VMware my favorite Hypervisor
March 04, 2016
VMware my favorite Hypervisor
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with VMware ESXi
I do IT support for around 40 companies. We exclusively use VMWare as the OS on all new servers. We not longer implement any non-virtualized servers. We currently run a mix of ESXi 4.1, 5.0, 5.1, and 5.5 and will soon start deploying version 6.0. VMWare allows us to better utilize hardware assets while keeping costs to a minimum.
Pros
- Easy management of servers. You have full access to all server features from the web console or GUI.
- With proper licensing, it is a great tool for high availability computing. It allows you to move servers across multiple pieces of hardware with little to no downtime.
- Easy setup. The installation is very straight forward and small. You can even run it off an SD card in the server leaving more disk space for your data stores.
Cons
- Licensing can be expensive, but they do offer cheaper versions.
- I do not like that they are pushing the management features to the Web based console. I have been using the GUI for so long that it is a hard transition for me.
- I have had multiple VCenter updates fail. At this point it is easy to deploy a new VCenter appliance than to upgrade an existing one.
- Due to the remote nature of my business, VMware has been a great tool as it allows us to have full console access to the servers at all times, even when they do not have a network connection.
- Making backup copies of servers is much easier in VMware than with a physical machine.
- VMware has made a conversion tool that has been a great help migrating customers from physical to virtual environments.
The decision on which hypervisor to use was made above my head. I personally prefer VMware due to the length of time that I have been using it.
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