VMware vSphere Competitive Reviewers Guide WP En

7/29/2019 VMware vSphere Competitive Reviewers Guide WP En

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VMware vSphere 5Competitive Reviewers Guide

VMwarevSphere

R e v i e w e R s g u i d e


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VMw vSh 5

R e v i e w e R s g u i d e / 2

Tabl of Contnt

Getting Started 3About This Guide 3

Intended Audience 3

Requirements 3

Help and Support During the Review 3

Key New Features in vSphere 5 4

Infrastructure Services (Compute, Storage and Network) 4

Application Services (Availability, Security and Scalability) 5

Management Services 5

VMware vSphere 5 Compared to the Competition 6

ESXi Hypervisor (new/updated features) 6

Large Virtual Machines for Tier 1 Application Support (new/updated features) 9

Small Business Bundles (new/updated features) 9

vShield Security (new/updated features) 11

Resource and Performance Controls (new/updated features) 13

Networking Features 17

Storage Features (new/updated features) 18

Business Continuity Features (new/updated features) 21

Management and Provisioning Features (new/updated features) 24

Top 20 vSphere 5 Advantages Over the Competition 28


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Ging S

AboutThisGuideThe purpose o this guide is to support a hands-on comparison o VMware vSphere 5 to competing

virtualization products such as Microsot Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer, or Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (KVM).

This guide can also be used by reviewers without hands-on access to a live vSphere installation. You will nd the

key VMware competitive advantages called out in the VMware Dierentiators section associated with each

eature described in this guide.

IntendedAudience

ThisguideisdesignedorpressreviewerstechnologyanalystsandITproessionalswhoarecomparingVMware

vSpheretoothervirtualizationproductsorthepurposesowritingreviewsormakingproductselection

decisionsThisguidepointsoutanddescribesimportantdierentiatingeaturesinvSpherethataremissing

romcompetingproducts

Requirements

ThisguideshouldbeusedinconjunctionwiththevSphereEvaluatorsGuideTheEvaluatorsGuideprovides

detailedstep-by-stepguidanceneededtocongureandusekeyeaturesovSphereinarealisticenvironment

TheEvaluatorsGuiderecommendsthatvSpherebeconguredwithaminimumothreehostsandaStorage

AreaNetwork(SAN)toenableitskeyeatures

EnsurethatvSphereisinstalledonhardwarethathasbeenvalidatedagainsttheVMwareHardwareCompatibility

List(HCL)AlsoinstallVMwarevCenterServerandvSphereClientintheevaluationenvironmenttomanagethe

VMwarevSpherehostsVirtualmachinesusedortheevaluationshouldbepre-conguredandinstalledwith

properlylicensedGuestOperatingSystems

FordetailedinormationregardinginstallationcongurationadministrationandusageoVMwarevSphere

pleasereertotheonlinedocumentation:http://wwwvmwarecom/support/pubs/

ThevSphereevaluationlicenseavailableromtheVMwareevaluationportalprovidesEnterprisePlus

unctionalityor60daysandisthebestchoiceorperormingavSphere0competitivereview

HelpandSupportDuringtheReview

Thisguideprovidesahigh-leveloverviewotheuniqueeaturesoVMwarevSpherethatdierentiateitrom

competingproductsItisnotmeanttosubstituteorproductdocumentationPleasereertotheonlineproduct

documentationorvSphereormoredetailedinormation(seebeloworlinks)Youmayalsoconsulttheonline

KnowledgeBaseiyouhaveanyadditionalquestionsPressandanalystreviewersthatrequireurtherassistance

maycontacttheVMwarePublicRelationsteam( PRinquiries@vmwarecom)tobeplacedincontactwithtechnical

resourcesatVMwareCustomersthatrequireurtherassistanceshouldcontactaVMwaresalesrepresentativeor

channelpartner

VMware vSphere and vCenter Resources:vSphereEvaluatorsGuide

http://wwwvmwarecom/tryvmware/?p=vmware-vsphere-ent

ProductDocumentation:

http://wwwvmwarecom/support/pubs/

OnlineSupport:

http://wwwvmwarecom/support/

SupportOerings:

http://wwwvmwarecom/support/services
http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/mailto:PRinquiries%40vmware.com?subject=http://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/?p=vmware-vsphere5-enthttp://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/http://www.vmware.com/support/http://www.vmware.com/support/serviceshttp://www.vmware.com/support/serviceshttp://www.vmware.com/support/http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/http://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/?p=vmware-vsphere5-entmailto:PRinquiries%40vmware.com?subject=http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/


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EducationServices:

http://mylearn1vmwarecom/mgrreg/indexcm

SupportKnowledgeBase:

http://kbvmwarecomVMwarevSphereManagementAssistantVMwareCommand-LineInteraceDocumentation

http://wwwvmwarecom/support/developer/vcli/

PowerCLIToolkitCommunity:

http://communitiesvmwarecom/community/vmtn/vsphere/automationtools/powercli(ortypeGet-

VIToolkitCommunitywithinPowerCLI)

PowerCLIBlogs:

http://blogsvmwarecom/vipowershell

VMwareContactInormation

ForcustomersseekingadditionalinormationortopurchaseVMwarevSphereVMwaresglobalnetwork

osolutionsprovidersisreadytoassistIyouwouldliketocontactVMwaredirectlyyoucanreachasales

representativeat1-877-4VMWARE(60-47-34outsideNorthAmerica)oremail sales@vmwarecomWhen

emailingpleaseincludethestatecountryandcompanynameromwhichyouareinquiringYoucanalsovisithttp://wwwvmwarecom/vmwarestore/

PressandanalystreviewersconductingcomparativereviewsoVMwarevSphereandcompetingvirtualization

productsshouldcontacttheVMwarePublicRelationsteam(PRinquiries@vmwarecom)TheVMwarePRteam

canarrangeaccesstospecialtechnicalsupportresources

ProvidingFeedback

WeappreciateyoureedbackonthematerialincludedinthisguideInparticularwewouldbegrateulorany

guidanceontheollowingtopics:

Howuseulwastheinormationinthisguide?

Whatotherspecictopicswouldyouliketoseecovered?

Overallhowwouldyouratethisguide?

Pleasesendyoureedbacktotheollowingaddress:tmdoceedback@vmwarecomwithVMwarevSphereCompetitiveReviewersGuideinthesubjectlineThankyouoryourhelpinmakingthisguideavaluableresource

K Nw Fs in vSh 5CustomersaswellaspressandanalystreviewersshouldbesuretousethenewvSpherereleasetoexperience

thelatestenhancementsoeredbyVMwarevSphereenablesuserstorunbusiness-criticalapplicationswith

condenceandrespondtobusinessneedsastervSphereacceleratestheshittocloudcomputingorexisting

datacentersandunderpinscompatiblepubliccloudoeringsormingtheoundationortheindustrysonlyhybrid

cloudmodel

InrastructureServices(ComputeStorageandNetwork)Compute

vSphereESXiconvergence vSphereisconvergingontheESXihypervisorarchitectureESXithegold

standardinhypervisorsenablesvSphereuserstoleverageathinnerarchitectureamoresecureootprint

andastreamlinedpatchingandsetupmodelFormoreinormationvisittheESXiandESXinocenterat

http://wwwvmwarecom/products/vsphere/esxi-and-esx/overviewhtml

vSphereAutoDeployAutoDeployisanewdeploymentandpatchingmodelornewvSpherehostsrunning

theESXihypervisorDeploymorevSpherehostsinminutesandupdatethemmoreecientlythaneverbeore
http://mylearn1.vmware.com/mgrreg/index.cfmhttp://kb.vmware.com/http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vcli/http://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/vsphere/automationtools/powerclihttp://blogs.vmware.com/vipowershellmailto:sales%40vmware.com?subject=http://www.vmware.com/vmwarestore/mailto:PRinquiries%40vmware.com?subject=mailto:tmdocfeedback%40vmware.com?subject=VMware%20vSphere%205%20Competitive%20Reviewer%E2%80%99s%20Guidehttp://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/esxi-and-esx/overview.htmlhttp://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/esxi-and-esx/overview.htmlmailto:tmdocfeedback%40vmware.com?subject=VMware%20vSphere%205%20Competitive%20Reviewer%E2%80%99s%20Guidemailto:PRinquiries%40vmware.com?subject=http://www.vmware.com/vmwarestore/mailto:sales%40vmware.com?subject=http://blogs.vmware.com/vipowershellhttp://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/vsphere/automationtools/powerclihttp://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vcli/http://kb.vmware.com/http://mylearn1.vmware.com/mgrreg/index.cfm


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Newvirtual-machineormat(Version) ThenewvirtualmachineormatinvSpherehasseveralnew

eaturesincludingsupportor

3DgraphicsorWindowsAero

USB30devices

SupportorAppleproductsvSpheresupportsAppleXserveserversrunningOSXServer106(Snow

Leopard)asaguestoperatingsystem

Storage

vSphereStorageDRSImprovemanagementandenablemore-ecientuseostorageresourcesthrough

groupingplacementandbalancing

Prole-DrivenStorage Identiytheappropriatestoragetouseoragivenvirtualmachinedependingon

servicelevelTheresultisastreamlinedapproachtoselectingthecorrectstorageandensuringitsdelivery

vSphereFileSystemLeverageenhancedscalabilityandperormancethroughanon-disruptiveupgradeto

theplatormslatestclusteredlesystemversion

vSphereStorageIOControlImprovemanagementandenorcementoservice-levelagreements(SLAs)

throughextensionolimitsandsharesinNetworkFileSystem(NFS)datastoresvSphereStorageAPIProgram TakeadvantageoextensionstotheArrayIntegrationAPIthatsupportthin

provisioningLeveragethenewStorageAwarenessandDiscoveryAPItointeracewitharrayswhenusing

thenewvSphereStorageDRSandProle-DrivenStorageeatures

ApplicationServices(AvailabilitySecurityandScalability)

Availabilty

vSphereHighAvailabilityNewarchitectureenablessuperiorguaranteessimpliedsetupandconguration

andexpandedscalability

vSpherevMotionMigrationovirtualmachinesoverhigherlatencynetworklinksisnowsupported

Security

ESXiFirewallNewservice-orientedandstatelessrewallenginerestrictsaccesstospecicservicesbyIPaddressorsubnetThisisparticularlyuseulorthird-partycomponentsthatrequirenetworkaccess

Scalability

LargervirtualmachinesVirtualmachinescannowgrowourtimeslargerthaninanypreviousreleaseto

supporteventhelargestapplicationsVirtualmachinescannowhaveupto32virtualCPUsand1TBoRAM

ManagementServices

CoreManagement

vSphereWebClientAccessvSphereromanyWebbrowseranywhereintheworld

VMwarevCenterServerAppliance RunvCenterServerasaLinux-basedvirtualappliance


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VMw vSh 5 Cm h CmiinInthecomparisontablesothissectionnew/updatedvSphereeaturesareshowninboldont

ESXiHypervisor(newupdatedeatures)

FeatureDescription

VMwareESXitheindustrysirstx86bare-metalhypervisoristhemostreliableandrobusthypervisor

