[NTLUG:Discuss] VMWare to give away ESXi for free, soon!

[Dave Augustus]

On Sat, 2008-07-26 at 01:32 -0500, David Simmons wrote:

> 
> Given the Subject line and below, can someone 'in the know" (meaning
> they've run VMWare using some Linux host AND run their VM's with ESXi)
> please compare / contrast the benefits of running one or the other.


Assuming that ESXi is the same product as ESX, I can tell you that
running ESX is much more efficient that using another VMWARE product on
an existing OS. We run 12 VMWARE ESX servers in our environment with
vmotion. It is really awesome and reliable. I make no comparison here to
the other virtualization methods as I have no experience with them.

This is really just a method of getting people *hooked* on ESX so that
VMWARE can sell the higher dollar products. It is a *HARD SELL* to
management if you are trying to implement an entire VMWARE
infrastructure in your data center, esp for small and medium sized
companies. This changes that because now it can be implemented *FOR
FREE* and then you only have to sell management on VMOTION ,etc ,etc in
the future. 

The point is, management (in non-tech companies) has no clue about
virtualization or its benefits. This new marketing idea allows ESX to be
implemented so that the benefits to management are known before money is
spent- soft costs aside.

I can tell you that as a consultant, I now have more options to offer my
clients. As well as a new revenue stream in supporting VMWARE. With 2
installs of ESX,  you can now provide a somewhat HA environment for the
cost of the hardware.

IMHO,

-- 
Dave Augustus
Ingrafted Software Inc.
c(817) 371-0585
o(817) 741-1288
PO Box 1040
Newark TX 76071