There are many alternatives for organizations unhappy with the direction that Broadcom is taking the VMware virtualization platform. Options include getting off VMs altogether and shifting workloads to the public cloud, or going to a container-based platform like Red Hat OpenShift. (Read our related feature: Enterprises reevaluate virtualization strategies amid Broadcom uncertainty)
However, if you’re looking strictly for a replacement on-prem virtualization platform, the analyst firm Data Center Intelligence Group (DCIG) has identified five top alternatives to VMware’s vSphere platform. In alphabetical order, they are: Hive, Microsoft, Nutanix, Scale and VergeIO. Here’s a brief synopsis of each one:
1. HiveIO Hive Fabric
HiveIO is a Linux Kernel-based VM (KVM) that features an intelligent message bus, pool orchestration, user profile management, and shared storage. HiveIO’s Hive Sense is used to proactively monitor and detect anomalies. There are three software licensing options, including a free community edition for enterprises that want to kick the tires. The Hive Fabric Enterprise option includes HCI, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), guest pool deployments and user profile management.
2. Microsoft Azure Stack HCI
For Microsoft shops, Azure Stack HCI is an option that leverages the Azure cloud and Microsoft’s Hyper-V hypervisor. Customers can choose either of two approaches: Azure Stack HCI hardware-as-a-service, in which the hardware and software are pre-installed. Or, an enterprise can buy validated nodes and assume the responsibility for acquiring, sizing and deploying the underlying hardware.
Additional features include the Azure Migrate tool for moving existing VMware workloads, plus the flexibility to run applications, VMs or container-based workloads on-prem or in the Azure cloud, and to manage them via the Azure Portal. And Azure Stack supports GPU partitioning, which DCIG says “may emerge as prerequisites for enterprises seeking an alternative VMware vSphere solution.”
3. Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure
With Nutanix, customers don’t have to switch hypervisors, because Nutanix supports VMware vSphere (as well as Microsoft Hyper-V and its own Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV). This enables enterprises to take a more thoughtful and methodical approach to shifting its virtualization strategy away from Broadcom.
Nutanix – which is actively courting disgruntled VMware customers – provides storage services that aggregate storage in a global pool that enables any VM to access and consume storage resources. Features include compression, deduplication, high-availability and snapshots.
Enterprises running high-performance databases often require external storage arrays, and Nutanix has addressed that need by certifying storage with SAP HANA and Oracle RAC. (Read more: Cisco, Nutanix strengthen joint HCI package)
4. Scale Computing Platform
Scale provides an all-in-one hardware and software package that includes all software licenses. Software features offered at no additional charge include high-availability clustering, built-in disaster recovery, replication and software-defined storage. Scale also offers a tool to automate migrations off vSphere, a centralized management feature for HCI clusters, and the ability to mix and match dissimilar hardware appliances in a cluster. In addition, all storage is pooled.
Last summer, Scale Computing said in a quarterly earnings announcement that sales have taken off, thanks in part to Broadcom’s changes to VMware sales operations.
5. VergeIO
VergeIO takes HCI to the next level with something it calls ultraconverged infrastructure (UCI). This means VergeIO can not only virtualize the normal stack of compute, networking and storage, it can also implement multi-tenancy, creating multiple virtual data centers (VDCs).
Each VDC has its own compute, network, storage, management and VergeOS assigned to it. Enterprises can manage and use each VDC much like the virtual private clouds offered by the hyperscalers. VergeIO says this model creates greater workload density, which means lower costs, improved availability, and simplified IT.
With the challenges surrounding Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware and rumors of VMware customer defections, VergeIO is boosting its efforts to attract customers. It offers a service for migrating off vSphere, and VergeIO allows enterprises to reuse existing servers to host VergeOS.
Source:: Network World