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vSphere 5: Slow to Roll?

Could it be that we are underestimating the rigors of implementing vSphere 5? I ask that because during a briefing I had with vKernel this week, when I asked Product Marketing Manager Alex Rosemblat what he was hearing about vSphere 5 migrations, he replied, "We have very few customers who are using it extensively yet." This, from a guy whose company sells heavily into dedicated VMware environments.

I'm not implying that there are serious hidden problems here. After all, vSphere 5 officially hit the streets in late August, only some three months ago, but it just seems a little odd that Rosemblat hasn't felt a stronger product pulse for the latest and greatest iteration of VMware's primo virtualization environment. He did say that some users were doing pilots, so maybe IT organizations are making sure they've got vSphere 5 down pat via a proof-of-concept approach before they mount a serious migration.

Here at Virtualization Review, we have been doing our best to keep readers abreast of this hot topic via a new, dedicated vSphere 5 page, and blogs from our How-to Guy, David Davis, and Virtual Insider Eli Khnaser. David most recently wrote a blog entitled, "How to Monitor vSphere 5 vRAM Pools," while Eli produced "ESX-to-ESXi Migration Key to Success? The ESX System Analyzer."

As vSphere 5 gains momentum, we will continue to report the news and analyze the issues on this pressing topic.

Posted by Bruce Hoard on 12/08/2011 at 6:41 PM


Reader Comments:

Mon, Dec 12, 2011 R

I agree with Jim. Most of the customer can wait till mid 2014 since they get support for it as per:- http://www.vmware.com/support/policies/lifecycle/enterprise-infrastructure/eos.html

Fri, Dec 9, 2011 Jim Barr Ohio

We have a decent sized 4.x infrastructure - 40+ hosts. We usually start upgrading within 6 months, however with 5.0 we will wait longer since there aren't any must have features that make it a priority. We also put in a new farm for Citrix last year and are only using the standard license because we don't need the fancy features. When we upgrade that environment I'll have to double my licenses due to this new memory nonsense so I am in no hurry to fork over the extra cash for very little increased benefit. I used to be a huge VMWare fan; the licensing change has drastically reduced my enthusiasm for the company in general and definately for rushing to 5.0.

Fri, Dec 9, 2011 Mike McHugh Youngstown, OH

Bruce, I think you're overlooking the elephant in the room. The existing ver. 4.x users that I know will probably be running 4.x for years just to avoid the memory entitlements in ver. 5.x. People running dual proc Cisco 250's with 384 GB of memory (and the like from HP, etc.) would need six Enterprise licenses to support that host, where as they only need two now. The fluff on 5.x features can't overcome that.

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 Ole Andre Schistad Norway

Just to be very clear on this: vSphere 5 is an easy upgrade in most environments. However, a lot of new or improved APIs were introduced in 4.X which in turn has led to a much larger degree of interaction at the API level with 3rd party products. Consequently, many customers must now consider the compatibility of not only their hardware platform but also their integrations. And in most cases, the 3rd parties were not ready with a vSphere 5 compatible version from day one - many still aren't. Couple this with the fact that vSphere 4 is such a rock-solid product and you get a situation where the users feel no compelling reasons to rush an upgrade, but do have compatibility concerns that will take time to work out.

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