Launchedin2001andnowinitsthgenerationVMwareESXihasbeenproduction-provenintensothousands

ocustomerdeploymentsallovertheworld

Thepurpose-builtthinESXihypervisoratthecoreovSphereisthebasesotwarelayeroneachhostanditis

designedorthesolepurposeovirtualizationWithvSphereVMwarehascompleteditstransitiontothetruly

thinESXiarchitecturewhichcompletelyeliminatesanyrelianceonageneral-purposeoperatingsystem

Competinghypervisorstreatvirtualizationasanadd-ontoageneral-purposeoperatingsystemparent

partitionThismixedarchitectureintroducesreliabilityconcernsastheparentOShasamuchlargerattack

suraceandbecomesasinglepointoailureThearthinnerVMwareESXihypervisorarchitectureremoves

dependenceonageneral-purposeOSinthevirtualizationlayerandrequiresnopatchingormaintenancetosecuregenericoperatingsystemcodethathasnothingtodowithvirtualization

VMwareESXiDierentiators

Small ESXi Code Footprint

AsshowninFigure1belowthecodeootprintdierencesbetweenVMwareESXiandotherhypervisorsare

dramaticCitrixXenServer6andtheLinuxoperatingsystemitrequiresmeasuresover1GBKVMinstallations

requireaLinuxinstallationandaresimilarlysizedAtypicalMicrosotWindowsServer2008R2Hyper-V

installationhasanearly10GBootprintandthemorestripped-downWindowsserverCorestillrequires34GB

Thosedierencesrepresentmillionsolinesocodeeachowhichincreasesthechancesobugsandvulnerabilities

Noneothevendorsothoseproductshaveannouncedanyplanstoremovedependenceongeneral-

purposeoperatingsystemsandapproachthetrulythindesignoVMwareESXi

Fr 1.Comparativehypervisordiskfootprints


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AnotherbenetothereducedcodeootprintoESXiisthereductioninpatchingrequirementsApplyingpatches

ondatacenterserversrequiresarrangingorproductiondowntimewindowsandadministratorovertimePatching

interruptionsareevenmoredisruptiveorvirtualizedhostsrunningmanyserverapplicationsHypervisorhosts

dependentonageneral-purposeoperatingsystemmustbepatchedevenorissuesthatareunrelatedto

virtualizationAsTable1showsMicrosotHyper-Vusersmustpatchandreboottheirhostsmostmonthseven

thoughthosepatchesrarelyrelatetoHyper-V

MicrosotHyper-VSystemsRequireFrequentPatching

May

2010

juNe

2010

july

2010

au G

2010

Sept

2010

oC t

2010

NoV

2010

de C

2010

ja N

2011

Fe b

2011

Ma r

2011

ap r

2011

Importantand

CriticalServer

CorePatches

1 1 8 4 6 0 9 1 7 2 8

#oPatches

Relatedto

Virtualization

Functionality

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

Reboot

Required?No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes

ESXi Direct Driver Architecture

TheVMwareESXiI/OarchitecturehasimportantdierencesromtheapproachtakenbyHyper-VandXenasshown

inFigure2ESXiusesadirectdrivermodelthatlocatesthedevicedriversthatlinkvirtualmachinestophysicaldevices

directlyintheESXihypervisorHyper-VandXenhaveanindirectdriverdesignthatroutesvirtualmachineI/Othrough

devicedriversintheWindowsorLinuxmanagementoperatingsystemsTheESXidirectdriverdesignutilizescertied

andhardenedI/OdriversthatmustpassrigoroustestingandoptimizationstepsperormedjointlybyVMwareand

thehardwarevendorsbeoretheyarecertiedorusewithVMwarevSphereWiththedriversinthehypervisor

VMwareESXicanprovidethemwithspecialtreatmentintheormoCPUschedulingandmemoryresourcesthat

theyneedtoprocessI/OloadsrommultiplevirtualmachinesConverselytheXenandMicrosotarchitecturesrelyon

routingallvirtualmachineI/OtogenericdriversinstalledintheLinuxorWindowsOSinthehypervisorsmanagement

partitionThesegenericdriverscanbeovertaxedbytheactivityomultiplevirtualmachinesWindowsServer2008

R2withHyper-VandXen-basedproductsbothusegenericdriversthatarenotoptimizedormanyvirtualmachine

workloadsthatarerunningconcurrentlyConsideringthatdevicedriverailuresareresponsibleorabout8percent

ocrashesonWindowsmachines(accordingtoTechnologyReview)theHyper-Vindirectdriverdesignputsits

virtualmachinesatriskromtheleastreliablecomponentoWindows

Fr 2.VMwareESXidirectdriverdesigncomparedtotheindirectdriverdesignofHyper-VandXen

Tabl 1.
http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/25676/?a=fhttp://www.technologyreview.com/computing/25676/?a=f


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ESXi Memory Management

SophisticatedandeectivememorymanagementhasalwaysbeenakeystrengthotheESXihypervisorthat

powersVMwarevSphereESXIemploysamulti-layeredapproachtomemorymanagementthatdeliversthe

mostecientmemoryusagebestVMdensitiesandlowestcoststousersvSphereletsusersprovidecritical

VMswithguaranteedmemoryThememorySharesandReservationsettingsprioritizememoryallocated

toeachVMandensureenoughhostRAMisreservedortheactiveworkingmemoryoeachguestOSESXi

ecientlyreclaimsmemoryromlessbusyvirtualmachineswhenneededbymoreactivevirtualmachines

usingourtechniques:transparentpagesharing;in-guestballooning;memorycompression;andhypervisor-

levelswappingThosetechnologiespermitaggressivememoryoversubscriptionwithminimalperormance

impactusinganysupportedESXiguestoperatingsystem

CitrixXenServerandMicrosotHyper-Vrelysolelyonin-guestballooningtheycallitDynamicMemoryto

reclaimmemoryandpermitmemoryoversubscriptionDevelopmentworkatVMwareand independenttesting

oCitrixXenServer6showninFigure3and independenttestingoMicrosotHyper-VR2SP1 showninFigure4

demonstratethatballooningalonecannotrespondastenoughandprovideenoughmemorysavingstoprevent

perormanceslowdownswhenmemoryisoversubscribed

MicrosotsDynamicMemoryeatureisincompatiblewithmanyMicrosotguestoperatingsystemsandapplications

andthereisnosupportornon-MicrosotguestsTouseDynamicMemoryMicrosotrecommendsthatHyper-V

virtualmachinesbeconguredwithminimalmemoryandmemoryishotaddedastheirneedsincreaseMany

applicationsandmanagementtoolsareunabletousethehotaddedmemoryorareconusedbyvaryingmemory

congurationsseeninvirtualmachines

Fr 3.ESXiusesmultiplememorymanagementtechniquesforbetterperformancethanCitrixXenServerwhen

memoryisoversubscribed

Fr 4.ESXidelivers19%higheraggregateperformancethanMicrosoftHyper-Vathighvirtualmachinedensities
http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/10129http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/vmware-maximize-workload-density-tg.pdfhttp://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/products/vsphere/VMware-vSphere-vs-Hyper-V.pdfhttp://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/products/vsphere/VMware-vSphere-vs-Hyper-V.pdfhttp://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/vmware-maximize-workload-density-tg.pdfhttp://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/10129


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HypervisorFeatureFunctionComparison

HyperVISor

dIFFereNtIatorS

VMWare

VSpHere 5

MICroSoFt

Hyper-V r2 Sp1

CItrIX

XeNSerVer 5.6

red Hat

eNterprISe

VIrtualIZatIoN2.2 (KVM)

Smallootprint

hypervisor

YesESXi1GB NoullLinuxOS

needed

DirectdriverI/O

design

Yesusesoptimized

driversinESXi

hypervisor

Nousesgeneric

Windowsdriversin

parentpartition

Nousesgeneric

Linuxdriversin

Domain0

Nousesgeneric

Linuxdriversinhost

OS

Advancedmemory

management

Yesusesour

levelsomemory

savingtechnology

orbestVMdensity

andperormance

supportsanyguestOS

Noreliesonlyon

in-guestballooning

limitedguestOS

supportguest

memoryarticially

changedusinghot-addRAM

Noreliesonlyon

in-guestballooning

Nomustmanually

reclaimmemory

romguestsusing

ballooning

LargeVirtualMachinesorTierApplicationSupport(newupdatedeatures)

FeatureDescription

VMwarevSpherenowsupportsvirtualmachineswithourtimestheCPUandmemorycapacityoprevious

versionstocustomerscanvirtualizetheirlargestTier1workloadsvSphere1virtualmachinescanscaleupto32

virtualCPUsand1TBoRAMtosupportthelargestdatabasesemailserversandscienticapplicationsvSphere

alsoprovidestheavailabilityanddisasterrecoveryeaturessuchlargeandmission-criticalapplicationsrequire

LargeVirtualMachineFeatureFunctionComparison

larGe VIrtualMaCHINe

dIFFereNtIatorS

VMWareVSpHere 5

MICroSoFtHyper-V r2 Sp1

CItrIXXeNSerVer 5.6

red HateNterprISe

VIrtualIZatIoN

2.2 (KVM)

Largescaleprocessor

congurationsor

virtualmachines

Yesupto-way

virtualSMP

supportedon

anyguestOS

Nolimitedto4-way

virtualmachines

supportedonlyon

selectedguestOSs

Nolimitedto4-way

virtualmachines

whenmanagedby

XenCenter

Partiallimitedto

16-wayvirtual

machines

Largescalememory

congurationsor

virtualmachines

YesuptoTBRAM

pervirtualmachine

Noonly64GBper

virtualmachine

Nomaximum32GB

pervirtualmachine

someguestOSs

limitedto4-16GB

Noonly26GBper

virtualmachine

SmallBusinessBundles(newupdatedeatures)FeatureDescription

OtenoverlookedincomparisonsovSpherewithothervirtualizationproductsaretheVMwareproductbundles

designedorsmallandmidsizebusinessesThe VMwarevSphereEssentialsandvSphereAccelerationkits provide

completesolutionsatveryattractivepricepointsandareresponsibleorthewidespreadadoptionovSphereas

thepreerredvirtualizationplatormbysmallandmidsizebusinessesStartingaslowas$83perprocessor

vSphereEssentialscombinespowerulvSpherevirtualizationeatureswithvCentermanagementoruptothree

dualprocessorserversvSphereAccelerationkitsprovidecustomerswiththeeaturesoundinhigher-level

vSphereeditionsorhostclusterstotalingsixtoeightprocessors
http://www.vmware.com/products/datacenter-virtualization/vsphere/small_business_editions_comparison.htmlhttp://www.vmware.com/products/datacenter-virtualization/vsphere/small_business_editions_comparison.html


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R e v i e w e R s g u i d e / 1 0


ThecompellingeaturesandpricingdeliveredbyVMwarevSphereEssentialsandAccelerationkitshavemade

VMwarethemarketshareleaderinthesmallandmidsizebusinesssegmentapositionthatmanyassumed

wouldgotoMicrosotbecauseotheirhistoricalstrengthsthereIntheirmostrecentMagicQuadrantorx86

