It has started. All over the internet there’s a battle going, to command mindshare in relation to the virtualisation space. Microsoft and Citrix are making a full frontal attack on VMware’s dominance. Broadly speaking, the rhetoric goes some thing like this:
The vendor story
Microsoft – “We have a complete end to end management solution for all your assets both physical and virtual. Why invest in a point solution such as VMware when we can provide all of the important features at a fraction of the cost ? Our hypervisor is more efficient and smaller, is architecturally superior and has the features that most customers need. The hypervisor is a commodity and the important elements in a virtualisation solution are really the management toolset.”
Citrix – “We have the most cost effective hypervisor on the market offering all of the really relevant advanced features that are missing from Microsoft, but provided by VMware, for an expensive premium. Our technology set provides an integrated solution around virtualising, not just servers, but desktops and applications too. Our core product has strong pedigree in supporting non MS O/S and our partnership with MS guarantees the best all round fit no matter what server O/S you wish to virtualise.”
VMware – “We own this space, with a ten year track record and the most advanced product set that is available on the market today. Our hypervisor is the most cost effective because advanced features such as: VMotion, DRS, Host mgt and memory over-commit, provide a consolidation ratio which our competitors can only dream about. In fact, some of them haven’t shipped a product yet. We manage your complete virtual infrastructure from a single interface without the complexity of multiple consoles and technologies. Our reliability is legendary and our track record in solid dependable code release is enviable across the industry.”
Who has the answers?
- So as a customer what do you do?
- Who do you believe?
- Which vendor has the answers for your environment or your unique set of circumstances?
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Of course, all of the vendors have valid points and they are all in a way correct. It really is a minefield trying to figure out the right infrastructure technology to use and manage your environment. What you need is a trusted advisor, an organisation with a unique field of vision across all the main infrastructure technology vendors who stands independently and can offer you the right advise based on your requirements without prejudice.
Often, the correct solution does not sit with a single vendor. If I look at some of our recent projects, there is a common thread based on best fit, not vendor fit. We recently commenced a project to virtualise the server infrastructure of a local building society with branches throughout the country. The customer had diverse requirements in terms of desktop management, application deployment and a desire to improve their disaster recovery capability and at the same time reduce server footprint. In the end we deployed Citrix XenApp, Microsoft System Centre Ops Mgr, Softgrid and VMware ESX based on these requirements.
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Make sure you choose wisely
Make sure when looking for a technology partner they have a broad view of virtualisation and a track record in multi-vendor deployment. Rarely, if ever, does one size fit all.
Posted in: Technology Tags: Citrix, Microsoft, virtualisation, VMware, Xen
