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IBM Power vs. Oracle VirtualBox vs. VMware Cloud Foundation on IBM Cloud

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    IBM Power

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AThe IBM Power product line is a family of servers.N/A

    Oracle VirtualBox

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/AOracle VirtualBox is an open source, cross-platform, virtualization software, enables developers to deliver code faster by running multiple operating systems on a single device.

    $0

    per month

    VMware Cloud Foundation on IBM Cloud

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AVMware Cloud Foundation on IBM Cloud brings together VMware vSphere, vSAN, and NSX into a natively-integrated stack of virtual compute, virtual storage, and virtual networking built upon IBM Bluemix bare metal servers.N/A
    Pricing
    IBM PowerOracle VirtualBoxVMware Cloud Foundation on IBM Cloud
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    IBM PowerOracle VirtualBoxVMware Cloud Foundation on IBM Cloud
    Free Trial
    YesNoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    IBM PowerOracle VirtualBoxVMware Cloud Foundation on IBM Cloud
    Considered Multiple Products
    IBM
    No answer on this topic
    Oracle
    No answer on this topic
    IBM
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    96%
    Would buy again
    165 Answers
    95%
    Would buy again
    18 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    154 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    19 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    171 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    19 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    147 Answers
    85%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    11 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    98%
    Implementation went as expected
    160 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    17 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    IBM PowerOracle VirtualBoxVMware Cloud Foundation on IBM Cloud
    Server Virtualization
    Comparison of Server Virtualization features of IBM Power and Oracle VirtualBox and VMware Cloud Foundation on IBM Cloud
    Feature
    IBM Power
    -
    Ratings
    Oracle VirtualBox
    8.2
    50 Ratings
    2% above category average
    VMware Cloud Foundation on IBM Cloud
    9.0
    1 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Virtual machine automated provisioning00 Ratings8.036 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Management console00 Ratings8.846 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Live virtual machine backup00 Ratings8.236 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Live virtual machine migration00 Ratings7.033 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Hypervisor-level security00 Ratings9.029 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    IBM PowerOracle VirtualBoxVMware Cloud Foundation on IBM Cloud
    Small Businesses
    Dell PowerEdge
    Score7.6 out of 10
    Proxmox VE
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Proxmox VE
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Dell PowerEdge
    Score7.6 out of 10
    VMware vSOM (discontinued)
    Score10 out of 10
    VMware vSOM (discontinued)
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    IBM Z
    Score9.4 out of 10
    IBM PowerVM
    Score9.6 out of 10
    IBM PowerVM
    Score9.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    IBM PowerOracle VirtualBoxVMware Cloud Foundation on IBM Cloud
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.9
    (208 ratings)
    7.5
    (53 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.1
    (7 ratings)
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    9.5
    (4 ratings)
    10.0
    (7 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.2
    (8 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.4
    (4 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    IBM PowerOracle VirtualBoxVMware Cloud Foundation on IBM Cloud
    Likelihood to Recommend
    IBM
    I'd strongly recommend IBM Power servers to anyone who has the budget for it. A Power Virtual Machine, what is generally called FlexTB VM, can support as many small VM of 256GB, and scale up to 32TB on the fly. If IBM recommended architecture is combined with your organizational reference architecture, then forget about running into unplanned downtimes.
    Incentivized
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    Oracle
    It is best suited when you want to have different operating systems on your laptop or desktop. You can easily switch between operating systems without the need to uninstall one. In another scenario, if you expect some application to damage your device, it would be best to run the application on the VM such that the damage can only be done to the virtual machine. It is less appropriate when time synchronization is very important. At times the VMs run their own times differently from the host time and this may cause some losses if what you doing is critical. Another important thing to take note of is the licensing of the application you want to run your VM. Some licenses do not allow the applications to be run on virtual servers so it is not appropriate to use the VM at this time.
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    Multiple capabilities that VMware Cloud Foundation on IBM Cloud provides are excellent and very much involved in secure data migration and management, easy to monitor server performance and the virtual capability is on top and the data analytics using the platform are provided in real-time and the reports are the most useful, especially on the critical situations within the business development.
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    Pros
    IBM
    • I love how it supports a mix of operating systems
    • protection of our sensitive energy data and ensuring compliance with industry regulations.
    • It provides a flexibility that ensures that we can accommodate increased workloads without a complete overhaul of our infrastructure.
    Incentivized
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    Oracle
    • It is simple to install - there is no advanced knowledge required to begin building virtual computers
    • It is easy to use - adding new virtual machines is simple with wizard-based deployment
    • It enables easy portability - moving virtual machines from one host to another is straight-forward and simple
    • It is free
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    • Dashboard understanding is easy.
    • The ability to handle big data.
    • Data extraction tools are very active.
    Read full review
    Cons
    IBM
    • A solid IDE for editing programs. SEU was simple and solid. Then it became outdated and support for it ended as the language continued to evolve. That's fine. But RDi is expensive and shaky at best, and VS Code, while free, is severely lacking even the modicum of features RDi has.
    Incentivized
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    Oracle