ServerVirtualizationInrastructurereportGartnerstatesVMwareseemstobewinningatleast60%onew

midmarketcustomers

SmallBusinessBundleFeatureFunctionComparison

SMall buSINeSS

buNdle

dIFFereNtIatorS

VMWare

VSpHere 5

eSSeNtIalS &

aCCeleratIoN

KItS

MICroSoFt

Hyper-V r2 Sp1

WItH SySteM

CeNter

eSSeNtIalS

2010

CItrIX

XeNSerVer 5.6

red Hat

eNterprISe

VIrtualIZatIoN

2.2 (KVM)

Virtualizationbundles

designedorsmalland

midsizebusinesses

YesvSphere

Essentialsand

Accelerationkits

Nolimitedto4-way

virtualmachines

supportedonlyon

selectedguestOSs

NoSMBbundle

oered

NoSMBbundle

oered

Limitsonnumbero

managedvirtual

machines

No Yeshardlimito0

Windowsvirtual

machinesSQL

Serverrequiredi

>1virtualmachines

N/A N/A

Upgradestohigher-

leveleditions

YesEssentialsand

EssentialsPlus

upgradescredit

customersor

purchaseprice

whenupgradingto

higherAcceleration

Kiteditions

Nocustomers

mustpurchase

ullSystemCenter

licensesnocredit

oeredorSystem

CenterEssentials

purchase

N/A N/A

Low-costshared

storagesolution

YesvSphere

StorageAppliance

turnsserverdisks

intosharedstorage

extracostoption

No No No

Livemigrationand

highavailability

YesvMotionand

HAincludedin

EssentialsPlus

andabove

Yes N/A N/A

Advancedmemory

managementsupport

Yesullsupportor

vSpheremultiple

memorymanage-menttechnologies

inallkits

NoSystemCenter

Essentials2010

doesnotsupportDynamicMemory

N/A N/A
http://www.gartner.com/technology/media-products/reprints/vmware/213635.htmlhttp://www.gartner.com/technology/media-products/reprints/vmware/213635.htmlhttp://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenteressentials/archive/2011/04/18/a-quick-note-on-sce-2010-support-for-windows-server-2008-r2-sp1.aspxhttp://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenteressentials/archive/2011/04/18/a-quick-note-on-sce-2010-support-for-windows-server-2008-r2-sp1.aspxhttp://www.gartner.com/technology/media-products/reprints/vmware/213635.htmlhttp://www.gartner.com/technology/media-products/reprints/vmware/213635.html


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SMall buSINeSS

buNdle

dIFFereNtIatorS

VMWare

VSpHere 5

eSSeNtIalS &

aCCeleratIoN

KItS

MICroSoFt

Hyper-V r2 Sp1

WItH SySteM

CeNter

eSSeNtIalS2010

CItrIX

XeNSerVer 5.6

red Hat

eNterprISe

VIrtualIZatIoN

2.2 (KVM)

Role-basedsecurity Yesul lvCenter

role-basedaccess

controlssupported

Norequiresull

SystemCenter

OperationsManager

N/A N/A

Virtualnetwork

conguration

YesvCenter Norequiresull

SystemCenter

VirtualMachine

Manager

N/A N/A

Virtualmachineimport

andcloning

Yes Norequiresull

SystemCenter

VirtualMachine

Manager

N/A N/A

vShieldSecurity(newupdatedeatures)

FeatureDescription

TheVMwarevShieldamilyprovidesadaptiveandcost-eectivesecurityserviceswithinasinglemanagement

rameworkorsecuringvirtualdatacentersandcloudenvironmentsatalllevelshostnetworkapplicationdataand

endpointThevShieldproductsarebuiltromthegrounduptoprotectvirtualizedinrastructuremoreecientlyand

economicallythanlegacyphysicalapproachestosecurityrelieduponbyvSpherecompetitorsvShieldproducts

enorcesecurityattheESXihypervisorlevelandaremanagedbyspecializedvirtualappliancestomakesecurity

virtualization-awareThevShieldproductamilyincludes:

VMwarevShieldZones: Providesanapplicationrewallwithpoliciesbasedonbasictracinormationor

basicprotectionromnetworkthreats(includedwithvSphereEnterpriseandEnterprisePlusothervShield

componentsareextracost)VMwarevShieldApp: Protectsapplicationsinthevirtualdatacenteragainstnetwork-basedthreats

VMwarevShieldAppwithDataSecurity:AddstovShieldAppSensitiveDataDiscoveryacross

virtualizedresources

VMwarevShieldEdge: Enhancesprotectionorthevirtualdatacenterperimeter

VMwarevShieldEndpoint: Improvesperormancebyooadingkeyantivirusandanti-malwareunctions

toasecurityvirtualmachineeliminatingtheantivirusagentootprintinvirtualmachines

VMwarevShieldManager:SecuritymanagementrameworkincludedwithallvShieldproducts

VMwareSecurityDierentiators

VMwarecompetitorslackpurpose-builtvirtualization-awaresecuritysolutionslikevShieldMicrosotHyper-V

CitrixXenServerandRedHatEnterpriseVirtualizationarelimitedtolegacysecuritysolutionsbasedonphysicalappliancesComparedtothatlegacyapproachVMwarevShieldoersimportantadvantages

Simplermanagement:Physicalapproachestosecurityrequireseparatehardwareappliancesinteracesand

setsoexpertisetomanageprotectionornetworksrewallsloadbalancersandapplicationsvShieldreplaces

thatcomplexitywithacentralizedsecuritymanagementimplementedinasingleinteracethateliminatesthe

needormultiplepointsolutions

Virtualratherthanphysicalsecurityappliances: Hardwareappliancesusedbylegacysecuritysolutionsare

expensiveandlimitedinbandwidthandportcapacityvShieldconsolidatessecurityoperationsontoasingle

virtualappliancethatscaleswithoutthecostsandconstraintsophysicalimplementations


12/34



Hypervisor-basedLayerrewall:TraditionalmethodsorsecuringvirtualmachinesinthesameclusteruseVLAN

andportmappingrulestorestrictcommunicationsHoweverasvirtualmachinesareaddedVLANsprolierateto

thepointwherenetworkswitchportsareexhaustedandmigrationovirtualmachinesbetweenhostsrequires

manualrecongurationosecuritysettingsvShieldAppavoidsthoselimitationswithahypervisor-basedrewall

thatprotectsnetworksatthevirtualNIClevelandischange-awaresosecuritysettingsmovewithvirtualmachines

astheymigratewithinacluster

Hypervisor-levelintrospectionooadsantivirusprotection: Todayspracticeodeployingandantivirus

agentoneachvirtualmachinecannotcopewiththedemandsocloudcomputingToomanysimultaneous

securityscanscreateAVstormsthatsaturateprocessorsmemoryandstoragevShieldEndpointusesan

agentlessapproachwhereallvirtualmachinesareinspectedandprotectedconcurrentlyattheESXihypervisor

leveltoimproveperormanceandscalability

Adaptivetrustzoneseliminateneedorairgappedservers:MicrosotsHyper-VSecurityGuiderecommends

usersplacevirtualmachinesoasimilartrustlevelonthesamephysicalcomputerSuchairgapapproaches

weldvirtualmachinestohostsanddeeatthebenetsovirtualmachinemobilityanddynamicloadbalancing

thatareessentialtocloudcomputingvShieldAppturnssecuritypoliciesintologicalconstructsthatmovewith

virtualmachinespermittingadaptivetrustzonesthatprotectandisolatevirtualmachinesevenitheysharethe

samehostsAutomatedcontinuouscompliancechecking:Traditionalsecuritytoolsrequirespecialistsineacho

manyregulatoryprotocolstomanuallyensuredatagovernedbystandardslikePCISOXandHIPAAisproperly

protectedvShieldAppwithDataSecurityautomatesthecomplianceprocesswithover80regulatorytemplates

thatscananentirevSphereinrastructuretoensurecomplianceandcorrectvarianceswithsimpleone-click

remediationvShieldAppwithDataSecuritymakesstayingincompliancewithdataprotectionregulationssimpler

andlesscostly

SecurityFeatureFunctionComparison

SeCurIty

dIFFereNtIatorS

VMWare

VSpHere 5

WItH VSHIeld

MICroSoFt

Hyper-V r2 Sp1

CItrIX

XeNSerVer 5.6

red Hat

eNterprISe

VIrtualIZatIoN

2.2 (KVM)

Virtualization-aware

applicationrewall

YesvShieldZones

(includedwith

vSphereEnterprise

andEnterprisePlus)

andvShieldApp*

Norequireslegacy

physicalsecurity

tools

Norequireslegacy

physicalsecurity

tools

Norequireslegacy

physicalsecurity

tools

Hardware-ree

networksecurity

YesvShieldEdge*

enorcessecurityat

thehypervisorlevel

usingasinglevirtual

appliance

Norequires

hardwarerewall

VPNDHCPNAT

andload-balancing

appliances

Norequires

hardwarerewall

VPNDHCPNAT

andload-balancing

appliances

Norequires

hardwarerewall

VPNDHCPNAT

andload-balancing

appliances

Singlepaneoglass

securitymanagement

YeswithvShield

Manager*

Noseparate

securitytool

management

interaces

Noseparate

securitytool

management

interaces

Noseparate

securitytool

management

interaces

Hypervisor-level

introspectiontosecure

virtualmachines

YesvShield

Endpoint*requires

noguestagents

Nosecurityagents

neededineach

virtualmachine

AVstorms

Nosecurityagents

neededineach

virtualmachine

AVstorms

Nosecurityagents

neededineach

virtualmachine

AVstorms
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13/34



SeCurIty

dIFFereNtIatorS

VMWare

VSpHere 5

WItH VSHIeld

MICroSoFt

Hyper-V r2 Sp1

CItrIX

XeNSerVer 5.6

red Hat

eNterprISe

VIrtualIZatIoN

2.2 (KVM)

Automateddiscovery

andregulatory

complianceor

sensitivedata

YesvShieldApp*

withDataProtection

No No No

Adaptivetrustzones

protectionpersists

whenvirtualmachines

moved

YesvShieldApp*is

virtualization-aware

Nomust

reconguresecurity

settingsatervirtual

machinesmigrate

Nomust

reconguresecurity

settingsatervirtual

machinesmigrate

Nomust

reconguresecurity

settingsatervirtual

machinesmigrate

Logicalsecurityzones

withoutairgaps

YesvShieldApp*

securityzonesare

logicalconstructs

thatcansharehosts

Notraditional

securityapproach

requireszones

isolatedonair

gappedhosts

Notraditional

securityapproach

requireszones

isolatedonair

gappedhosts

Notraditional

securityapproach

requireszones

isolatedonair

gappedhosts

*VMwarevShieldZonesisincludedwithvSphereEnterpriseandEnterprisePluseditionsvShieldApp,vShieldEdgeandvShieldEndpointareextracost

additionstoVMwarevSphere

ResourceandPerormanceControls(newupdatedeatures)

