What is VMware? Evernex explains

VMware is a global leader in IT virtualization and cloud infrastructures. Businesses across industries have turned to VMware solutions to improve productivity, reduce OpEx and streamline data center infrastructures. But, what exactly is VMware, and how does it work?

In this article, we will break down the key features, benefits and challenges of VMware software in enterprise IT. We will also look at why companies are shifting towards third-party VMware support, and why it matters for your business.

How does VMware work?

VMware provides a comprehensive suite of data center virtualization and cloud computing products and services. It uses a bare-metal hypervisor, named ESXi, to run Virtual Machines (VMs) on physical host infrastructure. This architecture enables improved resource utilization and strong workload isolation.

Virtualized infrastructure includes:

• Servers
• Networks
• Storage
• Management
• Disaster recovery

This permits businesses to centrally control their systems and automate functions, boosting efficiency.

To understand how this process benefits businesses, first we have to understand how virtualization works.

 

How does virtualization work?

Virtualization abstracts an IT environment from its physical hardware using a hypervisor, which creates virtual instances of the equipment. These are called Virtual Machines (VMs).

Hypervisors form a layer between the physical asset and the VMs, allowing several machines to run side-by-side on the same server.

Each VM has its own Operating System (OS), called a Guest OS, and functions independently. However, they all share the underlying hardware resource. This means that one physical server can support the functions of several separate virtual servers. As a result, virtualization maximizes hardware utilization and productivity.

Does bare metal matter?

A bare metal hypervisor is a specialized software installed directly onto the hardware. This direct contact often optimizes performance and resource utilization. It also tends to improve security through a reduced attack surface compared to hosted hypervisors.

Learn more about server virtualization in our industry guide.

What is clustering?

Even though one server can support several virtualized ones, most businesses will still require multiple physical servers to support all their operations. This is especially true of larger enterprises or companies which manage complex workloads.

“Clustering” groups together host devices (the physical hardware) and treats them as a single large machine. This allows the system to pool the assets’ resources, to be used amongst many VMs.

Does virtualization still need hardware?

Virtualized IT environments still require hardware to host their ecosystems. These include servers, storage devices and networking equipment such as routers and switches. However, virtualized IT environments require far fewer physical devices, as each piece can support multiple VMs.

What is the vSphere ecosystem?

VMware’s vSphere ecosystem is a suite of virtualization products. Its core components are the ESXi hypervisor and vCenter Server.

The range provides a unified platform to virtualize servers, networking, storage, and management services. Together, these elements form the foundation for private clouds and modern data center operations.

Why is VMware important?

VMware and virtualized IT solutions have transformed data center infrastructures. Instead of one device serving precisely as one device, with underutilized space and resources, each asset can support the performance of multiple machines. This means businesses can optimize their operations with a minimum of hardware and spatial footprint.

VMware itself claims that its solutions offer the “scale and agility of public cloud combined with the security and performance of private cloud”, essentially offering an all-in-one solution. Let’s explore the key features and advantages VMware brings to the table:

VMware benefits	Why does it matter?
Efficient hardware use	Rather than utilizing only a small percentage of a device’s capacity, optimized resource management and allocation allow companies to get the most out of their hardware assets.
Higher productivity	Running multiple operations simultaneously means businesses can perform more functions and faster. This translates into increased operational productivity.
Workload balancing	VMware automatically distributes workloads across hosts. No single server is overloaded, ensuring consistent performance and availability. Balanced workloads reduce bottlenecks, prevent downtime, and facilitate efficient hardware use.
Scalability	VMware reduces the need to add more servers each time a business grows. As long as capacity is available, a company can add new workloads by creating additional VMs. This allows businesses to scale efficiently and affordably.
Security	VMware Cloud Foundation enables zero-trust infrastructure and provides integrated protection and disaster recovery capabilities. The bare metal hypervisor also reduces risk of infiltration.
High availability	VMs can switch to another physical host if the first suffers a failure. This keeps systems online and data available. Disaster recovery options also keep your data secure following any issues.

What are the real-world benefits of VMware?