    • I have had issues in the past when it has come to resizing VM disk storage. The issue is entirely detailed here: https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/9103 -- the problem was caused because of having existing snapshots (which error message output was not detailing). I haven't had to deal with the issue due to my dynamic disk sizes not being small from the start anymore (this is mostly an issue for my Windows VMs where the base disk may need significant size for the OS). It looks like, for a resize, that a merge of all snapshots has to occur first -- one user on that list details a workaround to maintain snapshots by cloning the VM. (Note: 5.2 was just released a few weeks ago, and looks like it should prevent the problem happening in the future by properly informing users that it isn't possible with snapshots).
    • Certain scenarios, like resizing disks, required dropping into a terminal as there were no options to previously do so via the GUI. According to some recent posts, I've seen that v5.2 has added disk management stuff like that to the GUI (or will be adding it). I'm comfortable with dropping into the terminal, but in a teaching scenario or when evaluating the learnability of the tools, it complicates things.
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    • Only setting the advanced functionalities.
    • The basic knowledge can not full manipulate the platform.
    • To create reports for big data is sometime very turf.
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    Likelihood to Renew
    IBM
    This is one of the best systems on the market. You can have Flash/Copy which created another LPAR to look like the system you are copying. This takes seconds and not minutes. Then you can use BRNS to do full system backups nightly with no downtime. I am ready for us to upgrade to a Power 10.
    Incentivized
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    Oracle
    I give this rating because virtual box is inexpensive but there is another product such as vm ware that can also be used
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    IBM
    They are very easy to set up and use once you re knowledgeable enough to deal with it. They are continuously enhance the user experience on the HMC and operations on the systems. Once setup it's like a beast, going on and on. I have experience with servers that are not being rebooted for more than 1000 days
    Incentivized
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    Oracle
    I love using the Graphical User Interface. The VirtualBox Manager is very easy to understand and use. You can quickly create, configure and manage all your virtual machines in one window. It makes operating virtual machines easy and simple. When using VBoxManage it gives the user comprehensive control over VirtualBox so that you can use automation and scripting at the command-line interface
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Reliability and Availability
    IBM
    In all of the years I have used various Power System, I have never had any problems at all. Even when hackers were attacking our email servers and many users PCs, the IBM Power System came out completely unscathed. I haven't even had any application errors that were able to take the system down. Nor have I ever experienced an unplanned outage
    Incentivized
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    Oracle
    Dependency on the Host OS means it is as reliable as it is possible to be. Application errors are beyond the purview of the application.
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    IBM
    The IBM Power System is built for integration. It supports multiple operating systems and you can run multiple OS's on the same box with no problems at all. It also supports a number of open source languages such as PHP, Java, Python, and Perl which helps you continue to grow and integrate with lots of other systems.
    Incentivized
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    Oracle
    No issues, especially with the extensions addons.
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    IBM
    On large-scale systems, the rating would have been 10. However, I have seen some cases in more rural areas where the IBM onsite support is not as available or of the highest quality as in the past. For software support, there are sometimes instances of language barriers.
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    Oracle
    Oracle have a very fast response rate and a strong user community. One can geet help from many sources if they choose to research for themselves.
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    IBM
    Systems are robust and you need to know exactly what your are going to do with them. There are multiple configurations possible and you need to gather your requirements first, before going on with the implementation. Tuning is a must before migrating production systems
    Incentivized
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    Oracle
    We really enjoy using virtual box. We do not require to buy expensive hardware but instead we can minimize costs and maximize profits.
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    IBM
    Power server do not need a stack of software for viruses, spam and others... Power server do not need to have release often power server are much more strong then other manufacturer Power server do not need to restart offen
    Incentivized
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    Oracle
    VirutalBox is very similar to using Vmware with the slight difference in appearance and what might be considered a less polished look. However, what it lacks in polish and looks it makes up for in functionality, easy of use and the wide range of operating systems and features it supports without the need of buying the full professional edition
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Scalability
    IBM
    This system can work in a small factory with a few users and easily scale out to thousands of users. It is truly amazing on how much you can throw at this box and it will just keep humming. It is great for use across multiple departments and even across multiple corporations. I worked at one company where we were hosting multiple corporations on just one large Power System and had ZERO problems.
    Incentivized
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    Oracle
    The only problem I have found is that the deployment is dependent and intrinsically linked to the Host OS. This is different from bare metal solutions which remove that dependency on a Host OS. The latter is more reliable and removes a layer of potential failure.
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    IBM
    • In the event of a crash, IBM Power servers offer a variety of simple options to recover the operating system.
    • With the flexibility offered by IBM Power servers, the production business can be improved by making the most of its physical servers.
    Incentivized
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    Oracle
    • Minimal-to-no support needed from the DevOps team.
    • Provides a direct and an easy way to access multiple VMs inside the same machines which enables performing various testing and QA tasks without the need to switch hardware.
    • Automatic provisioning using tools (esp. Vagrant) which enables developing a base image once, and allows for exporting/importing anywhere across the developers team.
    • Very cost-effective (no fees or monthly subscriptions).
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    • Live virtual capability are excellent.
    • Great tool for the huge volume of data management and migration.
    • Data accessibility is faster and the analytical capability is amazing.
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    ScreenShots

    IBM Power Screenshots

    Screenshot of IBM Power E1180Screenshot of IBM Power E1150Screenshot of IBM Power S1124Screenshot of IBM Power S1122