Red Hat Virtualization and VMware ESXi are server virtualization solutions. VMware ESXi is a proprietary bare-metal hypervisor bundled with VMware’s vSphere product. Red Hat Virtualization is an open-source, Linux-based platform that includes hypervisors and a virtualization manager. Both products are most heavily used by mid-size and enterprise-level organizations, likely because both are primarily designed for and marketed to businesses with large-scale virtualization needs.
Features
Although both VMware ESXi and Red Hat Virtualization provide similar virtualized server benefits, they differ in their usage and structure.
The prevailing opinion of VMware ESXi is that it’s a straightforward, dependable hypervisor, with some users experiencing years of consistent server uptime even during hardware failures and other setbacks. It requires relatively few hardware resources, making a minimal impact on its host machine. Deploying new servers with VMware ESXi is quick and simple, even when you need to configure the server from scratch. When it’s time to upgrade hardware, VMware’s detailed hardware compatibility guidelines help IT departments make the right selection.
Red Hat Virtualization is designed for smooth implementation, even if you’re replacing an existing virtualization solution. Red Hat Virtualization offers pre-built scripts and professional assistance to help new customers have a smooth migration experience. Their professional customer support extends beyond migration, and many customers specifically report a good experience with Red Hat Virtualization’s support team. For an enterprise-level product, Red Hat Virtualization still has a relatively low price point compared to proprietary competitors like VMware. It’s also Linux-based and open-source, two appealing qualities for many IT professionals.
Limitations
Before you purchase either solution, though, it’s important to consider the drawbacks of each product. Neither Red Hat Virtualization or VMware ESXi are free from complaints.
VMware ESXi isn’t a complete solution on its own; it’s best used as the foundation of a full virtualization stack. Licensing for VMware ESXi and other supporting VMware products can get expensive fast, especially when you need higher subscription tiers for the features you want. Its web-based management client is a frequent pain point, with some users reporting that it’s not compatible with their browser. And while VMware’s hardware compatibility guidelines are comprehensive, that’s by necessity: VMware ESXi can be very picky about the hardware it will run on. If your existing hardware doesn’t fit the requirements, getting the compatible products could inflate your virtualization expenses.
Red Hat Virtualization offers a client-based UI as opposed to a browser-based interface, but many users complain that the UI is outdated and clunky to use. The migration scripts provided by the company might not be plug-and-play for all users, hanging up on unexpected problems such as unusual disk naming conventions. Red Hat Virtualization doesn’t offer live-patching options and requires a reboot to implement upgrades. The resulting downtime can be frustrating for IT administrators and end users alike.
Pricing
VMware ESXi is available as part of VMware’s vSphere product, which has a free vSphere Hypervisor edition limited to a single physical server. vSphere has multiple packages, tiers, and subscription levels with differing capabilities, ranging from $510 to over $20,000. For full pricing information, refer to the vSphere pricing page.
Pricing information for Red Hat Virtualization is available from Red Hat or a Red Hat sales partner.
