Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware has sent shockwaves through the IT industry, raising concerns about rising costs and potential vendor lock-in for VMware customers. In response, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has introduced VM Essentials, a compelling virtualisation solution designed to provide a viable alternative to VMware vSphere.
What Is HPE VM Essentials?
HPE VM Essentials is a KVM-based hypervisor offering a robust, feature-rich virtualisation platform. It simplifies virtualisation management with a single interface for both KVM and VMware environments.
Key Features:
Unified Management
- Manage VM Essentials (KVM-based hypervisor) and existing VMware vSphere environments from a single, intuitive interface.
- Eliminates the need for multiple management consoles, streamlining operations and reducing errors.
On-Demand Provisioning
- Quickly provision virtual machines (VMs) across KVM and VMware platforms for agile resource allocation.
- Utilise “golden images” or templates of pre-configured VMs, including operating systems, applications, and configurations.
- End-users can request new VMs via a self-service portal or API, enhancing operational efficiency.
Enterprise-Grade Features
- High Availability: Implement failover capabilities to ensure business continuity during hardware or software failures.
- Automated Failover: Minimise downtime with automatic VM failover to alternative hosts.
- Live Migration: Move running VMs between physical servers without service disruption.
- Maintenance-Friendly: Perform server maintenance and upgrades with minimal impact on operations.
- Data Protection: Integrate with data protection solutions for regular backups and quick recovery.
- Disaster Recovery: Safeguard critical applications and data from site failures.
- Resource Optimisation: Efficiently manage compute, storage, and network resources.
- Performance Monitoring: Monitor resource usage to pre-empt potential bottlenecks.
- Enhanced Security: Role-based access control, encryption, and intrusion detection to secure virtual environments.
Flexibility & Choice
- Available as standalone software or integrated with HPE Private Cloud, offering deployment flexibility.
Cost-Effectiveness
- Broadcom’s shift to bundled offerings and the discontinuation of perpetual licences have led to rising VMware costs.
- VM Essentials offers a cost-effective alternative, with some clients reporting up to 60% savings on licence costs.
Conclusion
HPE VM Essentials supports both KVM and VMware environments, allowing organisations to gradually migrate workloads while maintaining compatibility with existing systems. This flexibility mitigates risks associated with transitioning from VMware, especially amid concerns over increased costs and complexity following Broadcom’s acquisition.
As a cost-effective, flexible, and simplified virtualisation solution, HPE VM Essentials is positioned as a strong contender for organisations seeking to optimise their virtualisation strategies and reduce dependency on a single vendor. For businesses aiming to escape VMware’s growing shadow, HPE VM Essentials is a solution worth serious consideration.
Try it for Free
HPE VM Essentials is available to use of HPEs new Proliant gen12 servers with Alletra MP. Nexstor is offering you the chance to try VME for free on our new HPE Hardware, delivered to your site, at no cost. We understand that these decisions are never easy so we are here to help remove some of the risk by giving you the ability to test this technology at your own pace.
Get In Touch with Nexstor
If you’re considering making the switch to HPE VM Essentials or want to explore how it can benefit your organisation, get in touch with Nexstor today. Our team of experts is ready to help you navigate your virtualisation options, reduce costs, and streamline your IT infrastructure.
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