VMware vSphere Reviews

vSphere is managing virtual machines in VMware infrastructure, ESXi, and it has performed very well. It's actually an excellent product.

The benefit of the solution is that you can create template-based servers within minutes. If you were to use a physical server, it would probably take several hours, if not a whole day, to get everything set up the way you need.

The UI is very intuitive, you don't have to spend hours before you figure it out. All in all, compared to other environments, like Hyper-V, we find vSphere a lot more user-friendly and intuitive to use.

One thing that would be helpful is, these days we have an environment where we are often using clouds as well. A solution that would be a little more cloud-aware would be really helpful. I know there is a product from VMware that is more specifically for the cloud, but it would be nice if VMware Cloud Manager would be cloud-aware. It would simplify certain processes. It's all about doing things faster. If it were more cloud-aware it would be easier to work it into a hybrid environment and literally have seamless interfacing with the leading cloud solution. That would be nice.

I've been using it for years. It's super stable. There are a few glitches, but really nothing major. The stability is one of the reasons we selected this solution.

It's scalable. It's comparable to other similar products. 

I do use VMware support but not for vSphere. Full disclosure: I'm a VMware developer. I've been working with VMware for many years. But their support is excellent.

We had straight physical before. Of course, it is clear that when you use physical infrastructure, depending upon the type of application you're implementing on that infrastructure, often you do not use the infrastructure's capability to the maximum. You use anywhere between 10 and 25 percent of the potential of the infrastructure, and that has to do with the specifics of what application you're implementing and how well this application plays with other applications. A typical example is SQL Server and SharePoint. They both try to steal resources from each other so it's very hard to have those components sharing the same hardware. There are many other examples. This is just to illustrate, a little bit, the benefit of the virtualization solution.

Our most important criteria when selecting a vendor are a reasonably priced solution that the vendor maintains well, one they stand behind, so that when we use their solution, we keep up with the state of the art. Some vendors - and I'm not going to cite names - tend to invest in creating a solution, and then they don't stand behind it, and the customer is left to fend for himself. The solution has never been improved, it's no longer a key part of the vendor's line of business. At this point, for us, the important point is that the vendor keeps pushing the state-of-the-art and keeps improving the solution while maintaining a top level of support for the customer.

I would rate this solution at around nine out of 10. There are ups and downs, but essentially it is an excellent solution.

My advice: Just go for it. At this point, I have had a lot of experience with competing products, but in terms of finish, in terms of flexibility, in terms of user-friendliness again, I would say vSphere, in my book, is still about as good as a solution can be. They are near the top. There is always room for improvement, but they are in front of the pack.

• Core virtualizaton
• Basic hypervisor functions with HA

We are able to scale up far better with densities of 10:1 or 20:1 and provide robust, flexible computing to our increasing application demands.

Stability and manageability need improvement. The core product has not changed much over the years and has large deficiencies in manageability and how they implement certain features. The basic hypervisor works OK, but all the management and bolt-on products have issues and at times overwhelm the core hypervisor.

I've used it for seven years.

We have repeated reliability issues with anything other than core functionality.

SRM has been a disappointment in its scalability and reliability.

We pay for business critical support and that is still bad. I think VMware's biggest weakness is their support organization - 5/10.

We had Hyper-V, but the older versions had issues. When the 2016 version releases, we are going to re-evaluate it.

The initial setup was fairly straightforward.

We did most of the implementation ourselves, but we did have some initial consultation on some design thoughts.

VMware is consistently expensive and their pricing arrogance is what will drive us and other customers away. Compared to physical systems, it is a bargain, but compared to other solutions, it is losing its appeal due to pricing.

The core hypervisor is decent. Many issues will be with management and bolt-on products.

• DRS (compute and storage) is one of the best features for practical purposes.
• HA is a great feature, but if you keep hosts patched, HA doesn’t come into play. It’s not a day-to-day feature you use.
• Ability to vMotion across clusters. We took smaller clusters and consolidated them into one mega cluster because of the ability to vMotion from other clusters live into newly-created clusters.

