SERVER VIRTUALIZATION
After 18 months, Broadcom has finally closed their deal to purchase VMware. Since then, there have been many stories about Broadcom terminating partners and raising prices. Like many vendors, VMware by Broadcom is shifting to a subscription licensing model, which means you can no longer purchase licenses that continue to be valid indefinitely. Subscription licenses are purchased for a period (typically 1-3 years) and then must be renewed. This practice has become the norm for software vendors.
If you are an existing VMware customer, you’ll want to reach out to your preferred partner to make sure they are still able to sell VMware. Fortunately, MTSi has been selected into the Broadcom partner program. You’ll also want to discuss how the shift to subscription licensing might affect your budget so you can plan accordingly.
If you are an existing Carbon Black customer, know that Broadcom intends to spin off Carbon Black as a separate business. To date, the Carbon Black team has indicated that all partners previously selling Carbon Black will be invited to continue. If you are a current customer and happy with Carbon Black, there is no need to worry. If you are concerned about Carbon Black as your Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) platform, please reach out to our sales team.
What is virtualization anyway?
When I started building servers (a very long time ago) we built a server on its own hardware. That meant that software drivers needed to be loaded and updated in order for the server to function and that only one server ran on one hardware platform. The hardware was often underutilized and if the hardware failed, rebuilding the server took hours. Matching a server to the right hardware platform was challenging especially as servers continued to grow.
Virtualization software was a significant improvement on this model. Virtualization software acts as a middleman between servers and the hardware that powers them. With virtualization, multiple servers can share the same disk storage, processing power, and memory. Because the logical server talks directly to the virtualization software, it is much easier to move a server from one hardware platform to another.
Virtualization offers significant benefits to small and large organizations. With virtualization it is much easier to add resources to a server, or move the server to new hardware after a failure. For small Windows networks, it is important to run some services on their own server. Virtualization makes this possible without buying duplicate hardware. These advantages have led to significant growth in virtualization over the last several years.
What choices do we have?
The changes in the marketplace this year have caused many to evaluate their virtualization platforms as they plan future investments. VMware ESXi and Microsoft Hyper-V are two of the most common virtualization platforms in use. Customers are also investigating hyperconverged architectures including offerings from Nutanix, HPE, and Dell EMC.
Wherever you are in your virtualization journey, MTSi can be your guide. If you are getting started and interested in understanding the various options available, we can help you select a platform that is right for you. If you are continuing on your journey and looking for a new partner to help you scale the investments you currently have, MTSi is ready to help. Reach out to our sales team to learn more.