VMware vSphere Reviews

VMWare server is an excellent virtualzation tool for the workstation. It could be used as a limited functionality version of VMWare Workstation or as a host for your virtual machines, with all of the bells and whistles that came with Workstation, such as:- Centralized Management of Virtual Machines. - Remote management of VM's and configurations. - Integration with VMware Player and Workstation, to view the machines hosted by Server.

Unfortunately, this software has reached its End-Of-Life, and has held that status for almost two years. Meaning, there are no new software updates or available downloads for it. This product has basically been replaced by ESX, ESXi and vSphere, which are functionally less resource intensive because of their design. We used this tool during my Linux classes when I was attending College for my B.A.

As of now, OracleVM (formerly known as VirtualBox), is an excellent solution that is open-source and freely available for download.

1) Easier way of segmenting the resources. 2) Host profiles - Template to build hosts in minutes. 3) Performance and Graphs - Easy to monitor the hosts 4) Vmotion - In essence, this technique helps you to move a live server between hosts without any downtime. 5) Robust Management Tools 6) Cost saving 7) Advanced memory management - The memory unused in the hosts can be reclaimed and used effectively. 8) High availability

The major disadvantage that i can think off is that we have to pay for all the features to be available. Virtualization has made datacentre operations easier. As a sysadmin, managing multiple hosts is more simpler and flexible with the vmware ESXi. Running multiple hosts, operating systems on a single host makes it more efficient and saves costs. ESXi also allows you to pool the resources of several machines effectively, thereby helping to run the application smoothly without hassles.

This gives the technology lovers an opportunity to do all the things they want or need to do at the same time.

Pros on the VMware Server are- 1) Centralized management and configuration 2) Remote management and headless operation available 3) VMotion feature helps in real time movement of virtual machines from one server to the other 4) Automated scanning and patching of hosts 5) VSphere DRS for continuous monitoring resource pool utilization 6) Can be integrated with Windows Server Active Directory 7) Easy to use high availability and fail over clustering

Few cons of VMware Server are 1) It is available for free so bug resolution and patch management takes time 2) Poor memory management 3) Requirement for supported SCSI and SATA controllers

One of the cutting edge virtualization technologies offered by VMware works on platforms like Windows, Linux, and Solaris. It facilitates an application developer to test applications on virtual machines with ease of configuration and management. It provides visibility at each and every level of virtual infrastructure.

- Free - Easy to install and configure - Very low overhead - Great management features - Enterprise Ready

- Free version limits server memory to 32GB - No central management of other ESXi servers, each one needs to be logged-in individually if you have multiple servers.My experience with VMware EXSi is that it's the fastest Virtualization platform out there. This is basically because of the very good architectural design of the underlying hypervisor, which consumes a very small amount of resource overhead and provides a rich set of features that are enterprise grade. The free version really has a great feature set plus a management software that you can use to manage individual server instances.

The downside to the free version is that you can only use it on a server with a maximum of 32GB memory. Also, you cannot manage multiple ESXi instances with the management client. You have to log-in individually to each server running the free version of EXSi. These limitations are surely a setback considering other competing products do not have these limitations and even offer features which are only available in paid versions of VMware.

We have a partnership with VMware and I'm the professional service team lead. 

VMware has many good features, is stable and reliable. 

I'd like to see the snapshot feature that Nutanix has in their product. It takes a snapshot as a backup without processing as a third-party product. I'd like to see that backup feature in VMware.

We've been using this solution for seven years. 

The solution is stable. 

The solution is scalable.

We're not very satisfied with the customer support. Sometimes I open a ticket and get a remote appointment with one of our customers and most of the time they're not there and I can't contact them. 

The initial setup is pretty easy and took us a couple of days. We check that the hardware is compatible, then we update the firmware and set up an IP address and then test and tune it. Most of our clients are smaller sized companies. 

This is generally a good and stable solution. It's about weighing up the cost against what the product offers for a specific use case. 

I rate this solution seven out of 10. 

Hybrid Cloud

VMware vSphere is deployed in our data centers. We provide services to our customers by allowing them to use our infrastructure. We have lots of customers from different sectors, such as financial, educational, and retail.

VMware vSphere could improve on the automation features and the ease of use of the solution in many areas, such as the interface. However, VMware is doing lots of great things.

I have been using VMware vSphere for approximately 10 years.

The stability of VMware vSphere is very good. It has high resiliency, it is one of the best solutions on the market.

VMware vSphere is very scalable.

The technical support is good. They are a trustful company.

We have one initial setup, we are not doing the setup all the time. Since we are a service provider, we have the infrastructure already.

I rate VMware vSphere an eight out of ten.

Private Cloud

VMware vSphere is used for virtualization.

The performance of VMware vSphere is good.

I have been using VMware vSphere for approximately 10 years.

VMware vSphere is a stable solution. However, the bug could be fixed to make it better. Sometimes the new release of the solution can bring errors.

I am satisfied with the scalability of VMware vSphere.

We have approximately 20 people using this solution.

I have been satisfied with the support from VMware vSphere.

The implementation of VMware vSphere is easy. For integration companies, it's easy, the final client cannot do it alone but for an implementor it's easy.

There are not any licensing costs.

I rate VMware vSphere a ten out of ten.

On-premises

VMware vSphere is capable of a wide range of tasks, including file sharing, database management, email, active directory, and much more.

The most valuable feature of this solution is vMotion.

The performance is good; if I had to rate it, I would give it a nine out of ten.

It is easy to use.

I would like to see the configuration simplified. It should be easier to configure.

I have been working with VMware vSphere for a few years.

I am using version 7.0.

VMware vSphere is a stable product.

It is a scalable solution.

We have 150 customers in our organization.

At this time we do not have any plans to increase our usage.

I have never contacted technical support.

The installation was straightforward.

It took a few hours to complete the installation.

We require two people to maintain this solution.

I was able to complete the installation myself.

Licensing fees are not paid yearly, or monthly.

I would recommend this solution to others who are considering it.

It is quite simple to use. The installation is simple and it is stable. I would rate VMware vSphere a nine out of ten.

On-premises