Keepingvirtualmachinesisolatedromnoisyneighborsandprovidingthemwithresourceguaranteesto

ensuretheycanmeetservicelevelcommitmentsisessentialtovirtualizationandcloudcomputingVMware

vSpherecombinesuniquetechnologiesandautomationeaturestokeepvirtualmachinesrunningwiththe

resourcestheyneedevenasdatacenterworkloadsfuctuate

ClustersandResourcePools

OnlyvSpheresupportstrueresourcepoolsthataredivisibleandhierarchicalThismeansthattheaggregated

memoryandCPUresourcesoanESXihostclustercanbesplitintoseparateresourcepoolsandeachresourcepoolcanbesubdividedtocreateahierarchicalstructureHyper-VXenServerandRedHatEnterpriseVirtualization

aremissingtheseessentialeaturestheycanonlycreateasinglelargeresourcepoolincorporatingalltheCPUand

memoryacrossahostclusterWithvSphereresourcepoolsyoucansplitahostclusterintomultiplelogicalresource

poolsandassigneachtodierentbusinessunitswithassurancethattheywillbeullyisolatedAdditionallyeach

businessunitcansubdividetheirresourcepoolintosmallerunitsundertheircontrol

DistributedResourceScheduler

VMwareDistributedResourceScheduler(DRS)automaticallyloadbalancesresourceutilizationacrossacluster

oESXihostsbyusingvMotiontomigratevirtualmachinesromaheavilyutilizedESXihosttoamorelightly

usedESXihostVMwareDRSanalyzestheCPUandmemoryconsumptionoavirtualmachineovertimeto

determinewhethertomigrateitDRSselectsthebesttargethostoravirtualmachinetoassurethatresource

guaranteesaremetandanityandanti-anityrulesarehonored(tokeepvirtualmachinesonthesamehosts

ordierenthosts)vSphereaddsstoragespaceandI/Ocapacitytothelistoresourcesmonitoredwhenload

balancingdecisionsaremade(seebelow)

MicrosotHyper-VCitrixXenServerandRedHatEnterpriseVirtualizationdonothaveanythingsimilartoVMware

DRSbecausetheylacktheconceptotrueresourcepoolsToenableworkloadbalancingwithMicrosotHyper-V

usersmustleverageMicrosotPROTipswhichinturnrequireSystemCenterOperationsManageranadditional

productloosely-integratedwithSystemCenterVirtualMachineManagerWithMicrosotPROTipsresourcesare

monitoredatthehostlevelwithoutcoordinationamongnodesintheclusterbecausePROTipslacksabstraction

andaggregationcapabilitiesXenServerworkloadbalancingrequirescomplexinstallationoadditionalserversand

lacksanityrulesRedHatsdoesloadbalancingeaturealsolackanityrulesanddoesnotactorvirtualmachine

memoryusageintoitsdecisions


14/34



DistributedPowerManagement

VMwareDistributedPowerManagement(DPM)monitorstheCPUandmemoryresourceutilizationoacluster

anddetermineswhetheroneormoreESXihostsshouldbepoweredoorpoweredoninordertomaintaina

pre-denedresourceutilizationthresholdWhenclusterresourceutilizationislowDPMwillpoweroneormore

ESXihostsotosavepowerThenwhenclusterresourceutilizationbecomeshighDPMwillpoweroneormore

ESXihostsbackonassumingthereareanyavailabletobepoweredonTestshavedemonstratedsavingso

0%inpowerconsumptionwhenDPMisused

VMwareDPMsupportsthreedierentwakeprotocols:IntelligentPlatormManagementInterace(IPMI)Integrated

Lights-out(iLO)andWake-On-LAN(WOL)DPMcanselectivelyexcludehostsrompowermanagementand

optionallyimplementsrecommendationsinmanualmode(Adminneedstoapprove)orullyautomatedmode

MicrosotHyper-VwithSCVMMsupportonlycoreparkingtoshutoindividualCPUcoreswhichprovidesonly

minimalpowersavingsCitrixXenServerAdvancedPowerManagementismissingsupportorout-o-bandserver

managementprotocolslikeIPMIthatareneededtoreliablyrestoreserverpowerRedHatsPowerSavereature

consolidatesvirtualmachinesbutitdoesnotpowerdownthehosts

NetworkandStorageIOControls

NetworkI/OControl(NetIOC)trac-managementprioritizationenablesfexiblepartitioningoresourcepooland

physicalnetworkadaptorbandwidthbetweendierenttractypesincludingvirtualmachinevMotionault-

tolerantandIPstoragetracStorageI/OControl(SIOC)providesquality-o-servicecapabilitiesorstorageI/Oin

theormoI/Osharesandlimitsthatareenorcedacrossallvirtualmachinesaccessingadatastoreregardlesso

whichhosttheyarerunningonUsingSIOCvSphereadministratorscanensurethatthemostimportantvirtual

machinesgetadequateI/Oresourcesevenintimesocongestion

NetworkandStorageI/OControlssolvethenoisyneighborproblemwhereanoverlyactivevirtualmachine

canstarveothersothenetworkandstoragebandwidththeyneedtomeetservicelevelguaranteesProducts

romMicrosotCitrixandRedHathavenomethodtolimitstorageandnetworkresourcecontention

HotAddVirtualMachineResources

Despitetheextensiveplanningthatgoesintotheinitialsizingandcongurationoavirtualmachineitcanbedicult

topredictandaccommodatesuddenchangesinworkloaddemandsWithVMwareHotAddcapacitycanbe

dynamicallyaddedtovirtualmachineswhiletheyarepoweredonThisenablesapplicationstoscaleseamlessly

withoutdisruptionordowntimevSphereallowsadministratorstohotaddCPUsandRAMtovirtualmachineswithnodowntimeprovidedtheguestOSsupportsthatoperationvSpherealsosupportshotaddingandremovingo

virtualdevicessuchasvirtualdisksvirtualNICsandUSBdevicesFurthervSpheresuniqueabilitytohotgrowa

VMFSvolumetoaddcapacitytoadatastoreandhotextendvirtualdisksallowsadministratorstorespondto

increasingvirtualmachinestoragerequirementswithoutdowntime

MicrosotHyper-VandXenproductslikeCitrixXenServerandOracleVMcannotexpandmountedstorage

devicesStorageexpansionsrequireun-mountingthestoragevolumesandsincethoseproductshavenolive

storagemigrationcapabilityVMdowntimeisrequired


15/34



ResourceandPerormanceControlFeatureFunctionComparison

reSourCe aNd

perForMaNCe

CoNtroldIFFereNtIatorS

VMWare

VSpHere 5

MICroSoFt

Hyper-V r2 Sp1

CItrIX

XeNSerVer 5.6

red Hat

eNterprISe


Largeclustersize Yes upto32hosts

and3000virtual

machinesper

cluster

No16hostlimito

MicrosotCluster

Services

Undocumented Undocumented

Logicalresourcepools Yes NorequiresSCVMM Nocannot

subdivideresources

opooledhosts

Nocannot

subdivideresources

opooledhosts

Hierarchicalresource

pools

Yesorganize

resourcepoolsto

matchbusinessunit

structure

No No No

Easilyaddcapacityto

resourcepools

Yesaddnew

physicalserverstoa

resourcepooland

DRSredistributes

virtualmachines

Noresources

addedatcluster

levelonly

Noresources

addedathost

poollevelonly

Noresources

addedatcluster

levelonly

Resourcesharesand

reservations

YesspeciyCPU

memorynetwork

andstorage

resources;honored

atresourcepool

level

Nostorageshares

sharesapplyonly

acrossentirehost

cluster

Noshares

reservationsapply

onlyacrossentire

hostcluster

Networkshares

onlyapplyacross

entirehostcluster

Virtualmachineanity/

anti-anityrules

Yesspeciyhosts

allowedoreach

virtualmachine

keepvirtual

machinespaired

orseparated

No VMhostanity

checkedonlyon

initialstartup

No

Dynamicworkload

balancing

YesVMwareDRS Requirescomplex

SCVMMSCOM

andPROTips

conguration

PROTipstobe

discontinued

WorkloadBalancing

requiresadditional

serversand

Enterpriseor

PlatinumEditions

Onlybalances

basedonhost

CPUusage

Loadbalancingbased

onstorageresourceuse

YesVMware

StorageDRS

No No No


16/34



reSourCe aNd

perForMaNCe

CoNtrol

dIFFereNtIatorS

VMWare

VSpHere 5

MICroSoFt

Hyper-V r2 Sp1

CItrIX

XeNSerVer 5.6

red Hat

eNterprISe

VIrtualIZatIoN

2.2 (KVM)

Loadbalancing

compatibility

withmemory

overcommitment

Yesallowsvirtual

machinemigrations

thatresultin

overcommitted

hostsiresult

improvesbalancing

No No No

Loadbalancing

compatibilitywith

HighAvailability

andFaultTolerance

eatures

YesDRSworkswith

virtualmachines

protectedby

VMwareHAandFT

No No No

Host-levelpower

management

YesVMwareDPM

consolidatesvirtual

machinesand

powersohosts

usingreliableWOL

IPMIandiLO

protocols

Limitedcore

parkingeature

doesnotpower

downhosts

minimalpower

savings

AdvancedPower

Management

eaturelacksIPMI

support

NoPowerSaver

eaturedoesnot

powerdownhosts

Hostprocessorpower

savingeaturesupport

YessupportsIntel

SpeedStepand

TurboModeAMD

PowerNowand

processorsleep

states

No No No

Guaranteenetworkresourcesorcritical

virtualmachines

YesVMwareNetworkIO

Controlsexibly

partitionspecic

networktrafc

typesatDistributed

Switchresource

poolandvirtual

machinelevels

No No No

Guaranteestorage

resourcesorcritical

virtualmachines

YesVMware

StorageIO

Controlsapplyper

virtualmachine

storagesharesand

limitstocontrolFCiSCSIandNFS

bandwidthusage

No No No


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reSourCe aNd

perForMaNCe

CoNtrol

dIFFereNtIatorS

VMWare

VSpHere 5

MICroSoFt

Hyper-V r2 Sp1

CItrIX

XeNSerVer 5.6

red Hat

eNterprISe

VIrtualIZatIoN

2.2 (KVM)

