At Microsoft Virtualization means helping you deploy solutions from the datacenter to the desktop at one-sixth the cost of VMware to help you maximize cost savings and ensure business continuity.
Windows Server is the platform you know with Microsoft Hyper-V Virtualization built-in
Microsoft believes virtualization is an integral part of your IT infrastructure, so we built Hyper-V into Windows Server 2008 R2. This means you can easily integrate it with your existing infrastructure and management tools. Since Hyper-V is the “Windows you know,” you can use the in-house expertise you already have. In fact, if you know Windows, you know virtualization.
Unlike VMware vSphere, which adds another layer to your infrastructure and requires a separate skill set and training, with Microsoft you don’t have to spend valuable resources and time on learning a new skill set. There’s no need to dedicate specialized IT staff to manage your hypervisors.
Microsoft also provides free Virtualization Solution Accelerators that provide end-to-end guidance, best practices, and automated tools to help you easily migrate to Windows Server 2008 R2—so you can realize the cost savings and environmental benefits of Windows Server 2008 R2's built-in virtualization technologies.
Only Microsoft delivers both physical and virtual and cross-platform management
The more you virtualize, the more complex your environment can become—and the more critical management is to enabling a cost-effective, dynamic infrastructure. Microsoft System Center Management Suite Datacenter (SMSD) gives you a wide variety of integrated management functionality for your physical and virtual environments, and is the only solution that lets you manage Hyper-V and VMware, all through one pane of glass.
Microsoft lets you manage virtual and physical environments and uses common deployment, provisioning, monitoring, and backup methodologies across both. VMware’s answer to management is to use Virtual Infrastructure Enterprise and Virtual Center, but even this combination falls short: you still can’t manage multiple hypervisors, physical resources or applications.
Microsoft offers solutions for small and medium business
Microsoft is a great value when it comes to small and medium sized businesses. The scenario below illustrates the offerings, and as you can see, the Microsoft virtualization and management solution is significantly less expensive than VMware. With Microsoft virtualization and management solutions features like live migration and clustering are included at no cost. With VMware, you have to move to the higher level vSphere Advanced version to get live migration and clustering and you pay a significant price premium for these features.
This chart compares VMware vSphere vs. Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 and System Center Virtual Machine Manager Workgroup edition and System Center Essentials. Price comparison based on five servers, two processor system, with management server cost, two year Maintenance, and no operating system cost.
Microsoft Virtualization and Management vs. VMware vSphere for small and medium size businesses
DRS/PRO = Distributed Resource Scheduler/Performance and Resource Optimization
