is an on-premise solution is beneficial for the user. It's easier to manage the infrastructure. It's more straightforward to scale and configure virtual machines."
  • "VMware vSphere is perfect for the on-premise solution, but we are in the cloud era, so I think maybe VMware needs to invest more in the cloud and the microservice chain. It would be better if VMware offered more cloud solutions and continuous applications."

What is our primary use case?

We need virtualization for our company, or sometimes our customers leverage virtualization solutions instead of using physical machines.

What is most valuable?

The fact that vSphere is an on-premise solution is beneficial for the user. It's easier to manage the infrastructure. It's more straightforward to scale and configure virtual machines. 

What needs improvement?

VMware vSphere is perfect for the on-premise solution, but we are in the cloud era, so I think maybe VMware needs to invest more in the cloud and the microservice chain. It would be better if VMware offered more cloud solutions and continuous applications.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In terms of scalability and stability, vSphere is excellent. We lack volume when we need to bundle a considerable number of physical machines to facilitate virtualization. There are a lot of competitors like Nutanix or others, but VMware is the number one solution for me.

How are customer service and support?

We don't contact VMware support often, but I sometimes have trouble understanding their manuals, so I ask them for help.

How was the initial setup?

It's easier for the user to deploy vSphere or the vCenter, but it's complex when setting up network virtualization.

What was our ROI?

I think VMware is a good investment. We use VMware to maintain our internal system. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate VMware vSphere seven out of 10. 

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.
PeerSpot user
Founder at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
Real User
Higher availability with excellent technical support and great stability
Pros and Cons
  • "Technical support is helpful and always available."
  • "If they improve on the knowledge base and documentation, it would be extremely helpful."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for the virtualization of the environment. We've converted more than 90% of our environment from physical to virtual.

What is most valuable?

The higher availability and the vMotion, I would say, are what makes it very interesting as you avoid systems being down. It provides, if you cluster, high availability, and your services can move from system to system to avoid downtime.

The solution is stable.

The scalability is great.

Technical support is helpful and always available. 

What needs improvement?

There are certain issues that can be improved. No solution is perfect, even though it's working for most of us most of the time. There are certain issues that crop up and some of them are not due to VMware. It could be due to the hardware it is running on. Therefore, it would be ideal if they could provide more knowledge on the fault tolerance and the high availability as some things are just assumed and then users find later that the use cases are different. Sometimes you may assume something applies to a use case only to find that it doesn't. If they improve on the knowledge base and documentation, it would be extremely helpful.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution since 2012. It's been a while. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of the product is good. I haven't dealt with bugs or glitches. It's reliable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product is scalable. You can increase the number of servers. You can increase the number of computer resources, storage, CPU, memory. It's up to you how huge you want your clusters to be.

This is an enterprise solution. It is not used by users. It is an enterprise technology solution. Therefore, we won't be adding more users. 

Almost all the engineers in the organization are using the solution. I would say maybe 15 engineers are actively using it. 

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is always there. They're always available. When you have an issue, you just log a call with them and set up a service request. They assist you directly. An engineer will be assigned to assist.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We have other tools, such as Oracle VM, which we are using in other areas, however, VMware is used more than the Oracle VM.

How was the initial setup?

For the initial setup, you need to do design work with someone who understands VMware, who is actually certified by VMware. You need someone certified to do it.

Deployment is not a problem. As long as you take time doing your design, the deployment will not take long. You can do it within a week.

If you have one certified engineer, the implementation will go fine. 

In terms of the management of the solution, we have about four engineers who are looking after it.

What about the implementation team?

You cannot do it by yourself. You need a certified engineer. That's a requirement from VMware and it's so that the environment is stable to avoid unnecessary scraping.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

You do need a license. Most of these vendors also offer what they call the free version of the software. If you want more support, more features, you have to go for the paid versions. That said, you can still get the free or community version of it.

What other advice do I have?

I'd recommend the solution to other users. It's a good technology. They're pioneers in the industry.

I'd rate the solution at an 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.
PeerSpot user
General manager at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Scalable and easy to set up with good stability
Pros and Cons
  • "The installation process is very straightforward."
  • "The solution should offer more integration capabilities."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the product for server virtualization. We have multiple VMs for different environments for our business needs.

What is most valuable?

The solution is scalable. 

We haven't had any issues with stability.

The installation process is very straightforward. 

What needs improvement?

The solution should offer more integration capabilities. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for four or five years at this point. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution seems to be stable. We haven't had any issues. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

You can scale the solution very well if you need to. It's not a problem at all. 

How are customer service and technical support?

As I am not directly involved with the product, I've never had to reach out to technical support to troubleshoot any issues. Therefore, I cannot speak to how helpful or responsive they are. 

How was the initial setup?

We have found the solution to be straightforward. It's pretty simple and not overly complex. 

A different team handled the setup and deployment. I can't say exactly how long it took to get everything up and running. 

We have some engineers that can handle the deployment and maintenance aspects of the product. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

While I'm sure we are paying some sort of licensing fee, I cannot speak to any exact details. That's handled by management and is not something that I have to deal with directly. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I am not familiar with the company looking at or evaluating other solutions. 

What other advice do I have?

We're end-users and customers. 

I'm not sure which version of the solution we're currently on. I don't manage that aspect of it. 

Overall, I would rate the solution at an eight out of ten. We've mostly been very happy with its capabilities. 

I would recommend the solution to others. 

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.
PeerSpot user
IT Infrastructure Specialist at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
A cloud computing virtualization platform that's pretty stable
Pros and Cons
  • "It's a very useful solution. It's easy to set up, and it's pretty stable."
  • "It could be more scalable."

What is our primary use case?

We use VMware vSphere for virtualization, especially server virtualization.

What is most valuable?

It's a very useful solution. It's easy to set up, and it's pretty stable.

What needs improvement?

It could be more scalable. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using VMware vSphere for about ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

VMware vSphere is pretty stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

VMware vSphere can be scalable. We can scale it as much as we want, but it could be more scalable. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is pretty good. It took us about an hour to implement this solution.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented VMware vSphere. We need about two people to set up and maintain this solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We pay for our license. 

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to new users.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give VMware vSphere a ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Project Specialist at integra software
Real User
Fairly priced, stable, easy to use, and easy to install
Pros and Cons
  • "It's easy to use, and it is flexible."
  • "Security and patch-related items need improvement."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution for hosting servers and some applications.

What is most valuable?

It's easy to use, and it is flexible.

What needs improvement?

Security and patch-related items need improvement.

In the next release, we would like the security system improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for a couple of years. 

We are working with the latest version.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's a scalable product. We have 300 to 500 users in our organization.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have not contacted technical support. We have not faced any challenges.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We have used other applications previously.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. It's easy to install.

What about the implementation team?

I completed the implementation myself.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Our licensing fees on paid on a yearly basis and the pricing is fine.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We have evaluated NSX VMware and VMware vSAN, but we have certain requirements and found vShpere to be more suitable.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to anyone who is interested in using it.

I would rate VMware vSphere a ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free VMware vSphere Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free VMware vSphere Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.