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Read 31 RHEV reviews
6,787 views|5,299 comparisons
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44,230 views|36,500 comparisons
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Aug 25, 2022

We performed a comparison between RHEV and VMware VSphere based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Users of both solutions share mixed opinions on their ease of deployment.
  • Features: Users of both solutions like the products’ stability and say they are user-friendly.

    RHEV users like the solution’s virtualization, management of cloud platforms, high availability, and integration of container environments. Users mention that the scalability needs to be improved and that they would like to see more integration with other platforms.

    VMware VSphere users say it is flexible and has good virtualization and great data recovery speed time. VMware VSphere users feel that the solution needs to be more secure, and that the monitoring and reporting could be improved.
  • Pricing: RHEV has an open-source version and a paid version. Users share mixed reviews on the pricing of the paid version. The majority of VMware VSphere reviewers consider the solution to be expensive.
  • Service and Support: Users of both solutions are satisfied with the technical support they receive.
  • ROI: Users of both solutions are happy with the ROI.

Comparison Results: Based on the parameters we compared, VMware VSphere got better user reviews. One major difference between the two solutions is that users say that RHEV’s scalability is not great.

To learn more, read our detailed RHEV vs. VMware vSphere Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"It's a scalable solution.""This solution is very stable. Much more so than similar products.""It is very stable.""Customers are moving to open source and Red Hat is the leader in this particular space. I think customers feel more confident running Red Hat Virtualization than VMware.""Technically, the main reason why I'm using Red Hat is because of its stability.""There aren't any bugs on the solution.""The solution is a great all-round product. The virtualization is especially good.""One of the most valuable features of this solution is the popularity of the OS."

More RHEV Pros →

"I have found the solution to be flexible, and the vCenter and vMotion useful.""The most valuable feature of vSphere is its modularity. I also like the maturity updates. It's available everywhere and almost all the data centers are using it.""Technical support is helpful and always available.""The ability to create or clone a virtual environment in a short period of time for testing is most valuable.""The solution is easy to use, has high performance, and good virtualization.""The ability to monitor resource utilization.""The documentation is very good.""The visibility that we have of our VMs is also important. What's being applied? Who has management of them? Laying it out in a virtual environment allows us customization for our students. We're able to respond to the students' needs much more quickly than we could in a physical environment."

More VMware vSphere Pros →

Cons
"The solution should be made more user-friendly.""The UI should be more interactive with additional features.""The support is tricky in a few places. We're facing some challenges within Malaysia where we don't really have the system integrators available who can provide extended support. When we need personnel on-site, we can't get them.""It lags behind in that you need to go to something like Fedora to get all the extra bells and whistles.""We'd like it if it would be possible on Red Hat Virtualization to possibly connect two or three VMs to the same disk.""There is not any proper documentation on the site to reference.""With RHEV, the cyberattacks should be fewer. I want RHEV to be better protected.""I heard that there are big differences between Red Hat eight and seven, but it's still quite difficult for me to judge it. I found it a bit more difficult to manage than version seven, which was much easier. In term of features, though, it is still not yet clear which is better. I have no clear idea of which features need to be changed at the moment."

More RHEV Cons →

"NSX is a product of VMware vSphere and it would be nice to see the solution have full integration capabilities with it.""Given that I've been using version seven, it seems that some of the bugs I faced during that version have already been addressed in subsequent updates. Although I haven't personally tested them yet, it appears that these issues have been resolved. In version seven, there was a problem with the network interface not responding due to certain configurations not being properly filtered. However, in version eight, this requirement has been minimized, so the mentioned bug is less likely to occur. Instead of solely addressing these fixes in newer versions, it might be beneficial for them to consider applying these improvements to the older versions as well. This approach could prevent users from feeling compelled to upgrade to version eight solely to avoid encountering the issue, and instead provide updates for version seven users.""Lacks a simplified integration with services automation.""vSphere itself is great when you don't need to make updates, but any time you have to touch it, unfortunately it's always the little bit of a fight to get it to do what you want.""The solution could be more stable.""The price could be better.""The implementation of VMware vSphere is easy. For integration companies, it's easy, the final client cannot do it alone but for an implementor it's easy.""The biggest thing to improve is to have more self-service in the portals. I would like to receive more help through the web interface."

