So, you’ve decided to migrate your on-premises environment to VMware-on-Cloud. What now? The next step in your cloud migration journey is deciding where to host your VMware workload.
Each cloud provider offers different features and benefits to stand out from the competition. Understanding these features and how they relate to the intricacies of your or your client’s workload is key for choosing the most cost-effective cloud platform.
Here are the five key factors you need to consider when choosing your VMware-on-Cloud provider.
Level of Control
Do you want full administrative control of VMware stack and bare metal hosts? If so, you may want to consider IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions or Oracle VMware Cloud Solutions. Both IBM and Oracle give you direct oversight and control to make changes to your VMware environment.
If you would rather let someone else manage your VMware stack, you may be better suited for AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud.
Regional Availability
A second factor you must consider is whether your desired provider operates in all the regions where your company or your client operates.
Oracle Cloud comes in at the top here, with 23 regions where VMware-on-Cloud is available. IBM Cloud offers services in 20 regions, and AWS in 17 regions.
Azure and Google Cloud rank lowest in regional availability, with 13 regions each. Whether this matters to you depends entirely on where your company operates. Small or midsized companies concentrated around one or a few regions may find Azure and Google Cloud’s availability adequate, while larger or globally dispersed companies may require the capabilities of IBM or Oracle Cloud.
Maximum Cluster Size
Another critical component of your cloud host decision is the maximum number of hosts supported in each cluster. Oracle VMware Solutions allows you to cluster up to 64 hosts together. IBM Cloud comes in at second-highest, supporting up to 59 hosts per cluster.
Google Cloud allows you to cluster up to 32 hosts per cluster, with AWS and Microsoft Azure following at 16 hosts.
If you have a large workload and wish to group several hosts together, Oracle and IBM Cloud are good options. This is particularly useful for managing uptime, making it easier to turn off and on large clusters rather than several individual hosts.
However, if clustering is not relevant for your workload, AWS and Microsoft Azure are perfectly good options. Understanding your workload and its specific makeup is critical to identifying your VMware-on-Cloud needs and choosing the most cost-effective platform.
Private Network Traffic
The cost of private network traffic on VMware is another feature to factor in your migration decision. Ingress and egress private network charges can add up quickly without careful vigilance.
VMware on IBM Cloud is the only major cloud provider that includes free private network traffic in your subscription. All other public clouds charge ingress and egress fees. These charges are worth taking into account when planning your cloud migration.
Selection of Host Models
The final key element to consider is the available selection of host models on each platform. IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions offers 7 host models, the most of all the major cloud providers. This gives you more flexibility and customization for various sections of your cloud environment.
VMware on Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, or Oracle may be a good fit if you are okay with hosting all of your VMs on the same model.
AWS offers you a solid option in the middle, with 2 host models on VMware.
To see a comparison of VMware-on-Cloud on all cloud platforms in visual form, check out AkasiaCloud’s VMware-on-Cloud IBM Spotlight Infographic.
The Importance of Modeling
As you can see, understanding your current individual environment is key to determining your need for each of these 5 VMware-on-Cloud features—level of control, regional availability, cluster size, private network traffic, and selection of host models.
Thorough modeling is also necessary for right-sizing your cloud environment, which can save you 30-60% in cloud costs that would otherwise be wasted on over-provisioned VMs.
Modeling your on-premises and future cloud environments by hand is time-consuming, painstaking, and in some cases impossible.
That’s why Akasia Cloud exists—to take the guesswork out of cloud migrations and help you plan the most cost-effective lift-and-shift workload migration.
Akasia Cloud Modeling Solutions
Akasia Infrastructure Modeler (AIM) is a SaaS solution that inventories all your on-premises infrastructure and allows you to perform scenario analysis to determine what the most cost-effective cloud platform to migrate to. It also allows you to find hidden costs quickly and easily for each cloud platform you are considering.
Our infrastructure modeler is the perfect solution for cloud migration assessment and cost optimization for VMware lift & shift to cloud.
Akasia Infrastructure Modeler’s capabilities include:
- Auto-discovering all on-premises VMs
- VM inventory ingestion
- Right-sizing onto VMware-on-Cloud
- Modeling on multiple clouds simultaneously
You can receive a free Akasia license by engaging with IBM Cloud for VMware solutions. IBM is so sure that IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions is the most cost effective VMware-on-Cloud solution on the market, that they will pay for your Akasia cloud migration planning software license.
Simply engage IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions and you get an Akasia Infrastructure Modeler license for FREE! The assessment is unbiased and there is no obligation to purchase from IBM Cloud.
Visit us at VMware Explore 2022
Akasia Cloud is excited to announce that we are partnering with IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions to join VMware Explore as exhibitors.
Visit our booth to meet our team and learn more about our cloud cost modeling solutions.
More information about VMware Explore 2022 is available here.
