Recently, Microsoft published a questionable video dispelling numerous VMware myths. The only problem, at least for Microsoft, is that they really didn’t do a very convincing job. In fact, the video is so sorry that I don’t mind promoting it here on VCritical — check it out!
Would you buy a hypervisor from these guys?
Mythbusters Busted
Gabe’s Virtual World has an excellent rebuttal of all 10 points. All of the so-called myths are pretty weak, but #10 really caught my attention.
Myth #10 explains how VMware virtualization requires you to contend with FOUR LAYERS: hardware, hypervisor, operating system, and application. I think most people would be fine with that general description, and it might look something like this:
However, with Microsoft virtualization there are just THREE LAYERS: hardware, operating system, and application:
You might be wondering where the hypervisor is in this model — I know I am. Frankly, that is a problem. The “myth” is not a myth at all. To get “three layers” you’d need to forgo virtualization.
This stunt is pretty telling that the Microsoft Virtualization gang is desperate to identify any perceived advantages — real or imaginary.
The video is a bit on the corny side but to the unsuspecting customer, they do sound convincing. Unfortunately most of it is hogwash and they are not doing any favors for customers of either virtualization camp by lying. They are purposely deceiving customers. That’s lying in my book.
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Jason, you are right, and if we don’t raise awareness, these lies go unchallenged. Thanks for doing your part.
There is a video on the same page by the same guys where they claim “Hyper-V is a 1/3 of the cost of VMWare” and they work that out by comparing VI3 against Win2k8 Ent + SCVMM.
Then in this video they say comparing VMWare against “just” Hyper-V and SCVMM isn’t fair and you need to add the whole System Centre stack in to allow a like for like comparison. If you do that, I wonder if it’s still 1/3 of the price of VI 🙂
Russ, brilliant analysis. Thanks for pointing that out, very true — if you want to determine the real cost there are plenty of things to consider. That is why VMware has the Cost per Application Calculator, and why it quickly debunks the “1/3 the cost” myth.
The other thing that seems to escape being talked about is VMware’s prices for ESX Server / VI3 also contain costs of support contracts. How come that is never discussed? VMware’s price model is not just charging for the hypervisor but also includes a year of support based upon what type of support contract you choose to buy. Does Microsoft’s price model for Hyper-V / SCVMM contain a year’s worth of technical support or is that extra?
You are absolutely right Bobbi… ! Microsoft does not include ANY support when you buy the virtualization solution from them. Besides, the quality is there with VMware.
And what about the support for the alternative Operating systems. VMware supports over 60 OS!!!
Microsoft starts to support Linux. (with some troubles with mouse stuck inside the VMs… -:) ).
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Microsoft customers can opt to buy “Software Assurance” with the products, which is a type of subscription for upgrades. Pay-per-incident is typically what everyone expects from them, but it is possible to buy more sophisticated support packages, too.