HotAddvirtual

machineRAM

Yesworkswithany

guestOSsupporting

hotaddRAM

Yes No No

HotAddvirtual

machineCPU

Yesworkswithany

guestOSsupporting

hotaddCPU

No No No

HotAddvirtualdisks

andNICs

Yesaddorremove

virtualstorageand

networkingdevices

withoutuser

disruption

Limitedonly

supportshotadd

andremoveo

virtualSCSIdrives

No No

HotExtendvirtualdisks Yesextendvirtual

diskcapacitynon-

disruptively

No No No

NetworkingFeatures

VMwarevSpheretechnologygivesyoutheabilitytocreatecongureandmanagescalablevirtualnetworks

withinVMwareESXihostsVMwarevirtualnetworkingextendsdatacenterphysicalnetworkingeatures

standardsandprinciplestovirtualobjectsorgreatergranularityandcontrol

IntegratedNetworkFailoverandLoadBalancing

VMwarevSphereallowsuserstobenetromNICteamingloadbalancingtracshapingandsecurityevenwhen

notnativelysupportedbyhardwareWithvSphereuserscanperormundamentalnetworkingmanagementtasks

directlyromvCenterServerUserscansetupNICteamingandloadbalancingpoliciesshapeoutboundtracrom

virtualswitchesandsetuplayer-2(datalinklayer)networkingsecurityMicrosotdoesnotprovidenativesupportorNICteamingandorcesuserstorelyonNIChardwarecapabilitieswhicharetypicallymanagedthroughunamiliar

andcomplexCommandLineInteracesorthird-partyutilitiesMicrosotdoesnotdirectlysupportNICteamingand

loadbalancingsousersmustrelyonhardwarevendorsHyper-VusersmustalsouseseparateWindowsinteraces

tocongureiSCSIstorageVMwarevSpheregreatlyreducesthecomplexityrelatedtonetworkingmanagementby

providingahardwareindependentsolutionthatgivesusersgreaterfexibilityochoiceandcanbemanageddirectly

romvCenterinjustaeweasyclicks

VMwarevSphereDistributedSwitch

ThevSphereDistributedSwitch(vDS)simpliesvirtualmachinenetworkingbyenablingyoutosetupvirtualmachine

networkingoryourentiredatacenterromacentralizedinteraceAsinglevDSspansmanyvSpherehosts

andaggregatesnetworkingtoacentralizeddatacenterlevelAvDSabstractsthecongurationoindividual

virtualswitchesandenablescentralizedprovisioningadministrationandmonitoringthroughVMwarevCenterServer

WithavDSadministratorsnolongerneedtomanuallycongurehostswithidenticalnetworksettingstoensure

successulvMotionsAvDSenablesNetworkvMotionwherethestateoavirtualmachinesnetworkportsollowitas

itismigratedbetweenhostsPortstateincludessettingsorVLANsandprivateVLANsbidirectionaltracshaping

andNICteamingaswellasnetworkperormancecounters

MicrosotandRedHathavenothingequivalenttothevDSavailableortheirhypervisorsTheirusersmust

separatelycongurevirtualswitchesineachhypervisorandmanuallyensuretheyareconguredproperlyCitrix

XenServerrecommendsanopensourceprojectcallOpenvSwitchbutitrequiresaseparatemanagementinterace

andisasinglepointoailure


18/34



CiscoNexusV

ThevSphereDistributedSwitchisthebasisortheoptionalCiscoNexus1000VwhichprovidesvSpherewithan

extendedCiscoNexus/CatalysteaturesetplustheamiliarIOSinteraceWiththeNexus1000Vitseasyor

networkadministratorsamiliarwithCiscoenvironmentstomanageavirtualizednetworkinrastructure

PrivateVLANs

PrivateVLANsupportinthevSphereDistributedSwitchletsyouextendnetworkingbestpracticesorisolationandIP

addressconservationtothevirtualdomainOnlyVMwarevSpheresupportsPrivateVLANsCitrixXenServer6and

RedHatEnterpriseVirtualizationaremissingthateaturePrivateVLANsareincommonuseindatacenterstodene

privateswitchportsthatarerestrictedtoasinglenetworkuplinkvSpherePrivateVLANsareeasilyconguredasport

groupsonavDS

NetworkingFeatureFunctionComparison

NetWorKING

dIFFereNtIatorS

VMWare

VSpHere 5

MICroSoFt

Hyper-V r2 Sp1

CItrIX

XeNSerVer 5.6

red Hat

eNterprISe

VIrtualIZatIoN

2.2 (KVM)

IntegratedNIC

teamingandload

balancingsupport

YesIntegrated

nativesupportor

active/activeand

active/passive

networkadaptor

teamingandload

balancingpolicies

No NICteaming

supportedbut

limited

congurabilityno

loadbalancing

(lacksLACP

support)

No

Distributedvirtual

switch

YesvSphere

DistributedSwitch

centralizesnetwork

congurationacross

manyhosts

Nomustcongure

virtualswitcheson

eachhost

LimitedOpen

vSwitchisasingle

pointoailure

poorlyintegrated

withXenServer

Nomustcongure

virtualswitcheson

eachhost

Third-partyvirtual

switch

YesCiscoNexus

1000Vimplements

anIOSswitchonthe

vSphereDistributed

Switch

No No No

PrivateVLANs Yesimplementedin

vSphereDistributed

Switch

Yes No No

StorageFeatures(newupdatedeatures)

VMwarevSpherestoragevirtualizationisacombinationoVMwarevSphereeaturesandAPIsthatprovidean

abstractionlayerorphysicalstorageresourcestobeaddressedmanagedandoptimizedinavirtualization

deploymentvSpherestorageisuniqueinprovidingahighperormancedistributedclusterlesystem(VMFS)

andsupportorover1200storagearrayvarieties


19/34



StoragevMotion

VMwareStoragevMotionrelocatesvirtualmachinedisklesromonesharedstoragelocationtoanothershared

storagelocationwithzerodowntimecontinuousserviceavailabilityandcompletetransactionintegrityStorage

vMotionenablesorganizationstoperormproactivestoragemigrationssimpliyarraymaintenanceandmigrations

improvevirtualmachinestorageperormanceandreeupvaluablestoragecapacityStorageVMotionis

ul lyintegratedwithVMwarevCenterServerandsupportsmigrationsovirtualmachineswithsnapshotsorthose

basedonlinkedclonesCitrixXenServerandRedHatEnterpriseVirtualizationoernolivestoragemigration

eaturesHyper-VR2oersonlyQuickStorageMigrationwhichrequiresVMdowntimetocompletemigrations

StorageDistributedResourceScheduler

ThenewVMwareStorageDRSeatureinvSphereaddsstorageI/OresourcesandspacecapacitytotheCPU

andmemoryresourcesmonitoredwhenmakingloadbalancingdecisionsStorageDRSoptimizesplacemento

newlyprovisionedvirtualmachinesacrossacollectionodatastoresaggregatedintoasingledatastorecluster

anditautomatesmonitoringongoingbalancingothestorageenvironmentStorageDRSprovidesanityrules

tocontrolwhichvirtualdisksshouldorshouldnotbeplacedonthesamedatastoreNocompetingvirtualization

productsoeranythingcomparabletoVMwareStorageDRS

Prole-DrivenStorage

AnotherexclusivevSpherestorageeatureProle-DrivenStorageletsuserswithmultipletiersostorage

perormanceensurethatvirtualmachinesalwaysusethedatastoresthatmatchtheirservicelevelrequirements

vSphereadministratorsclassiytheirdatastoresintoStorageProlesbasedontheservicelevelstheyprovide

VirtualmachinesareassignedaStorageProlewhenprovisionedandvSpherethenensuresthattheyareinitially

placedonamatchingdatastoreandthatanyStorageDRSmigrationsarelimitedtoeligiblestoragetiersvSphere

StorageProlescanevenuseStoragevMotiontomovevirtualdisksonnoncompliantdatastorestothecorrect

storagetiersMicrosotHyper-VCitrixXenServerandRedHatEnterpriseVirtualizationhavenosimilarstorage

eaturessoadministratorsusingthoseproductsmustmanuallyassignvirtualmachinestoavailablestorage

ThinProvisioning

VMwarevSphereThinProvisioningallowsover-allocationostoragecapacityorincreasedstorageutilization

enhancedapplicationuptimeandsimpliedstoragecapacitymanagementYoulllowercapitalandoperating

expendituresbyreducingdiskpurchaseandcuttingthepowerandcoolingcostotheexcessdiskInaddition

tothecapabilityocreatingthinprovisioneddisksVMwarevSpherealsoprovidesabuilt-inconsumption-basedmonitoringsystemwithwhichadministratorscancontroldiskspaceavailabilitylevelsConsumption-based

monitoringisessentialtotheuseothinprovisioningwithouttheriskounexpectedlyrunningooutospace

MicrosotHyper-Vsupportsthinprovisioneddisksbutdoesnotprovideanyconsumption-basedmonitoring

systemmakingthinprovisioningextremelyriskyandthereoreunlikelytobeadoptedinproductionInact

MicrosotrecommendsagainstuseoHyper-VDynamicExpandingvirtualdisksinproductionRedHatalso

recommendsagainstuseothindisksorservervirtualmachinesCitrixXenServersupportsthindisksonlyon

thesmallnumberoarrayssupportingtheirStorageLinkeature

vSphereStorageAppliance

VMwarevSphereStorageApplianceisextracostsotwareorvSpherethatdeliverssharedstoragebenets

withoutthecostandcomplexityosharedstoragehardwareVMwarevSphereStorageApplianceextendsthe

benetsovirtualizationtoallSMBsbytransorminginternalstorageromseveralserverhostsintoaprotected

sharedstorageresourceEasilyinstalledwithasimpleive-clickconigurationvSphereStorageAppliance

combinesthelocaldisksonuptothreevSpherehostsintoavirtualstoragearraymanagedbyvCenterAllvSpheresharedstorageapplicationsaresupportedincludingvMotionHighAvailabilityandFaultToleranceSmallbusiness

usersoMicrosotHyper-VCitrixXenServerandRedHatEnterprisevirtualizationacethecostsandcomplexityo

physicalsharedstoragearraysitheywantaccesstosucheatures
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StorageFeatureFunctionComparison

StoraGe

dIFFereNtIatorS

VMWare

VSpHere 5

MICroSoFt

Hyper-V r2 Sp1

CItrIX

XeNSerVer 5.6

red Hat

eNterprISe


Clusterlesystem YesupdatedVMFS

highperormance

distributedcluster

lesystemincluded

withvSphere

enablesvirtual

machinemobility

andhighavailability

ClusterShare

Volumesrequired

orsharedstorage

livemigrationisa

hybridlesystem

onNTFS

No RedHatGFSisextra

costnotintegrated

withRHEV

Broadarraysupport YesvSpheresup-

portsover1200FC

iSCSIandNASarrays

Nostorage

management

eatures

Limitedonly98

arrayssupported

Notdocumented

Livestoragemigration YesStorage

vMotionenables

livevirtualdisk

migrationsbetween

datastoresoany

type:FCiSCSNFS

andlocaldisk

NoQuickStorage

Migrationrequires

extendedvirtual

machinedowntime

No No

Automatedstorage

loadbalancing

YesStorageDRS

optimizesvirtual

machinedata

placement

includesAfnity

Anti-Afnityrules

orvirtualdisks

No No No

Automatedassignment

ovirtualmachinesto

datastoresmeeting

necessaryservice

levels

YesProle-Driven

Storageensure

virtualmachines

areoncorrect

storageremediates

complianceusing

StoragevMotion

No No No

Thindisksupport

withlowbacking

storagealerts

YesvSphereThin

Provisioning

supportssnapshots

andlinkedclones

consumption-basedmonitoringalerts

whenphysical

storagerunslow

Thindisksnot

recommendedin

productionnolow

storagealerts

Limitedrequires

StorageLinkand

supportedSAN

noNASsupport

Documentation

recommends

againstthindisks

orserverVMs

Sotware-based

sharedstorage

YesvSphere

StorageAppliance*

combineslocal

storageothree

vSpherehostsinto

avirtualSAN

No No No

*vShieldZonesivSphereStorageApplianceisanextracostadditiontovSphere


21/34



BusinessContinuityFeatures(newupdatedeatures)

