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Read 32 RHEV reviews
6,648 views|5,169 comparisons
76% willing to recommend
VMware Logo
43,607 views|36,031 comparisons
95% willing to recommend
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).
767,847 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
"The solution is stable.""The most valuable features of RHEV are all the tools, such as virtualization, management of cloud platforms, and integration of container environments. The solution has good compatibility between virtualization, content management, and cloud management. Having the full set of these tools is the advantage of it.""It is a scalable solution.""Red Hat is the most stable system.""The initial setup is fairly straightforward and well-documented. The process is very similar to its competitors. The success of your setup depends on how well you plan.""Stability and speed are the most valuable aspects.""The price is the solution's most valuable aspect. It's much cheaper than, for example, VMware.""I can control and manage everything. I know everything that's cooking inside. This is the best part for me."

More RHEV Pros →

"Since we have an internal cloud, suddenly people may require 1000 or 2000 VMS in something. We have options to analyze and make sure we have enough scalability.""The tool provides 99.99% uptime.""It provides a new environment in an expedient manner.""The most important feature is the ability to balance the servers with Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS). It is a very useful feature and should be mandatory for vSphere to have but it is only available in the enterprise edition. It should be available in all versions.""It is a very stable solution. It performs well for our requirements. It has been running for a long time, so we are very knowledgeable about this solution. It is a very well-supported solution, and it is very flexible. The expansion of its functionality is dynamic.""The most valuable feature is the VDP Backup solution.""It is a very stable solution. Integration with other environments was simple to achieve.""The most valuable feature would be enhanced, what we call, Linked Mode to link our disaster recovery site to our primary site across different vCenters, without being required to be broken apart. Meaning, we have identity management and the actual vCenter servers split. We can actually do embedded now, thanks to vSphere 6.7."

More VMware vSphere Pros →

Cons
"The biggest improvement would be more third-party direct support for things like backups and provisioning through third-party portals.""A few features of the product do not work as well as those in VMware.""It lags behind in that you need to go to something like Fedora to get all the extra bells and whistles.""The documentation is not as good as it should be.""We'd like it if it would be possible on Red Hat Virtualization to possibly connect two or three VMs to the same disk.""While everything needs improvement in some way, I have no specifics.""We would like the dashboard feature of this solution to be improved, as it is not very detailed at present.""When we do a direct comparison, then obviously VMware does better in terms of having Fault Tolerance and doing active disaster recovery and these kind of things. This is something that can be improved within Red Hat."

More RHEV Cons →

"It would be good if the licensing cost of the solution could be cheaper.""It is expensive.""I would like to see a little bit more visibility regarding errors. When an error does occur, there are times where it says "Unknown error" or something to that effect, and it doesn't necessarily give you a lot of metrics. If you go online and you give a description of it, normally the VMware forums can help you find out what it is, but I'd like to see a little bit more visibility from the software itself regarding what's going on: "This went wrong, this is why."""I do not find it to be simple and efficient to manage. The tools, the interface to manage it, are a pain. In the latest version, they moved us to web-only, the Web Client and it's terrible. It's slow. It crashes. It's annoying. I used the Web Client in the older version and was happy. I would go back to the regular thick client but I don't have that option anymore, so I am always fighting it.""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.""Technical support is not that great. It is too slow.""VMware vSphere needs to increase the datastore volume.""It is expensive. They can improve the licensing cost for Cloud Director. They can also improve the integration with other applications and the metering feature, which is currently not flexible."

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
    6,648
    Comparisons
    5,169
    Reviews
    8
    Average Words per Review
    302
    Rating
    6.5
    Views
    43,607
    Comparisons
    36,031
    Reviews
    17
    Average Words per Review
    406
    Rating
    8.6
    Comparisons
    KVM logo
    Compared 16% of the time.
    Proxmox VE logo
    Compared 14% of the time.
    Hyper-V logo
    Compared 9% 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 Business59%
    Midsize Enterprise12%
    Large Enterprise29%
    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.
    767,847 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    RHEV is ranked 10th in Server Virtualization Software with 32 reviews while VMware vSphere is ranked 2nd in Server Virtualization Software with 446 reviews. RHEV is rated 7.6, while VMware vSphere is rated 8.8. The top reviewer of RHEV writes "Offers frameworks with well-documented API and easy to use". On the other hand, the top reviewer of VMware vSphere writes "Offers good performance and is useful for banking systems". 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.