Item: VMware ESXi
Rating: 9
Author: Christopher Mills

Overall Satisfaction with VMware ESXi

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We have been a VMware ESXi shop for well over a decade. We use it across the whole enterprise to run 99% of our environment. There are exceptions where we do run physical servers and/or appliances outside of our virtual environment. By using ESXi, we have been able to stretch the resource requirements for applications across fewer physical hardware points. We have also been able to leverage features and functions like High-Availability and Replication due to using ESXi. It has also made the administration of our environment much easier and centralized.

Pros and Cons

Pros

The ability to use a single server and run multiple virtual machines on it has allowed our enterprise to grow it's technology footprint while keeping cost low and administration functionality more simplified.
With features like High Availability in ESXi, we have been able to build out a resilient environment that, when issues occur at a hardware level, we can respond and be up and running more quickly than if a single application server failed.

Cons

ESXi seems to be written very well, and with years of experience behind them, they tend to be leaders and innovators also. With that, there are still areas that they fall short or could improve upon. One of those is the user interface. Having recently moved to a full HTML5 GUI, some of the interactions are not intuitive or lack in the way that the Flash GUI client would handle the request.
The Task area needs work. Being able to filter and configure what Task is running or completed should be more user-configurable. The lack of user control does make it hard when you are troubleshooting.

Return on Investment

Being that we have been using ESXi for over 10 years, our ROI has been 10 fold.
As we have implemented new features and functions of ESXi, we have seen great ROI and been able to not have to bring in 3rd-party applications/systems to perform functions that ESXi can.

Alternatives Considered

Hyper-V

VMware ESXi offers more features and functions then Microsoft Hyper-V does, especially for an enterprise customer. The two biggest features that Hyper-V has are cost and integration of the OS. Other than that, ESXi offers more enterprise-grade features like HA, DRS, vSphere Replication, integration with 3rd-party hardware vendors. These all add up to the best hypervisor system there is on the market.

Support Rating

We have had nothing but great experiences with VMware support when it comes to ESXi. They have been quick to respond, knowledgeable about the issues we have been presented with, and also have been able to find solutions to other vendors' issues before the actual vendor. We have used support to help with projects to make sure we are doing the process correctly, and also that it is the right thing to do.

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

Microsoft Teams, Pure Storage FlashArray, Extreme VCS Fabrics (formerly Brocade VCS Fabrics), Windows Server, Clumio

Likelihood to Recommend

I believe that ESXi is well suited for any and all scenarios. Except those where cost is a major factor. ESXi is not cheap, and with most companies that have a Microsoft EA for Windows Server that also grants them Hyper-V, sometimes the cost isn't justifiable. With that said, ESXi has functions and features that most enterprises need to stay resilient and function at a high level. Where critical services are needed, ESXi is tried and true and can handle everything you throw at it. Even for smaller IT shops, ESXi will provide flexibility and performance that will allow the organization to focus on more important areas, like their customers.

VMware ESXi Feature Ratings

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