VMwarehastakenaholisticapproachtobusinesscontinuityenablingcustomerstoprotectallapplications

runningonvSpherewithsimpleandcost-eectivesolutionstosupportvarioustypesobusinesscontinuity

objectivesincluding:highavailabilitydataprotectionanddisasterrecoveryThehighavailabilityanddataprotectioneaturesdescribedbelowareintegraltovSphereReviewersconcernedwithdisasterrecovery

shouldinvestigateVMwarevCenterSiteRecoveryManageraproductsoldseparatelyromvSphere

vMotion

vMotiontechnologydeployedinproductionby80%oVMwarecustomersleveragesthecompletevirtualization

oserversstorageandnetworkingtomoveanentirerunningvirtualmachineinstantaneouslyromoneserverto

anothervMotionusestheVMwareVMFSclusterlesystemtocontrolaccesstoavirtualmachinesstorageDuringa

vMotiontheactivememoryandpreciseexecutionstateoavirtualmachineisrapidlytransmittedoverahighspeed

networkromonephysicalservertoanotherandaccesstothevirtualmachinesdiskstorageisinstantlyswitchedto

thenewphysicalhostSincethenetworkisalsovirtualizedbytheVMwarehostthevirtualmachineretainsits

networkidentityandconnectionsensuringaseamlessmigrationprocessvMotionallowsuserstoavoiddowntime

whenperorminghardwaremaintenanceorbalancingvirtualmachinesacrosshosts

UniquetoVMwarevMotionissupportoruptoeightconcurrenthighspeedvirtualmachinemigrationsperhostMicrosotCitrixandRedHathostssupportonlyoneslowerspeedmigrationmeaningevacuatingvirtualmachines

romhoststakesarlongerandphysicalmaintenancedowntimewindowsareextendedWithvSpherevMotionis

nowcompatiblewithhigherlatencynetworklinkssothatMetrovMotionspanninggreaterdistancesissupported

HighAvailability

VMwarevSphereHighAvailability(HA)utilizesheartbeatsbetweenvSpherehostsandvirtualmachinesin

theclustertocheckthattheyareunctioningWhenahostorvirtualmachineailureisdetectedVMwareHA

automaticallyrestartsaectedvirtualmachinesonotherproductionserversensuringrapidrecoveryrom

ailuresOnceVMwareHAiscongureditoperateswithoutdependenciesonoperatingsystemsapplications

orphysicalhardware

WhilevSpherehasmadeHAeveneasiertosetupMicrosotHyper-Vrequiresseparatetoolstocreatehighly

availableclusters(MicrosotFailoverClusterManager)andtoenablehighavailabilityonHyper-Vhosts(Microsot

VirtualMachineManager)InadditiontoallowhighlyavailablevirtualmachinestoshareLUNsusersneedtodeployMicrosotClusterSharedVolumesahybridclusterlesystemthatgreatlycomplicatesstorageadministration

Hyper-Valsolacksvirtualmachinerestartpriorityneededtoensurecriticalworkloadsarerecoveredrst

FaultTolerance

vSphereFaultTolerance(FT)providescontinuousavailabilityorapplicationsintheeventoserverailuresby

creatingaliveshadowinstanceoavirtualmachinethatisinvirtuallockstepwiththeprimaryinstanceByallowing

instantaneousailoverbetweenthetwoinstancesintheeventohardwareailureFTeliminateseventhesmallest

chanceodatalossordisruptionvSphereFTisauniqueVMwareeatureItisthesimplestandmostcosteective

solutiontoenablezerodowntimeandzerodatalossprotectionagainsthardwareailures

Easiesttouse: vSphereFTenablescontinuousavailabilityorvirtualmachinesandapplicationsinamattero

ewclickswiththesamesimpleprocessasvSphereHAOnceavirtualmachineismadeFaultTolerantwith

vSphereFTvSpherewillautomaticallyplacetheshadowvirtualmachineonthemostappropriatesecondary

hostandmaintainthetwovirtualmachinesinperectlock-stepdowntotheCPUinstructionlevel

Mostcosteective: vSphereFTdoesnotrequirespecializedhardwareoradditionalthird-partysotwareItis

anintegralpartovSphereworkswithall80+supportedguestOSsandiscompatiblewithotherkeyeatures

suchasVMwarevMotionandDRS

Citrixreliesonanexpensivepoorlyintegratedrd-partyproductoraulttolerance XenServerusersmust

purchaseMarathoneverRunVMatacostoalmost$3000perservereverRunVMsmanagementisnot

integratedguestOSsupportisverylimitedanditreducesI/OperormanceoVMs

TherearenoaulttoleranceoptionsavailableorMicrosotHyper-VorRedHatEnterpriseVirtualization
http://www.vmware.com/products/site-recovery-manager/overview.htmlhttp://www.vmware.com/products/site-recovery-manager/overview.html


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VMwareDataRecovery

VMwareDataRecoveryisadisk-basedbackupandrecoverysolutionthatprovidescompletedataprotectionor

virtualmachinesVMwareDataRecoveryisullyintegratedwithVMwarevCenterServertoenablecentralized

andecientmanagementobackupjobsandincludesdatade-duplicationtominimizediskusageVMware

DataRecoveryincludespoweruleaturessuchasullandincrementaldisk-basedbackupandrecoveryimage

levelandindividuallerestore(includingLinuxguests)andVSSsupportorconsistentbackupsoMicrosot

operatingsystemsandapplicationsVMwareDataRecoveryde-duplicatesdatatoconservediskspaceandit

supportsanytypeostorageFibreChanneliSCSINASorlocaldisk

TogetsimilarcapabilitiesorHyper-VyoudneedtopurchaseandcongureSystemCenterDataProtection

ManageranextracostserverthatisnotintegratedwithHyper-VCitrixXenServerandRedHatEnterprise

Virtualizationbothlackcomparablebackupeatures

BusinessContinuityFeatureFunctionComparison

buSINeSS

CoNtINuIty

dIFFereNtIatorS

VMWare

VSpHere 5

MICroSoFt

Hyper-V r2 Sp1

CItrIX

XeNSerVer 5.6

red Hat

eNterprISe

VIrtualIZatIoN

2.2 (KVM)

Multipleconcurrent

livemigrations

Yesconcurrent

vMotionsonGb

andconcurrent

vMotionsonGb

networks

Nohostssupport

onlyonelive

migrationatatime

Nohostssupport

onlyonelive

migrationatatime

Nohostssupport

onlyonelive

migrationatatime

Metroarealive

migrations

YesMetro

vMotionsupported

withuptoms

roundtriplatency

betweenhosts

No No No

Livemigrations

betweendierent

processorssupported

YesEnhanced

vMotionCom-

patibilityusesIntel

FlexMigrationand

AMD-VExtended

Migrationeatures

olderprocessors

alsosupported

LimitedHyper-VR2

CPUCompatibility

Modedegradesall

virtualmachinesto

Pentium4

RequiresXenServer

EnterpriseEdition

andIntel

FlexMigrationor

AMDExtended

Migrationsupport

Limitedvirtual

CPUsmaskedto

PentiumIIeatures

Virtualmachinerestart

incaseohostailure

Yesupdated

vSphereHAworks

withallsupported

guestOSs

Yesrequires

Microsotailover

clusteringlimited

guestOSsupport

Yes Yes


incaseoguestailure

Yes YesHyper-VR2

willmonitorVMheartbeat

No Yes


incaseoapplication

ailure

YeswithSymantec

ApplicationHA

(rd-partyadd-on)

Yes No No


23/34



buSINeSS

CoNtINuIty

dIFFereNtIatorS

VMWare

VSpHere 5

MICroSoFt

Hyper-V r2 Sp1

CItrIX

XeNSerVer 5.6

red Hat

eNterprISe

VIrtualIZatIoN

2.2 (KVM)

Nosinglepointo

ailureorhigh

availability

YesvSphereHA

ensuresvirtual

machinerestart

evenivCenter

Serverisunavailable

Yesrequires

Microsotailover

clustering

Yes NoVMswont

restartiRHEV

Managerisdown


priority

Yesensurethe

mostcriticalvirtual

machinesare

restartedrst

No Yes No

Resourcechecksto

ensureallvirtual

machinescanrestarti

ahostails

YesvSphereHA

continuously

monitorscapacity

useandreserves

sparecapacityor

virtualmachine

restarts

No No No

Highavailability

protectionorlarge

clusters

Yesupto32hosts

and3000virtual

machinespercluster

NoFailover

Clusteringlimitedto

16hosts/cluster

Undocumented Undocumented

Zerodowntimezero

datalosscontinuous

availability

YesvSphereFT

automatically

detectsserver

ailuresand

triggersinstant

stateulailover

No Requiresextracost

Marathon

Technologies

everRunVMno

management

integration

No

Maintainprotection

levelsaterailover

YesFTcreatesa

newsecondary

virtualmachine

aterailover

No NoMarathon

everRundoesnot

assignnew

secondaryhosts

ateraailure

No

Continuousavailability

withalltypesoshared

storage

YesFTsupports

FCiSCSINASand

vSphereStorage

Appliance

No NoNASsupport No


orallguestoperatingsystems

YesFTcompatible

withall80+vSpheresupportedguests

No NoWindowsServer

2003and2008only

No


24/34



buSINeSS

CoNtINuIty

dIFFereNtIatorS

VMWare

VSpHere 5

MICroSoFt

Hyper-V r2 Sp1

CItrIX

XeNSerVer 5.6

red Hat

eNterprISe

VIrtualIZatIoN

2.2 (KVM)


iscompatiblewithlive

migrationandHA

YesFTsupports

vMotionStorage

vMotionDRSHA

No No No

Disk-basedbackup

andrecoveryor

virtualmachines

YesVMwareData

Recoveryisully

integratedwith

vSphere

RequiresSystem

CenterData

ProtectionManager

extracostandnot

integratedwith

Hyper-V

No No

Fullandincremental

virtualmachine

backup

YesVMwareData

Recovery

SCDPMtreats

virtualmachinesas

physical

No No

Imageleveland

individuallerestore

YesVMwareData

Recovery

RequiresSCDPM No No

Backupdata

de-duplication

Yesde-duplication

inVMwareData

Recoveryreduces

backupsizeandtime

No No No

VSSbackupsupport YesVMwareData

RecoveryVSS

supportenables

consistentbackups

oWindowsvirtual

machines

RequiresSCDPM No No

ManagementandProvisioningFeatures(newupdatedeatures)

TheVMwarevCenterServerplatormistheindustrysmostrobustvirtualizationmanagementsolutionAdvanced

capabilitiesprovidethegreatestvisibilityproactivemanagementandscalabilityoryourvirtualenvironment

vCenterServerisaoundationyoucaneasilyextendorend-to-endintegrationwithyourphysicalenvironment

anduponwhichyoucanbuildaprivatecloudinrastructure

vCenterServerAppliance

QuicklydeployvCenterServerandmanagevSphereusingaLinux-basedvirtualapplianceThevCenterServer

Appliance(vCSA)providesullvCenterServerunctionalitypackagedasanOpenVirtualizationFormat(OVF)

templatethatinstallsinlessthanveminutesThevCSAsharesthesamecapabilitiesasaWindows-basedvCenter

