VMware Launches vSphere Express for Smaller Customers: Up to 128 Cores for $9,600 a Year
VMware, owned by Broadcom, has released vSphere Express, a cheaper virtualization product aimed at small and medium-sized businesses. It follows customer complaints about being pushed toward the costly VMware Cloud Foundation.
VMware, the software company owned by technology group Broadcom, has announced a new virtualization product called vSphere Express. It is designed for organizations that need "cost-effective essential virtualization" and mainly targets small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), some of which the company has alienated with its licensing approach. Virtualization lets multiple virtual machines run on a single physical server.
Background
Some customers reported that VMware pushed them toward VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), the company's flagship private cloud bundle, which is expensive and includes many features smaller businesses do not need. Some users said they were told that vSphere Standard, the previous entry-level product, was no longer available.
Price and features
A VMware spokesperson told The Register that the license will be sold as a per-core subscription at a price "significantly lower" than the VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) and VCF bundles, but did not give a figure. IT distributor TD Synnex lists a price of $9,600 a year for running on up to 128 cores. The price does not fall for fewer cores, which may still be a challenge for the smallest users.
vSphere Express includes basic functions such as vMotion, for "live migration" of running virtual machines with improved speed and efficiency, and high availability, which automatically restarts failed virtual machines.
The product supports only discrete instances, which cannot be managed centrally, said Prashanth Shenoy, VP of product marketing for VCF. He said the company had begun listening to lower-end customers who did not want VVF but needed core virtualization capabilities.
While vSphere Standard has not received a meaningful update in years, vSphere Express will be updated as often as VCF and VVF, The Register reported.