More VMware vSphere Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "This is an open-source solution."
  • "I would say the price is acceptable."
  • "We are using the free version of Red Hat."
  • "I believe we pay on a yearly basis."
  • "We buy a license for commercial use, and we also use the free editions."
  • "We have to pay extra for vulnerability and fault tolerance."
  • "The solution does not require licencing but a subscription is necessary, which is very affordable."
  • "The price of RHEV is high. It is an open-source solution, the price should be less. The price should not be on par with a solution, such as VMware. It's not more or equal to VMware, it's less, but the difference should be more substantial."
  • More RHEV Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "My advice when it comes to pricing is that pricing is a bummer, especially when it comes to SnS coverage."
  • "Purchase only the cheaper solution with support. I don’t recommend high-end licenses."
  • "Pricing needs to be competitive since Microsoft Hyper-V has come a long way; they are both around the same price range."
  • "VMware is consistently expensive and their pricing arrogance is what will drive us and other customers away."
  • "Start with the lowest and upgrade if, and only if, absolutely necessary."
  • "Compared with other vendors’ products, the pricing of the license is slightly lower. The annual S&S price is very affordable."
  • "The product is worth what you pay for it. I definitely feel like I"m getting good value."
  • "​The only issue with vSphere might be with the cost of the tools and the software.​"
  • More VMware vSphere Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Comparison Review
    Thang Le Toan (Victory Lee)
    Answers from the Community
    Sridhar Battarusetty
    Rajkumar Gera - PeerSpot reviewerRajkumar Gera
    User

    Hi Sridhar,    This is Rajkumar Gera, VP IT  in one of the Telecom. Below are some of the points, may help you: 

































































    FEATURE RED HAT ENTERPRISE VIRTUALIZATION VMWARE VSPHERE
    Key differentiators Open source solution Proprietary solution
    Purchased via one subscription Multiple levels of functionality sold in editions with different price points
    Bare-metal performance for virtualized applications Application high availability (Enterprise Plus version only)
    Prioritized high availability so critical workloads are restarted first
    Desktop and server virtualization One infrastructure for managing desktops and servers Add-on products for desktop virtualization: VMware Player, VMware Horizon View, VMware Horizon DaaS, and VMware Horizon Mirage
    Remote access to virtual desktops through SPICE
    Full support for multimedia applications
    Management server Included in the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization subscription Requires purchase and license of VMware vCenter and database support
    Virtual machine density 40 cores: 4,682@288 40 cores: 3,824@234
    160 cores: 14,061@864 160 cores: result not available
    Self-service portal Allows users to provision and manage VMs and templates with a browser Requires the purchase of VMware vCloud Automation Center
    Integration with OpenStack technology Supports the open Neutron pluggable networking API Supports VMware’s NSX networking plug-in
    Supports the OpenStack image service for a unified image repository between virtual and cloud platforms Does not support the OpenStack image service


    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:RHEV’s cost is much less compared to VMware.
    Top Answer:It is an open-source solution. We do not need to pay the license cost if we install and manage the tool. We must purchase the license and support if we need a global patch. The subscription fee… more »
    Top Answer:Management of RHEV is not as easy as VMware. Some features do not work. The product does not provide features similar to VMware’s VMotion. After creating the cluster, the VM is moved to another node… more »
    Top Answer:DEEPEN DHULLA did explain well IOMMU. IOMMU has to be activated at the bios level. It exists on Intel and AMD platforms. It is used a lot inside virtualization platforms like VMware VSphere. It… more »
    Top Answer:We use VMware and KVM. We find that KVM is a lot simpler to use and it provides the virtualization we need for Linux and Windows. For us, VMware does not offer any advantage. Moreover, KVM is free.
    Top Answer:We found the reduced power consumption with Nutanix Acropolis AOS a very attractive feature. We also like the interface that allows you to talk directly to your VM from the present software. We found… more »
    Ranking
    Views
    6,787
    Comparisons
    5,299
    Reviews
    8
    Average Words per Review
    302
    Rating
    6.5
    Views
    44,230
    Comparisons
    36,500
    Reviews
    17
    Average Words per Review
    366
    Rating
    8.9
    Comparisons
    KVM logo
    Compared 16% of the time.
    Proxmox VE logo
    Compared 14% of the time.
    Hyper-V logo
    Compared 10% of the time.
    Oracle VM logo
    Compared 8% of the time.
    Nutanix AHV Virtualization logo
    Compared 4% of the time.
    Also Known As
    Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization
    Learn More
    Overview

    Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization, or RHEV, is a leading open standard enterprise virtualization management solution. This solution supports virtualization of servers and desktops using the same infrastructure and a single easy-to-use interface.

