Why Are More and More Enterprise Users Abandoning VMware?

Background

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If you are an enterprise VMware user, you may be considering leaving VMware. Currently, many enterprise users are actively seeking alternatives to reduce costs and reduce dependence on the VMware ecosystem.

Many companies are considering leaving VMware, mainly due to:

The impact of Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware. In 2023, Broadcom completed its acquisition of VMware and made a series of adjustments, including:

• Cancellation of perpetual licenses for some products, pushing for a subscription model.
• Price increases, significantly increasing the costs for many companies.
• Cutting some non-core products and partnership programs, causing unease among some companies and partners.

These changes have led many companies to start looking for alternatives to reduce costs and reduce their reliance on the VMware ecosystem.

Alternatives

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Today, I’ll share a potential alternative for enterprise users—Nutanix.

It is a hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) (alternative to VMware vSAN / vSphere), suitable for enterprises that need to integrate computing, storage, and network resources and want to reduce their reliance on VMware vSAN or vSphere.

• Nutanix is a major competitor to VMware vSphere, supporting KVM and providing enterprise-grade HCI solutions.
• It offers a simple management interface, similar to VMware vSAN, but at a lower cost.
• Suitable for companies that want to migrate from VMware but still want enterprise support.

Advantages of Nutanix

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Nutanix has several advantages over VMware in terms of architecture, management, scalability, and cost-effectiveness, as detailed below:

1. Unified Hyper-Converged Architecture (HCI)

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🔹VMware：

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• Traditionally uses a vSphere + vSAN + NSX combination, requiring multiple components to work together.
• Requires separate configuration of vSAN storage, separated from computing and network resources, resulting in higher management complexity.

🔹Nutanix：

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• Uses a hyper-converged architecture (HCI), integrating computing, storage, and networking.
• Replaces VMware ESXi with Nutanix AHV (Acropolis Hypervisor), eliminating the need for additional hypervisor licensing fees.
• Storage-as-a-Service (Distributed Storage Fabric, DSF), storage performance scales linearly with cluster expansion.

✅ Advantages：

• Simplified management, eliminating the need for additional SAN/NAS storage devices, with unified management of storage and computing resources.
• Better scale-out, increasing computing and storage capacity by adding nodes.
• Reduced software licensing costs (VMware vSphere/vSAN costs are high, while Nutanix AHV is free).

2. More Flexible Hyper-Converged Storage

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🔹VMware：

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• Relies on vSAN for storage, requiring combined configuration with vSphere during expansion.
• vSAN requires additional licensing and has strict hardware compatibility requirements.

🔹Nutanix：

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• Built-in Nutanix AOS (Acropolis Operating System), providing distributed storage (Nutanix Files, Volumes, Objects).
• Higher storage elasticity, supporting hybrid cloud storage (AWS/Azure/Nutanix private cloud).
• Supports a combination of local NVMe SSDs and HDDs, automatically tiering storage based on data temperature.

✅ Advantages：

• No additional storage licensing fees, lower cost compared to vSAN.
• Automatic data optimization, storage performance improves with cluster expansion.
• Supports external cloud storage, suitable for hybrid cloud deployments.

3. Built-in Free Hypervisor (AHV), Reduced Licensing Costs

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🔹VMware：

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• Requires paid use of ESXi and management through vCenter.
• Many companies using VMware need to purchase additional vSphere Enterprise Plus or vSAN licenses, resulting in high costs.

🔹Nutanix：

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• Provides Nutanix AHV (Acropolis Hypervisor), based on KVM, and is free to use.
• Managed directly through Prism Central, eliminating the need for vCenter.
• VMware VM compatible, supporting direct migration of existing VMware VMs to Nutanix AHV.

✅ Advantages：

• Free hypervisor, saving VMware vSphere/ESXi licensing fees.
• No vCenter needed, simpler management.
• VMware VM compatible, easier migration.

4. Higher Automation and Scalability

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🔹VMware：

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• Relies on vSphere and vSAN for VM resource management.
• Requires vRealize Automation (vRA) for automated operations, with high licensing costs.

🔹Nutanix：

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• Provides Prism Central for unified management of VMs, storage, and networking, making operations simpler.
• Provides Calm (automation orchestration tool), supporting one-click deployment of applications (K8s, Jenkins, DevOps-related tools).
• Supports direct API calls, allowing automation through the Nutanix Prism API.

✅ Advantages：

• Higher degree of automation, suitable for DevOps scenarios.
• Simpler management interface, better usability.
• Stronger API support, suitable for CI/CD automated integration.

5. Stronger Hybrid Cloud Support

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🔹VMware：

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• Requires additional purchase of VMware Cloud on AWS, Azure VMware Solution to extend to the public cloud.
• VMware vSAN and NSX require additional licensing for support in public cloud environments.

🔹Nutanix：

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• Built-in Nutanix Clusters, supporting hybrid cloud deployments (AWS, Azure, on-premises data centers).
• Automatic data synchronization, allowing data migration between on-premises Nutanix and cloud-based Nutanix.
• Provides Nutanix Xi as a SaaS solution, supporting cross-cloud management.

✅ Advantages：

• Hybrid cloud support without additional licensing, lower cost compared to VMware.
• Simpler data migration, supporting automatic synchronization of on-premises and cloud data.
• Unified management of public and private clouds, reducing operational complexity.

6. Cost Advantages

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🔹VMware：

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• Requires a vSphere + vSAN + NSX combination, with high overall licensing costs.
• VMware uses CPU core billing, and VMware may further increase licensing costs in 2024 (due to the Broadcom acquisition).

🔹Nutanix：

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• Provides a free AHV Hypervisor, saving vSphere licensing fees compared to VMware.
• Pay-as-you-go, unlike VMware, which requires bundling multiple products.
• Integrated storage, computing, and networking, eliminating the need to purchase vSAN or NSX separately.

✅ Advantages：

• Lower overall TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), potentially saving 30%-50% compared to VMware.
• Reduced hypervisor licensing fees, free AHV replacing vSphere.
• Fewer components, improved management efficiency.

Summary: Nutanix vs VMware

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When to choose Nutanix?

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• You want to reduce VMware licensing costs (eliminate vSphere/vSAN/NSX costs).
• You need simpler management and don’t want to configure vCenter, vSAN, NSX.
• You plan to use a hybrid cloud and want seamless migration between on-premises and cloud.
• You want stronger automation capabilities, suitable for DevOps scenarios.

When to choose VMware?

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• You already have a large VMware ecosystem (vSphere, NSX, vSAN) and don’t want to switch architectures.
• Your enterprise applications rely on the VMware ecosystem, such as Horizon (desktop virtualization).
• You don’t mind additional licensing fees, and you already have a mature VMware operations team.

If you are primarily focused on reducing costs, simplifying management, and enhancing hybrid cloud capabilities, Nutanix may be a better choice for enterprise users!

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