The consolidation. Pre-VM, we had pain transporting applications from one physical machine to another. Now, we can consolidate machines that aren't using computer resources into an environment where they can all exist without performance degradation.

I'm excited to see in 6.0 the enhanced vMotion capabilities to connect our Phoenix, AZ and Culpepper, VA datacenters. It will have the ability to geo-vMotion instead of just metro-vMotion machines.

Now, it's much better than used to be. HA doesn’t even come into play, but you must manage the environment to maintain that.

There’s some bugs (zero uptime bug, and RAM disk issue), but those were resolved. They were hiccups/annoyances.

Phenomenal. Multiple 32-node clusters and 6.0 can support 64 nodes. Don’t know if we will get that large because it gets unwieldy, and will be hard to vMotion all of that off one host onto another and patch within a reasonable amount of time. It’s so condensed in clusters that it makes it hard to maintain.

Periodically used as sounding board for things we want to do. Not high marks, though, because first-level support is not knowledgeable. I would rather rely on peers in blogs, forums, etc. Also, sometimes they're not communicative.

Involved in the beginning with v2.5, not overly difficult (in ESXi had to come up with some scripts, because at the time it didn’t have a GUI).

Consider the scale of environment, especially if you're in a position to have closeted datacenter. It’s self-contained and cost-effective.

vSphere is great, I’ve made a career of it.

• The HA functions
• vSphere Distributed Switch

It gives us a good consolidated overview of hundreds or thousands of servers at a time.

It gives us the ability to easily manage those from a centralized point, and a lot more reliability because we can easily migrate between hardware and consolidate workloads.

The web client, the GUI, could use some improvement. It’s pretty clunky and slow. Some things are only available in the web client, some are only available in the fat client so it would be nice to have them in both in one interface.

I've used it for about two years.

No, we’ve been using vSphere for a long time so we’re quite familiar with it, and we have a good relationship with VMWare. Deployment was easy.

We don’t see many crashes, if any, on the vSphere side.

Again, it’s simple as popping extra hosts in. Quite easily scalable.

They’re very good. We’ve got a good relationship with VMware, and they’re always available - they give us previews on upcoming tech or quickly connect us with someone we need to speak to.

It’s good. It’s usually quite easy and quick to log calls and get support services. The vSphere client has a built-in means of pulling logs which logs which we can send directly to VMWare technical support. We can get tier two or three support quite readily.

Not since I’ve worked here, so at least 10 years. We started with vSphere.

It kind of depends; we work with a number of different customers. It’s relatively straightforward, but for complex implementations there can be some complications. They publish all of the necessary installation information so it’s quite easy to find support for deployment.

We do it in-house.

It’s not something I really deal with as an engineer. Because of the types of service we offer, we don’t sell customers vSphere licensing.

I’d grab the software from their site - you can deploy it and use it for 60 days free of charge, so whether you’re doing a large or small deployment try it out and see if it works. You can also engage with technical support services. The software is free, so grab it and play with it.

We primarily use the solution for the analytics we can get.

It works well with other VMware solutions.

The user interface is great.

There are no issues with the level of scalability you can achieve.

The stability is good. 

The initial setup is straightforward. 

There should be a bit more flexibility in terms of the hardware we can use with the product. There needs to be better compatibility. 

We've used the solution for a long time. We've used the solution for more than a decade. 

The solution offers good reliability and performance. The stability is good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

You can easily scale the solution as needed. It's great in the sense. There are no issues around scaling. 

We have about 35 users at this time. 

The solution doesn't use up a lot of space, however, I can't say if we plan to increase usage or not just yet. 

We've never contacted technical support in the past. I can't speak to how they are in terms of the level of service they provide. 

The solution is easy to set up. It's not a complex or difficult process at all. 

The deployment doesn't take too long. It took us about ten days or so. 

We have four engineers that can handle deployment and maintenance tasks. 

We handled the implementation ourselves. We did not use an integrator or consultant for the deployment.

We have an on-premises setup. There aren't any extra costs involved. 

I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten. We've been satisfied with its general capabilities so far. 