Above we have covered the top technical benefits of VMware. But what does it all mean in a real-life business context? Here are the main advantages companies should see in their operations:

• Cost savings in some areas: Reduced hardware requirements shrink a data center’s spatial footprint. They also decrease the energy needed to power and cool the data center, lowering OpEx for IT teams.
• Improved sustainability: Lower power consumption reduces reliance on fossil fuels, while decreased demand for new hardware helps cut greenhouse gas emissions and the extraction of finite resources.
• Enhanced agility: IT teams can quickly deploy, modify, or move VMs as business needs evolve. This means faster, smoother adaptation to shifting market demands.

Key takeaway: Virtualization facilitates higher performance through efficient resource utilization. This offers cost savings in certain aspects, and higher ESG scores.

What are the challenges of VMware licensing?

In November 2023, the semiconductor giant Broadcom purchased VMware. Since then, the corporation has introduced important and controversial changes to the licensing model.

The main changes include:

• Shifting from a perpetual license to a subscription model. This means instead of a one-off payment, businesses must pay regularly to continue using their VMware software.
• Grouping VMware products into pre-established bundles.
• Increasing prices – Network World reported that “CISPE members reported [price] increases ranging from 800% to 1,500% to the European Commission, with many seeing their licensing costs rise tenfold”.

Challenge	Why does it matter?
Increased subscription costs	Higher prices and a subscription model forcing long-term payments will have a significant impact on IT budgets.
Limited flexibility	Businesses’ freedom to adapt their infrastructure may be restricted by VMware’s bundle arrangements and sales timelines.
Vendor lock-in	Difficulty incorporating other brands creates a reliance on a single vendor, increasing their power to raise prices or change conditions.

To learn more about the challenges of VMware’s new licensing model and how Evernex can support your existing infrastructure, check out our blog post Regaining control of VMware licensing & costs: A guide for businesses

 

Evernex: Your expert in VMware support

Evernex is a leader in third-party IT maintenance and support services. We leverage a global presence and the expertise of our VMware-certified engineers to help businesses keep their virtual IT environments secure and efficient.

Evernex Third-Party Maintenance for VMware is especially useful for enterprises which still have perpetual licenses but are no longer eligible for official support.

Our extensive experience in multi-vendor, multi-model data center infrastructures allow us to provide comprehensive support not only for your VMware infrastructure, but also your physical hardware assets.

Here are some of the key benefits of partnering with Evernex:

• Top-level VMware expertise: We provide access to specialized, expert VMware L3 resources.
• Expert help, anytime, anywhere: With a presence in 165+ countries, Evernex ‘s global, multilingual support services are available 24/7.
• Stay in control: With Evernex, your business can preserve your VMware perpetual licenses with no pressure to migrate.
• Cost optimization: Reduce your VMware support costs by up to 70% without sacrificing performance.
• Support that adapts to you: Flexible SLAs and human-led engagement mean you receive the exact services you need.
• All-in-one infrastructure support: We offer full hardware and software integration for a complete lifecycle solution.

VMware products overview

VMware covers a range of virtualization, networking and security management tools.

The key products offered by the provider include:

Product	What is it?
VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF)	Integrated software-defined data center (SDDC) stack. Bundles vSphere, VMware vSAN and VMware NSX into one platform.
VMware vSphere Foundation	Virtualization platform for optimization in traditional vSphere environments. It includes vSphere, vCenter, and add-ons such as Tanzu Kubernetes Grid, Aria Operations, and Aria Operations for Logs.
vSphere Client	Graphical web-based interface used to manage vCenter Server and ESXi hosts. The vCenter client server acts as an interface to manage the virtual environment.
vSphere Client data repository	Storage location which holds the information required to load and run, such as cached data, plug-in files, and interface settings.
vCenter Single Sign-On SSO	Identity management component of the vCenter Server architecture, providing centralized authentication for VMware components.
VMware NSX	Software which virtualizes network and security components, such as software-defined switching, routing, firewalling, and micro-segmentation.
VMware vSan	Hyperconverged, software-defined storage built into the hypervisor.
VMware site disaster recovery manager	Disaster recovery automation tool that orchestrates failover, failback, and testing of DR plans across sites.
vRealize Suite	Collection of software tools to facilitate the creation and management of hybrid clouds.
VMware HCX	Software as a Service (SaaS). HCX lets users manage multiple vSphere instances across different environments, facilitating data center migrations, mobility, and interconnectivity.
ESXi hypervisor	Bare metal hypervisor which provides direct control over the hardware resources.

Frequently asked questions