    Because RHEV is based on open standards, it is vendor-independent and a lot more cost effective and flexible than proprietary solutions.


    VMware vSphere is a powerful and complete server virtualization platform that allows its users to create and manage virtual data centers and machines. VMware vSphere is designed to help IT departments set up and run applications using the most cost-effective computer resources. By using vSphere, organizations save the time and energy necessary for purchasing infrastructure and software and reduce ongoing maintenance and operational burdens on IT teams.

    Infrastructure administrators and network operators can access and manage the vSphere server by using a web-based cross-platform client application or via the vSphere client tool provided with vSphere. 

    VMware vSphere provides visibility into VMs and enables its users to carry out operations to manage VMs. This includes tasks such as:

    • Powering VMs on and off
    • Launching the VM console
    • Shutting down guest operating systems
    • Settings configurations
    • Taking system snapshots

    VMware vSphere Benefits

    Some of the benefits of using VMware vSphere include: 

    • Reduced costs: Since VMware applications are run on a server, it is not necessary to spend large amounts of your organization’s money on hardware, software, and infrastructure.
    • Increased productivity and customer satisfaction: VMware is able to operate multiple complex processes simultaneously. With all your applications being managed and run on the cloud, downtime, failures, and application errors are rare. VMware easily scales up and down to meet your computing needs. The high availability that VMware provides allows your IT staff to focus on other issues and keeps your customers satisfied with the service they receive.
    • Unlimited access to your VMs: VMware’s user-friendly cloud-based interface allows any employee to work from any location at any time.
    • Enhanced security: VMware’s security tools deliver full visibility into your entire system. This keeps your applications and data more secure, in any type of environment. VMware provides multiple protective tools including antiviruses and anti-malware, as well as backup and recovery services.

    VMware vSphere Features

    Below is a list of some of VMware vSphere’s key features:

    • Transferable virtual machine images: Export and import virtual machine images from your local environment. This gives users the ability to set up and configure their systems locally and only upload them to the server once everything is working properly. VM images can be moved back and forth between vendors, ensuring that your company is never tied up to a specific cloud vendor.
    • User-friendly interface: Using VMware’s intuitive console, you can easily create, manage, share, and deploy virtual machines.
    • API integration: VMware’s APIs support integration with third-party applications for data protection, multipathing, and disk array solutions.
    • Distributed power management: Automate efficiency by continuously optimizing server power consumption within each cluster.

    Reviews from Real Users

    VMware vSphere stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. A few major ones are its virtualization abilities, its flexibility and availability, and its user-friendly interface.

    Felix D., an Automation project administrator, DCS, I&E at Centennial Cayman Corp, writes, “The connectivity is fantastic, and many functions can run together in one server. If you need to scale, we can continue to add components or modules. It's a beautiful virtual solution that has many advantages over physical hardware, where you have to use devices and wiring to connect all your projects.”

    Sample Customers
    Qualcomm and Bonham's Auction House.
    Abu Dhabi Ports Company, ACS, AIA New Zealand, Consona, Corporate Express, CS Energy, and Digiweb.
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider33%
    Computer Software Company20%
    Manufacturing Company13%
    Integrator13%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization50%
    Computer Software Company9%
    Financial Services Firm6%
    Government4%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Energy/Utilities Company10%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Computer Software Company6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization26%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    Government7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business58%
    Midsize Enterprise12%
    Large Enterprise30%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business12%
    Midsize Enterprise56%
    Large Enterprise32%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business30%
    Midsize Enterprise25%
    Large Enterprise45%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise34%
    Large Enterprise46%
    Buyer's Guide
    RHEV vs. VMware vSphere
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about RHEV vs. VMware vSphere and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    RHEV is ranked 10th in Server Virtualization Software with 31 reviews while VMware vSphere is ranked 2nd in Server Virtualization Software with 443 reviews. RHEV is rated 7.6, while VMware vSphere is rated 8.8. The top reviewer of RHEV writes "The solution is scalable and affordable, but it lacks features, and it is not easy to manage". On the other hand, the top reviewer of VMware vSphere writes "Allows for easy management of snapshots for virtual machines and good web console ". RHEV is most compared with KVM, Proxmox VE, Hyper-V, Oracle VM and Nutanix AHV Virtualization, whereas VMware vSphere is most compared with Hyper-V, Proxmox VE, VMware Workstation, Oracle VM and Citrix Hypervisor. See our RHEV vs. VMware vSphere report.

    See our list of best Server Virtualization Software vendors.

    We monitor all Server Virtualization Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.