Item: VMware ESXi
Rating: 10
Author: Ben Moore

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

ESXi is utilized to host our entire server infrastructure, as well as our virtual desktop environment. It allows us to perform hardware maintenance and upgrades with zero downtime. We are also able to replicate our infrastructure to our secondary DR location without the need to have identical hardware available and maintain a very low RTO.

Pros and Cons

Server availability.
Hardware support.

Phone/technical support.
Licensing cost.

Return on Investment

Better utilization of hardware resources.
Lower RTO for disaster recovery.

Support Rating

Over the past few years, this is one area where VMware has started to fall short. VMware used to have top-notch (fast response times, very knowledgeable engineers). Recently, response times have suffered greatly, and first-level support engineers seem to be simply searching and reading the same knowledge-base articles that are publicly available.

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

Likelihood to Recommend

VMware ESXi is best suited for mid to large enterprises that require maximum uptime. The ability to migrate virtual workloads on-demand, and across different hardware types allows for this. With the high cost of entry, it wouldn't likely be a good fit for most small businesses or those that don't require a high level of uptime.

VMware ESXi is the top virtualization solution available

Overall Satisfaction with VMware ESXi