Virtualization News & How-To

8 responses to “Why VMware should release VMware vCenter “Express””

1. 

   Kevin Croughs

   April 27, 2010

   VMware already has such a product, it’s called vCenter Server Foundation !

2. 

   David Davis

   April 27, 2010

   Hi Kevin,
   Thanks for your comment!
   This is very true – VMware vCenter Server Foundations is certainly a good option but why is it still 4 times the price of MS VMM Workgroup? ($2000 vs $500)
   I just wish that there was a free (or a few hundred $) option for the small business who has just a couple ESXi (free) servers.
   Thank again for reading! I appreciate your opinions!
   -David

3. 

   Adam

   April 27, 2010

   Actually, they have VMWare Essentials package which includes 3 ESX(i) hosts and vCenter Essential (aka Foundation). It runs ~$999 for all of that. Pretty good deal.

   Compare the editions here:
   http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/buy/small_business_editions_comparison.html

4. 

   Joel Lindberg

   April 27, 2010

   Have you looked at VMware GO?

5. 

   David Davis

   April 27, 2010

   Hi Adam, Thanks for pointing out VMware Essentials for $999 – which, by the way, is available at a reduced price for just $495 until June 15! It is a great deal, really. The things that I would like to see, of course, are more features as MS VMM 2008 R2 includes many of the more advanced vCenter features. I hope that, over time, VMware wil move these more advanced features down to the smaller business editions…

   Joel – thanks for your comments! Yes, I really love VMware GO, in fact, the most popular video on my website is this video I created about VMware GO-
   VIDEO: Jumpstart ESXi and P2V with VMware GO

   Again, I’m not bashing VMware, just hoping that they will more some of the amazing more advanced features down to a more affordable level to allow for mass-adoption.

6. 

   Vladan

   April 28, 2010

   That’s absolutely right, the SMBs does not have that money to buy vCenter and never will, so they’re turning slowly to Microsoft…. which is a bit shame, because the quality of ESX4 and ESXi4 is still the best. And such a features for memory optimization like TPS (transparent page sharing), Memory Ballooning and soon Memory compression are still features that Microsoft lucks for now. Those features saves money already.

   The VMware Essentials for 495$ for 3 servers IS one of the ways to go. http://www.vladan.fr/50-off-the-regular-price-for-vsphere-essentials/ . Now the next step from VMware should be some kind of “Express Edition” for vCenter and also some better upgrade path from Essentials to Standard too. -:)

   Thanks.
   Vladan

7. 

   Adam

   April 28, 2010

   Yeah, I wasn’t sure if the half deal was still on for Essentials so didn’t want to say it and then look like the fool. Even at $1k it’s still a good deal for SMB’s. Let’s face it, the real value in virtualization comes from the management now. The hyper-visor does what it is supposed to and does it really well. I would even argue the that the Essentials Plus bundle at ~$3k is a great deal as it comes with HA and VMWare Data Recovery which is a great way to backup your VM’s in a small environment.

8. 

   Ron Davis

   May 8, 2010

   The vCenter Express you are looking for is the Essentials product. It is aimed at companies with less than 20 physical servers, not 20 VMware servers. It can only be purchased with 3 ESX(i) licenses for a maximum of 6 cpus. There is no upgrade path from Essentials either. Once you outgrow it, you repurchase.