In the organization where I have worked for the past nine years, there are multiple virtualization platforms. Virtualization software includes Microsoft Hypervisor, Red Hat KVM, Oracle virtual machine, and Oracle virtual cloud.

vSphere is optimized for a specific type of virtualization.

There is the simplicity of management, accessibility, and availability.

The interface is really user-friendly.

The only concern that I have with VMware is the support. It is very limited and can be better.

When you get support from the VMware global team or support locations, customer complaints are not entertained or taken seriously by the VMware global team or support centers. Other OEMs, such as Microsoft and Oracle, would make you a priority.

I have been using VMware vSphere for three years.

We recently upgraded to the latest version.

It's a very stable solution. In fact, when it comes to virtualization, you can tell anyone to use the system.

In our organization, we have 600 users. 

My previous organization had a population of approximately 35,000 people.

The support is the only negative feedback, they need improvements.

I'm familiar with all of the virtualization platforms that are now available on the market.

The initial setup and installation are straightforward. It is something that can be done by anyone.

In one hour, we can complete the installation and configuration.

Admins are only required to look after the VM portion of the new VM creation as well as the configuration or modification. Aside from that, we have a team of two or three admins to deploy and maintain this solution during their shift time, such as in the morning and afternoon shifts.

The organization pays the licensing fees.

We looked at a few alternatives and compared them to vSphere.

The freelance experience for the platform is excellent.

I would recommend this solution to other users.

I would rate VMware vSphere a ten out of ten.

We are an IT company and VMware partners.

VMware vSphere is used for virtualization in all situations and for all businesses.

This solution's most valuable feature is its High Availability.

The only concern I have with VMware vSphere is that the level of support is inadequate. It's not very fast. The support is good, but it's slow.

When we need help, we require someone to answer the phone quickly.

I've been selling VMware vSphere since it was launched.

We have no issues with the stability of VMware vSphere. It is very stable.

VMware vSphere is a scalable product.

Technical support is good but not very fast.

We have customers who use Sangfor, as well as customers with VMware. 

vSphere is used by all VMware customers.

A small infrastructure installation can take up to eight hours.

The teams are always the same. We have five technicians, three of whom specialize in networking and virtualization, and one who is a management engineer.

Our customers have the option of paying the licensing fee when they purchase the solution or renting it from us.

If a customer chooses to rent the solution, the customer pays us and we purchase the solution.

The vSphere serves as the system's control center for managing virtual machines (VMs). VMware vSphere is present in all installations.

Our solutions are all deployed on-premises.

As a company, we advise, supply, and install products for our clients. We provide two solutions, one of which is Sangfor and the other is VMware.

As a reseller of vSphere, I would recommend this solution to anyone who is interested in using it.

I would rate VMware vSphere an eight out of ten.

We primarily use the product as a server. Most of the work we do for our clients. 

The product works very well for us. Over the last decade, it's been extremely dependable. 

The initial setup is very straightforward. 

The stability has been very good.

Technical support is quite good and very responsive. 

The solution can scale well.

The product meets our needs pretty well. I can't recall noticing any missing features. It's pretty complete. 

Our hopes are that it continuously keeps improving.

The cost could always be lower. 

I've been using the solution for about ten years or so. It's been about a decade. We've had it a while. 

The stability is excellent. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's extremely reliable and the performance has been good. 

The product is very, very scalable. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so without any issues. 

Our clients have users that vary anywhere from hundreds to thousands. Quite a few people are on it.

We've dealt with technical support in the past and I would rate them very highly. They are helpful and responsive. They get us answers. We're quite satisfied with the level of support we receive. 

We didn't previously use a different solution. We've basically used this product since day one. 

You can save quite a bit using this solution. 

We're just customers and end-users. We don't have any business relationship with VMware.

We use the latest version of the solution. I can't speak to the exact version number.

We're very happy with the solution overall. I'd rate it at a nine out of ten.

Using this product is a no-brainer. It's a really easy product to use. If you're looking at simply a VM or anything similar or anything cloud-based, it's pretty much exactly what you need.