Server(exceptionsarelinkedmodeandSQLServersupport)EnterprisesthathavestandardizedonLinuxwillnd

thevCSAoersastreamlineddeploymentexperiencereeoMicrosotWindowsThevCSAmakesvSphereamoreattractivesolutionorLinuxshopscomparedtoCitrixXenServerandRedHatEnterpriseVirtualizationboth

owhichrequireWindow-basedmanagementservers

vSphereWebClient

ThevSphereWebClientenablesmanagingtheessentialunctionsovSphereromanybrowseranywhereinthe

worldItisaull-unctionalternativetotheWindows-basedvSphereClientthatoersevengreaterscalability

andextensibilityorvSphereuserslookingoralternativestothickWindowsclientsormanagingtheirvSphere

environmentsOnlyVMwareoersthechoiceoaplatorm-neutralbrowsermanagementinteraceMicrosot

CitrixandRedHatallsupportonlythickWindowsclientswiththeirvirtualizationplatorms


25/34



vCenterLinkedMode

VMwarevCenterLinkedModeprovidesascalablearchitectureandvisibilityacrossmultiplevCenterServer

instanceswithrolespermissionsandlicensesreplicatedacrosstheinrastructuresoyoucansimultaneously

loginviewandsearchtheinventoriesoallvCenterServersromasinglevSphereClientLinkedModeuses

acommondirectoryoglobalvCenterServerdatatopermitsharingoadministrativeuserrolesandlicenses

acrossalllinkedvSpheredatacenters

vCenterLinkedModeaccommodatescustomizedpermissionsrangingromlimitedaccessonjustasingle

vCenterServertoglobaladministratoraccesstoeveryvSphereobjectinaLinkedModegroup

MicrosotrequiresSystemCenterVirtualMachineManagertomanagemultipleHyper-Vhostsbutmultiple

SCVMMserverscannotbelinkedSystemCenterVirtualMachineManagersupportsonly400hostsand

8000VMssoasinglevCenterServercanmanagelargerinrastructures(1000hostsand10000virtual

machines)andLinkedModescalestoarlargersizesCitrixXenCentercanmanagemultipleXenServerresource

poolsbutthosepoolsarelimitedtojust16hostsRedHatEnterpriseVirtualizationislimitedtoonly0hosts

whichisthemaximumsupportedbytheRHEVManager

AutoDeploy

AutoDeployallowsyoutodeploymorevSpherehostsrunningtheESXihypervisorarchitectureonthefytodisklessserversOncerunningcompletelyeliminatepatchingbypushingoutupdatedimagesratherthan

schedulingpatchwindowsMicrosotHyper-VrequiresadditionoSystemCenterCongurationManagerand

complexragilecongurationstepstoautomatehostinstallationsCitrixXenServercandobasicPXEbooto

hostsbutunlikevSphereAutoDeployithasnoeaturestoautomateselectionandcustomizationoully

coniguredhostimagesRedHatEnterpriseVirtualizationhostscanonlybootromlocaldiskssoauto

deploymenttodisklesshostsisnotpossible

HostProles

HostProlescreatesaprolethatencapsulatesthehostcongurationandhelpstomanagethehostconguration

especiallyinenvironmentswhereanadministratormanagesmorethanonehostinvCenterServerHostproles

eliminatesper-hostmanualorUI-basedhostcongurationandmaintainscongurationconsistencyandcorrectness

acrossthedatacenterHostprolepoliciescapturetheblueprintoaknownvalidatedreerencehostconguration

andusethistocongurenetworkingstoragesecurityandothersettingsonmultiplehostsorclustersYoucanthen

checkahostagainstaprolescongurationandautomaticallyremediateanydeviations

NeitherMicrosotVirtualMachineManager(SCVMM)norCitrixXenCenterprovideshostconiguration

capabilitiesoutotheboxMicrosotusersmustdeploySystemCenterConigurationManager(SCCM)

aseparatenon-integratedproducttoobtainconigurationmanagementcapabilitiesorphysicalservers

SCCMaverycomplexproducttoinstallandsetuprequiresextensivecongurationscriptingandcustomization

toprovidethesameunctionsasHostProlesWithResourcePoolsCitrixXenCenteronlyprovidestheabilityto

shareclusterlevelsettings(suchasVLANs)amonggroupsohostsCitrixResourcePools(notbeconusedwith

vSphereResourcePoolsthatenabletrueabstractionandaggregationoCPUandmemoryresources)donot

providehostlevelcongurationmonitoringandremediationRedHatEnterpriseVirtualizationalsohasnothing

comparabletoVMwareHostProles

vApps

vAppssimpliythedeploymentandongoingmanagementoann-tierapplicationinmultiplevirtualmachines

byencapsulatingitintoasinglevirtualserviceentityvAppsencapsulatenotonlyvirtualmachinesbutalsotheirinterdependenciesandresourceallocationsallowingorsingle-steppoweroperationscloningdeploymentand

monitoringotheentireapplicationvCenterServerincludessupportorcreatingandrunningvAppsaswellas

importingandexportingthemincompliancewiththeOpenVirtualizationFormat(OVF)standardMicrosot

Hyper-VhasnoOVForvAppsupportandCitrixXenServerOVFsupportisavailableonlyasatechnologypreview


26/34



vSphereUpdateManager

VMwarevSphereUpdateManagerisavCenterplug-inpatchmanagementsolutionorVMwarevSphereUpdate

ManagerprovidesasinglepatchmanagementinteraceorESXihostsallowingadministratorstoensuretheir

virtualinrastructureiscompliantwithbaselinestheydeneUpdateManagerprovidesasimplewayoensuring

cluster-widepatchcomplianceUpdateManagerpatchesonehostatatimeintheclusterusingvMotiontomigrate

virtualmachinesawayromthehostthatitispatchingtootherhostsinthecluster

UpdateManagerisaullyintegratedmoduleoVMwarevCenterServerItdoesnotrequireacomplexinstallation

oradditionalinrastructureMicrosotsSystemCenterVirtualizationMachineManager(SCVMM)doesnothave

integratedpatchingcapabilitiesorvirtualenvironmentsToobtainanypatchingcapabilityusersmustpurchase

andinstallSystemCenterCongurationManager(SCCM)whichrequiresdedicatedinrastructureiscomplexto

installandusesaseparateUIMicrosotcustomersmustalsouseanon-integratedOlineVirtualMachine

ServicingTooltopatchWindowsvirtualmachinesIncontrastVMwareUpdateManagerisasimpleplug-inmodule

orvCenterthatcanberapidlyinstalleddoesnotrequireadditionalinrastructure(beyondwhatalreadyinuseor

vCenter)andcanbeaccesseddirectlyromthevSphereClientVMwareUpdateManagerisincludedeveninthe

mostbasicbundleoVMwarevSphereCitrixXenServeronlyprovidesapatchtrackingsystemthatreportsonthe

latestpatchappliedtoavirtualmachineUsersmustmanuallykeeptrackopatchavailabilitymanuallydownload

patchesandinstallthemRedHatcanonlypatchrunningRedHatguestswithRedHatNetworksubscriptionsRHEVManagerhasnointegratedhostorguestupdateeaturesandnoWindowsguestupdatesaresupported

VirtualDeviceSupport

vSphereaddssupportorthelatestvirtualdevicestoletuserstestandrunthelatesthardwareandsotware

withtheirvirtualmachinesvSpherenowsupports:

USB30devices(withLinuxguests)connectedtovSphereClientsorvSphereWebClients

UEFIvirtualBIOStosupportguestoperatingsystemsrequiringthatbootenvironment

Sotware3DgraphicsinvirtualmachinesorapplicationslikeWindowsAero

Smart-cardreadersorvirtualdesktopsinsecureenvironments

AppleMacOSXguestsrunningonAppleserverplatorms

WithMicrosotHyper-VR2eaturessuchas3Dsupportrequireexpensivegraphicscardsoneachhostand

virtualmachinesdohavenotUSBsupportMacOSXguestsupportinHyper-VismissingaswellCitrixXenServerandRedHatEnterpriseVirtualizationvirtualmachineshavethesamelimitations

ManagementandProvisioningFeatureFunctionComparison

MaNaGeMeNt aNd

proVISIoNING

dIFFereNtIatorS

VMWare

VSpHere 5

MICroSoFt

Hyper-V r2 Sp1

CItrIX

XeNSerVer 5.6

red Hat

eNterprISe

VIrtualIZatIoN

2.2 (KVM)

Managementserver

containedinavirtual

appliance

YesthevCenter

ServerAppliance

ispackagedas

anOVFappliance

NoHyper-Vand

SystemCenter

requireull

WindowsServer

installations

NoXenCenter

installsonWindows

NoRHEVManager

requiresaWindows

serverinstallation

Windows-ree

management

YesvCSAis

Linux-based

No NoXenCenter

managementclient

isWindows-based

NoRHEVManager

isWindows-based


27/34



MaNaGeMeNt aNd

proVISIoNING

dIFFereNtIatorS

VMWare

VSpHere 5

MICroSoFt

Hyper-V r2 Sp1

CItrIX

XeNSerVer 5.6

red Hat

eNterprISe

VIrtualIZatIoN

2.2 (KVM)

Fullmanagement

unctionalityrom

anybrowser

YesvSphereWeb

Client

NoHyper-V

Managerand

SystemCenter

clientsarethick

Windows

applications

NoXenCenter

management

interacerunsonly

onWindows

NoRHEVrequires

aWindows

managementclient

Large-scalevirtual

inrastructure/cloud

management

YesvCenterLinked

Modesupports

managementoup

to10linkedvCenter

Servers3000

hostsand0000

virtualmachines

romasinglepane

NoSystemCenter

VirtualMachine

Managerservers

cannotbelinked

limitedto400hosts

and8000virtual

machines

XenCenter

scalabilitylimitedto

16hostsnolinked

mode

RHEVManager

supportsmultiple

datacenters/clusters

butlimitedto0

hosts

Centrallymanage

provisioningodiskless

hosts

YesvSphereAuto

Deploy

ComplexSystem

CenterConguration

Managersetup

required

LimitedXenServer

canbootromFC

SANonlynotiSCSI

Nobootsonlyrom

localstorage

Denestandardhost

congurationsand

enorcecompliance

YesVMwareHost

Prolesestablish

standardvSphere

hostcongurations

andautomate

compliance

ComplexSystem

CenterConguration

Managersetup

required

Nohost-level

conguration

monitoringand

remediation

No

Simplieddeploymentomulti-tier

applicationsin

virtualmachines

YesvAppsencapsulatevirtual

machinesandtheir

interdependencies

complywithOVF

standard

NoOVFsupportinHyper-V

LimitedtoanOVFtechnologypreview

BasicOVFimportsupport

Automatedhost

patching

YesvSphere

UpdateManager

keepsvSphere

hostsandguest

toolsupdated

automatesguest

migrationsduring

patchingkeeps

snapshotsorrollbacks

RequiresSCVMM

andSCCM

No No


28/34



MaNaGeMeNt aNd

proVISIoNING

dIFFereNtIatorS

VMWare

VSpHere 5

MICroSoFt

Hyper-V r2 Sp1

CItrIX

XeNSerVer 5.6

red Hat

eNterprISe

VIrtualIZatIoN

2.2 (KVM)

