Organizations considering VMware alternatives may initially view the task as a hypervisor replacement exercise. Yet virtualization represents only one component of the infrastructure they may need to replace in order to regain infrastructure control. Storage, networking, management, automation, data protection, and hardware choices also make up their broader IT architecture.
Simply substituting another hypervisor for VMware can “check the box” of completing this task. However, doing so may preserve dependencies and operational complexities that another hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) operating system (OS) reintroduces.
To avoid this pitfall, organizations should evaluate the complete architecture each HCI OS creates. They should identify the infrastructure it eliminates and the level of infrastructure control they retain.
Verge.IO VergeOS represents one HCI OS that addresses these architectural considerations. VergeOS consolidates infrastructure services while eliminating dependencies on specific underlying hardware. This approach gives organizations greater flexibility to rethink their infrastructure even as they regain control of it.
Way #1: Evaluate the Architecture, Not Just the Hypervisor
To select more than the right hypervisor, organizations should first choose the right infrastructure architecture to obtain improved infrastructure control. They should take three steps when evaluating prospective HCI OS solutions.
- First, inventory the infrastructure services the current VMware environment provides. These services may include virtualization, storage, networking, management, automation, availability, and data protection. Organizations should also identify which infrastructure services their applications and administrators depend upon. This assessment establishes which capabilities a prospective HCI OS must provide or otherwise address that offer infrastructure control.
- Second, determine how each prospective HCI OS delivers these required services. Identify which services each HCI OS provides natively and which require separate products. External dependencies may include hardware, software, cloud services, or third-party products. Organizations should also determine whether one platform manages these services or administrators must use multiple interfaces for infrastructure control.
- Third, avoid recreating the existing infrastructure architecture with products from different vendors. Replacing VMware does not transform infrastructure control if organizations simply exchange one collection of dependencies for another. Instead, determine whether the prospective HCI OS reduces infrastructure complexity or redistributes it among different providers. Examine the entire post-VMware architecture rather than focusing exclusively on the replacement hypervisor.
Way #2: Identify What Infrastructure Services the HCI OS Eliminates
Having inventoried their existing infrastructure services, organizations should not assume they must retain them to achieve infrastructure control. An alternative HCI OS may eliminate some services entirely. To make this determination, organizations should look to take the following three steps.
- First, ask which infrastructure products the organization no longer needs. Traditional comparisons emphasize features that an HCI OS adds rather than infrastructure it eliminates. Reverse that approach and identify products and services the HCI OS makes unnecessary. These may include storage arrays, SANs, virtualization management, infrastructure management, availability, or data protection products.
- Second, count the integration and management points remaining after deploying the HCI OS. Each independent infrastructure product potentially creates additional operational requirements. These requirements may include management consoles, APIs, integrations, upgrade cycles, compatibility matrices, support relationships, and troubleshooting boundaries. Organizations should quantify these dependencies and determine whether each product justifies its complexity.
- Third, distinguish infrastructure integration from infrastructure elimination. An HCI OS may integrate with an external product while still requiring organizations to deploy, license, upgrade, and support it. Managing multiple products through one interface also does not eliminate their underlying dependencies. Determine which capabilities become native HCI OS services and which remain independently maintained.
Organizations should therefore measure HCI OSes partly by the infrastructure complexity they remove, not simply by the features they provide.
Way #3: Determine How Much Infrastructure Control The Organization Retains
Higher hardware costs and supply chain constraints increasingly characterize today’s IT environment. IT departments can no longer assume their organization will approve every request for additional hardware. Even approved purchases may face extended delivery times or limited availability. Organizations may also need hardware from alternative providers with an HCI OS architecture should give them flexibility to respond.
- Hardware choice represents an important component of establishing infrastructure control. An HCI OS should ideally let them select servers and components based on workload requirements. Examine the freedom to select processors, memory, storage media, networking, and other components. Determine whether different server models and generations can coexist. Existing hardware deserves similar consideration. Organizations may gain additional flexibility if the HCI OS lets them repurpose existing servers rather than requiring new ones.
- Organizations should next identify dependencies that may introduce new forms of vendor lock-in. Leaving VMware does not automatically eliminate dependencies or increase infrastructure control. Prescribed hardware, proprietary storage, mandatory cloud services, required management platforms, and restrictive licensing can create new dependencies. Determine whether the new HCI OS eliminates dependencies or merely exchanges them.
- Finally, consider who decides future infrastructure control. Determine whether the organization can independently expand compute and storage, introduce newer hardware, and retire or repurpose existing systems. Evaluate this flexibility across the HCI environment’s lifecycle. Infrastructure control means retaining meaningful choices three, five, or more years later—not simply on deployment day.
Cost and infrastructure Control Becomes an Outcome of Infrastructure Architecture
Many organizations want to replace VMware not because it lacks software capabilities. Rather, rising software licensing and hardware dependency costs have made continuing to use VMware increasingly difficult to justify.
Organizations should not assume replacing VMware with another HCI OS automatically solves these problems. Similar costs and dependencies may reappear if they overlook the architecture underlying the new HCI OS. Organizations must examine how much control and ownership each prospective HCI OS architecture provides. Its architecture influences which infrastructure products organizations can access, purchase, deploy, and maintain.
An HCI OS that eliminates infrastructure components may also eliminate associated licensing, support, integration, and administration requirements. Organizations should therefore evaluate architectural control before simply exchanging VMware for another HCI OS and look to select an HCI OS that gives them this flexibility.
VergeOS Designed to Provide Architectural Flexibility
VergeIO did not design VergeOS simply to replace VMware’s hypervisor. It designed VergeOS to give organizations greater infrastructure control and architectural flexibility. VergeIO refers to VergeOS as a private cloud operating system, and it represents one example of what this article calls an HCI OS.
VergeOS combines virtualization, storage, networking, data protection, and automation within one operating environment. It uses one codebase, management interface, and API rather than coordinating separate infrastructure layers. VergeOS can also eliminate certain external infrastructure dependencies while providing hardware flexibility. Its distributed storage services use server storage without requiring an external storage array or SAN.
Organizations can also reuse existing servers and mix server brands, processor generations, and storage configurations. These capabilities help organizations reduce external dependencies and retain more control over future hardware decisions.
Don’t Just Replace VMware—Rethink the Infrastructure
A VMware transition creates an opportunity that extends beyond selecting another hypervisor. Organizations can use the transition to reassess the infrastructure architecture supporting their applications.
Evaluate the entire architecture, identify which infrastructure an HCI OS eliminates, and determine how much control remains. Replacing VMware with different products does not necessarily increase infrastructure control.
Organizations should favor architectures that simplify operations, reduce unnecessary dependencies, and preserve future infrastructure choices. VergeOS represents one HCI OS organizations should consider when evaluating VMware alternatives.
Ultimately, organizations should ask more than, “What HCI OS should replace VMware?” They should ask, “What do we want our infrastructure to look like once VMware is gone?”
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Editor’s note: Verge.io is a client of DCIG