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.
- 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.
- 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.