USB30devices YesLinuxguests

canaccessUSB

devicesconnected

throughvSphere

WindowsorWeb

clients

NoUSBsupport No No

UEFIvirtualBIOS Yes No No No

Sotware3Dgraphics

supportorvirtual

machines

Yes NoRemoteFX

requireshardware

3daccelerationcard

inHyper-Vhost

No No

AppleMacOSXguest

support

YesonApple

Xservesystems

No No No

t 20 vSh 5 avngs ovh Cmiin1. The Most Trusted Hypervisor in the Industry Just Got Better VMware ESXi 5

VMwareESXiextendstheVMwarelegacyohighlyreliablehighlyscalablevirtualizationbydeliveringeven

betterrobustnesssecurityandperormanceAlreadyover94percentoESXandESXideploymentsarein

productionenvironmentsanexampleohowbothlargeandsmallcompaniestrustVMwareortheirbusiness-criticalworkloadsESXihasanexclusivethinvirtualizationormactorwithnodependenceonageneral-

purposeserveroperatingsysteminthevirtualizationlayerWitha144MBdiskootprintESXidramatically

shrinksthecodebasethatneedstobemaintainedandsecuredultimatelyresultinginamoresecureenvironment

IncontrastallversionsoMicrosotHyper-VR2relyonWindowsServer2008runninginsidetheparentpartition

ThereorethesmallestversionoHyper-VR2(WindowsServer2008R2withServerCoreinstallation)stillhasa

diskootprintoapproximately36GBrepresentingmillionsmorelinesocodetomaintainandsecureHyper-V

R2sdependenceonWindowsmeansitacesperormanceandscalabilitylimitationsespeciallywhenrunning

manyconcurrentvirtualmachinesonthesamehostWithHyper-Vthesecurityandstabilityoyourdatacenter

willalwaysbedependentonthesecurityandstabilityoWindows

2. Virtualize 100 Percent o Your Applications Support or 32 Virtual CPUs and 1TB per Virtual Machine

Per-virtualmachineCPUandmemorymaximumsourtimesgreaterthanpreviousversionsallowcompanies

tovirtualizethemostresource-intensiveTier1applicationsintheirdatacentersonvSpherevSphereenablesasinglevirtualmachinetosimultaneouslyuseupto32logicalprocessors(32-wayvirtualSMP)and

1TBoRAMWith32-wayvirtualSMPeventhemostprocessor-intensiveapplicationssuchasdatabases

andmessagingserverscanbevirtualizedwithnoimpactonperormanceWith1TBpervirtualmachine

companiescanrunthemostmemory-intensiveworkloadsinvirtualmachinesMicrosotHyper-VR2SP1islimited

to64GBoRAMpervirtualmachineItonlysupportsupto4-wayvirtualSMPonWindowsServer2008virtual

machinesandallotherguestoperatingsystemsarelimitedto2-wayvirtualSMPCitrixXenServer6islimitedto

8-wayvirtualSMPand32GBTheselimitationsmeanthatuserscanvirtualizeonlyasubsetotheirapplications


29/34



3. Get Reliable, Cost-Eective Solutions or Small Ofces vSphere Essentials Editions

TherobustprovencapabilitiesoVMwarevSpherearealsoavailableintwocost-eectivepackagesdesigned

orsmallocesstartingatjust$83perprocessorvSphereEssentialsEditionenablesserverconsolidationand

centralizedprovisioningmanagementandpatchingorimmediatesavingsonhardwareandoperationalcostsItalsoincludesintegratedphysical-to-virtualconversionvSphereEssentialsPlusEditionisaneasy-to-deploy

AlwaysonITpackagethatincludeseverythingromEssentialsandaddsvMotionlivemigrationHigh

AvailabilitytodramaticallyimproveapplicationuptimeandDataRecoveryorastbackupandrecoveryo

virtualmachinedatawithbuilt-indatadeduplicationtosaveonstoragecostsWithvSphereEssentialsand

EssentialsPlussmallocesgettheindustrysmostprovencompletevirtualizationplatorminanintegrated

packagethatsolvestheirmostpressingneedsapplicationuptimeanddataprotectionThereeHyper-VR2

oeringromMicrosotisjustahypervisormissingkeymanagementeaturesandsmallbusinessesmustadd

thecostandcomplexityoMicrosotSystemCentertomakeitmanageable

4. Use a Better Way to Enorce Security in a Virtual Environment VMware vShield 5

VirtualizationoersnewandbetterwaystosecureapplicationsandnetworksRatherthaninheritinglegacy

approachesbasedoncostlyphysicalappliancesbrittlenetworksettingsandperormance-sappingagents

VMwarevShieldtransormssecurityromcomplextodisruptivelysimplebyapplyingsecuritypoliciesatthevirtualizationlayerwhereeveryaspectovirtualizedapplicationscanbeinspectedandprotectedusinga

singlevShieldManagerinteraceThevShieldapproachmakessecuritysimplermoreadaptiveandmore

virtualization-awarevShieldZones(includedwithcertainvSphereeditions)makessecurity-zonesettingsa

logicalconstructsoyoucansaelymixvirtualmachinesromdierenttrustzonesoncommonhostsand

keepthosesettingsintactevenasvirtualmachinesaremigratedTherestothevShieldproductamily

(availableseparately)appliesuniquehypervisor-levelintrospectiontoprotectvirtualmachinesandnetworks

withnoneedorhardwareappliancesorin-guestagentsThenewvShieldAppSensitiveDataDiscovery

eatureautomatesregulatory-compliancescanswithmorethan80templatesthatidentiyprotecteddata

MicrosotHyper-VR2andCitrixXenServersupportonlylegacyphysical-machineapproachestosecurity

andhavenothingcomparabletoVMwarevShieldUsersdeployingthoseproductscanonlyenorcesecurity

zonesbysettingupwasteulsilosophysicalhostsHyper-VandXenServernetworksecurityisdependent

onVLANsanapproachthatcannotscaletomeettheneedsoevenmidsizecloudsandtheirusersarealso

dependentonin-guestagentsthatcantriggerantivirusstorms

5. Enable Automated Private Clouds in the Datacenter Logical Resource Pools and Storage DRS

VMwarevSpherecluster-levelmanagementcapabilities(egvSphereDistributedSwitchvShieldZonesand

DistributedPowerManagement)andtheautomationprovidedbyvSphereDistributedResourceScheduler

(DRS)andthenewStorageDRSallimprovetheeectivenessandfexibilityoVMwareLogicalResourcePools

Theseresourcepoolsaggregateandshareresourcesacrossmanyserverstheessenceocloudcomputing

Companiescancreatealogicalsharedpooloresourcesoraspecicbusinessgroupandguaranteeresource

availabilitywhilemaintainingisolationromotherpoolsvSphereDRSenablesintelligentautomatedload

balancingsoapplicationsgettherightleveloresourcesattherighttimeNewStorageDRSextendsthatload

balancingtodynamicallyautomateplacementovirtualdisksonavailabledatastorestobalancediskuseand

preventstoragebottlenecksDRSandStorageDRSareessentialtoenablinglogicalresourcepoolsthatcomply

withSLAsMicrosotHyper-VR2SP1andCitrixXenServerhavenothingcomparableHyper-VandXenServer

deploymentsrequirededicatedsilosohostsorclustersoreachbusinessgrouparigidinrastructurethat

istime-consumingandcostlytomaintainTheMicrosotandCitrixproductsalsolackthevirtualmachineandvirtual-diskanityandanti-anityrulesoundinvSpheresotheycannotguaranteedatacenterpoliciesand

licensingcompliancewhenloadbalancingisautomated


30/34



6. Achieve Higher Consolidation Ratios at Lower Cost Virtual Machine Density Optimizations

Betterperormanceandutilizationleadtohighervirtualmachineconsolidationratioswhichleadtolower

capitalexpendituresvSphereemploysuniqueperormanceandresourcemanagementeaturestolet

customersreliablyrunproductionworkloadsatthehighestvirtualmachinedensitiesvSphereusesourlevelsomemorymanagementtechnologyin-guestballooningmemorycompressiontransparentpage

sharingandasthostpagingtoaccommodatethehighestdensitieswithanysupportedguestoperating

systemsTheDynamicMemoryeaturesinMicrosotHyper-VR2andCitrixXenServeruseonlyasimple

ballooningmethodthatworkswithaselectewguestsandcantdelivercomparablevirtualmachine

densitiesasshownbyindependenttestingvSphereurtheraddsamoreecientdirectdriverI/Omodel

truelogicalresourcepoolswithDynamicResourceSchedulerordynamicloadbalancingandahigh-

perormancegangCPUschedulertoextenditscostadvantageoverevenreeversionsoHyper-VXenand

RedHatKVM

7. Match Applications to Appropriate Storage Tiers Prole-Driven Storage

Operatingmultipletiersostorageletsenterprisesreducecostsbymatchingapplicationstostoragehardware

providingjusttherightservicelevelsButassigningvirtualmachinestothecorrectstoragetiersastheyare

provisionedisamanualoperationpronetomiscongurationvSphereProle-DrivenStoragestreamlinesandautomatesstorageprovisioningbylettingadministratorsclassiytheirdatastoresintoStorageProlesbasedon

theservicelevelstheyprovideVirtualmachinesareassignedaStorageProlewhenprovisionedandvSphere

thenensuresthattheyareinitiallyplacedonamatchingdatastoreandthatanyStorageDRSmigrationsare

limitedtoeligiblestoragetiersvSphereStorageProlescanevenuseStoragevMotiontomovevirtualdiskson

noncompliantdatastorestothecorrectstoragetiersMicrosotandCitrixhavenothingequivalentorthecritical

taskomanagingstorageInactHyper-VandSystemCenterVirtualMachineManager2008R2haveno

storage-managementeaturesatall

8. Reduce OpEx Costs During Planned Maintenance High-Perormance Live Migrations with vMotion and

Storage vMotion

Theneedtoperormplannedmaintenanceduringnonpeakhoursisasigniicantcontributortohigher

operationalcostsOvertimepayornightsandweekendsiscompoundedwithtimespentcoordinating

amongbusinessownerstoscheduleamaintenancewindowvSphereimprovesonthemarket-proven

vMotionandStoragevMotioncapabilitiesthatallowITadministratorstoperormplannedmaintenance

duringnormalbusinesshourswithoutamaintenancewindowvMotionsupportsuptoeightconcurrentlive

migrationsperhostgreatlyreducingtimetoevacuatevirtualmachinespriortomaintenanceMicrosot

Hyper-VCitrixXenServerandRedHatKVMarelimitedtoasinglelivemigrationperhostvMotionalso

distributesmigrationtracacrossmultiple1Gbor10Gblinkstourthershortenmaintenancewindowsand

itnowsupportshigh-latencylinksOnlyvSphereStoragevMotionallowsvirtualmachinestoragetobe

live-migratedbetweendatastoresevenacrossdierenttypesostorage(FibreChanneliSCSINFS

DAS)withnodowntimetoaccommodatestoragemaintenanceandupgradesduringproductionhours

StoragevMotionnowevensupportsvirtualmachi

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