Item: VMware ESXi
Rating: 10
Author: Ivan Sytchev

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our entire environment is running on ESXi, including a DR site. Having all the servers be virtual allows for flexibility in resource allocation and overall ease of management. This also reduces maintenance downtime, as VMs can be migrated using vMotion without any downtime. Because everything is virtual, DR scenarios are also very easy to perform.

Pros and Cons

Resource management.
It's simple, yet offers loads of advanced features and settings if there is a need.
vCenter is great to manage multiple ESXi hosts.

GPU accelerated graphics are not the easiest to set up.
The UI is a bit on the slow side even with the new HTML5 client.
Licencing can get very expensive if you're using multi-processor servers and vCenter.

Return on Investment

It allows for a much smaller footprint in the data center.
DR is essentially built-in for ease of use.
The administration of resources is simplified.

Alternatives Considered

Hyper-V, Parallels Desktop and VMware Workstation

VMware has been in the business a long time, and makes a very reliable virtualization platform. Hyper-V had matured exponentially, since it's been released and is a viable alternative to ESXi. However, it is not as reliable as ESXi at least at this time. ESXi also accommodates businesses of any size with its scalability options.

Support Rating

The support is generally great. However, their engineers are very specialized, so if the issue requires involvement from multiple teams, the case might end up being passed along from team to team without faster resolution. An example of this would be if support is engaged with the ESXi team, but the issue is determined to be network related, they will engage the networking team who will start troubleshooting from scratch. But if the issue resides in a single department, then their knowledgeable engineers usually resolve it rather quickly. Overall, ESXi has one of the better support programs than other IT vendors.

Key Insights

Do you think VMware ESXi delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with VMware ESXi's feature set?

Yes

Did VMware ESXi live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of VMware ESXi go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy VMware ESXi again?

Yes

Other Software Used

VMware vCenter Server, Pure Storage FlashArray, Windows Server

Likelihood to Recommend

ESXi has been on the market for a long time, and thus has an advantage over its competitors. Even though as of late others have greatly improved their virtualization technologies, VMware is still ahead of others. ESXi is well suited for any size organization, as it can scale very easily and there are lots of compatibility options to make everything work regardless of platform.

Fantastic Virtualization Platform!

Overall Satisfaction with VMware ESXi