| Microsoft private cloud Strengths |
VMware Private Cloud Limitations |
Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V
- Built-in virtualization with unlimited virtualization rights.
- Leverages familiarity with Windows.
- Best choice for virtualizing Microsoft workloads like SQL, Exchange, and SharePoint.
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vSphere 5
- Must be purchased as a separate product.
- Imposes memory-based licensing.
- Requires learning a new technology from the ground up.
- Complicated support models when virtualizing Microsoft workloads.
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Operations Manager
- Provides “a single pane of glass” to monitor infrastructure, network, applications, transactions, and code.
- Provides “a single pane of glass” to monitor applications running on private and public cloud (Windows Azure) environments.
- Provides “a single pane of glass” to monitor physical and virtual infrastructure.
- Provides “a single pane of glass” to monitor Microsoft and non-Microsoft platforms, including Unix, Linux, and VMware.
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vCenter Operations Manager Suite (vCOPs), vFabric APM
- vCOPs is required for monitoring infrastructure and network. vFabric APM is required for monitoring applications and code. Note: these products are not fully integrated.
- vCOPs cannot monitor apps and vFabric APM cannot monitor apps running on VMware’s PaaS platform, Cloud Foundry.
- vCOPs cannot monitor physical infrastructure. VMware offers another product, Hyperic, which is required for monitoring apps running on physical infrastructure, but it can only monitor a limited set of apps. Unlike Operations Manager, it cannot monitor business critical apps including SQL, Exchange, and SharePoint.
- vCOPs Enterprise Plus edition can integrate with 3rd party products but is priced at $34,250 for 25 VMs.
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Virtual Machine Manager
- Offers multi-hypervisor support (Microsoft, VMware, Citrix).
- Server App-V, a new breakthrough technology enables virtualization of server applications, thus simplifying the process of deploying and upgrading apps in private clouds without having to re-architect or rewrite them.
- Rich Service templates describe many aspects of multi-tier applications and allow separate updates of applications and VM images thereby reducing the number of VM images that must be managed.
- Provides built-in resiliency.
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vCenter
- Cannot manage hypervisors other than ESXi/ESX.
- Nothing comparable to Server App-V technology.
- vApps focus on describing the VMs that contain a multi-tier application and have limited functionality. (for example, unlike Microsoft VMM, certain tiers within a full multi-tier app defined within a vApp cannot auto-scale based upon demand).
- Purchase separately the expensive vCenter Heartbeat product for resiliency.
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Orchestrator
- Mature product with best-in-class workflows and automation.
- Provides a true IT Pro authoring environment (Visio like drag and drop interface).
- Provides automation throughout the datacenter (physical and virtual).
- More than 30 integration packs, mostly focused on 3rd party tools.
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vCenter Orchestrator
- Rebranded from Lifecycle Manager.
- Complicated developer focused authoring environment.
- Automates only the virtual environment in the datacenter.
- Only 13 plug-ins, mostly focused on VMware products (five plug-ins VMware centric).
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Configuration Manager
- The most widely-used configuration life cycle management tool in the market (first introduced in 1996) with a footprint on millions of desktops.
- Empowers users: enables device freedom and application self-service.
- Helps improve user satisfaction and free up helpdesk resources though service management integration.
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vCenter Operations Manager Suite (vCOPs), vCenter Configuration Manager
- New product (first introduced in 2011).
- No concept of application self-service.
- Limited integration with VMware Service Manager for service management tasks.
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