VMware’s rivals ramp up their efforts to create alternative stacks
- Reference: 1751866026
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/07/07/vmware_rivals_ramp_virtualization_efforts/
- Source link:
OpenNebula, the open source virtualization stack based on the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM), last week [2]released version 7.0 of its suite and billed it as “a major architectural leap” thanks to “a redefined cloud-edge orchestration engine … designed to support distributed, sovereign, and intelligent infrastructure across hybrid and multi-provider environments.”
The new version also added support for Arm processors, plus enhanced PCI passthrough that allows full compatibility with NVIDIA-mediated virtual GPUs and means users can deploy OpenNebula in “AI factories” – Nvidia-speak for datacenters or infrastructure pods dedicated to AI workloads.
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The company has also improved its migration capabilities by adding more automation, and refined its cloud provisioning engine including by simplifying cluster setups. OpenNebula is already working on a maintenance release that include a full redesign of the engine and has started work on version 7.2.
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Red Hat’s OpenShift Virtualization is also a work in progress, and last week [6]reached version 4.19.
The big addition is technology previews of the platform running on Azure, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and Google Cloud. Once Red Hat nails those previews, it will be close to parity with VMware in terms of partners that can contribute to a hybrid cloud.
[7]
Another notable preview is smart resource allocation, which monitors virtual machines’ resource utilization in real-time and automatically distributes workloads to nodes that have capacity to run them well. Doing so should improve hardware utilization rates, a metric VMware is pushing hard as a reason to adopt its wares.
Xen, rusted
Container runtime Edera last week revealed it has re-written the open source Xen hypervisor’s control plane using Rust.
As explained in [8]two [9]posts , Edera thinks containers are optimally secure when run inside VMs.
The Seattle startup uses Xen for its paravirtualization capabilities, which it feels enhance security. Edera also believes that memory-safe languages are a security must-have, so used Rust to write a Xen tooling stack that it says performs the same role as the xl management tool but offers improved security.
Red Hat has also improved its VM migration tools so storage arrays do the job of moving data, which reduces the time, and downtime, needed to complete a move. Hitachi Vantara has developed a preview of the tech and is driving its development.
Another new feature enables live migration of a virtual machine’s storage, either to a different tier of storage or to a different array. Again, this one is a preview that Red Hat expects will emerge in a future update.
Nutanix has been busy, too, with a late June [10]release of an update to its Cloud Infrastructure stack.
Version 7.3 added a multicluster virtual switch that connects clusters and improves workload migrations across infrastructure pods. Nutanix also improved provisioning automation, enhanced virtual routing with border gateway protocol tweaks, and stepped up its resilience efforts by allowing users to store snapshots in Azure Blob Storage – enabling restoration without having to maintain Azure compute resources.
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HPE’s virtualization update came in the form of a tie-up with backup vendor Veeam that sees the latter support the former’s Morpheus VM Essentials platform. HPE designed this product as an alternative to VMware’s lower-end vSphere server virtualization bundles, which are somewhat unloved at Virtzilla amid its private cloud push.
A few weeks back, Veeam also [12]quietly revealed that it plans to deliver a beta of its wares for the XCP-NG virtualization stack during this northern summer.
[13]VMware must support crucial Dutch govt agency as it migrates off the platform, judge rules
[14]Broadcom delivers VMware Cloud Foundation 9 – the release that realizes its private cloud vision
[15]Microsoft blows deadline for special Azure for EU hosters
[16]Citrix finds new use for virtualization: Avoiding PC price hikes caused by tariffs
No platform succeeds without support from vendors of vital ancillary services like backup, so HPE and Vates – the company behind XCP-NG – have some nice validation in the form of Veeam’s belief their products represent an opportunity.
This collective burst of activity from virtualization vendors is attributable to the changes Broadcom brought to VMware, which is now all-in on its Cloud Foundation bundle that oversees private clouds – but comes with a hefty price tag. Broadcom insists that Cloud Foundation quickly pays for itself by providing a cheaper alternative to public clouds, lifting utilization rates of on-prem infrastructure, and in its latest version 9 allowing simplified cloud-like operations that make IT departments more productive.
Rival vendors point to considerable VMware price increases and the potential for lock-in as reasons to consider their wares. ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/17/vmware_cloud_foundation_9_released/
[2] https://opennebula.io/blog/announcements/opennebula-7-0-phoenix-released/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aGuat6zOwpdJxNp9qCSH_AAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aGuat6zOwpdJxNp9qCSH_AAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aGuat6zOwpdJxNp9qCSH_AAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/whats-new-red-hat-openshift-virtualization-419
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aGuat6zOwpdJxNp9qCSH_AAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://edera.dev/stories/why-edera-built-on-xen-a-secure-container-foundation
[9] https://edera.dev/stories/rust-or-bust-our-rewrite-of-the-xen-control-plane
[10] https://www.nutanix.com/blog/nutanix-cloud-infrastructure-7-3#
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aGuat6zOwpdJxNp9qCSH_AAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://forums.veeam.com/veeam-backup-replication-f2/xcp-ng-support-t93030-90.html#p547026
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/30/dutch_agency_wins_right_to/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/17/vmware_cloud_foundation_9_released/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/16/cispe_and_microsoft_abandon_dreams/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/07/citrix_virtualisation_avoids_tariffs/
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Shame on Broadcom
VMware vSphere has (IMO) been the best option for on-prem SME virtualisation for many years. I've used all of Xen, RHEV/oVirt, ProxmoxVE, raw KVM+QEMU several times over close to 20 years of dabbling with virtualisation but VMware is really hard to beat (and hard to recommend against) for a well-supported all-in-one platform that "just works" when looking for something for an SME.
For me these have been the killer features of VMware vSphere that are still incredibly difficult to find built-in to any other open-source or commercial platforms:
- VMFS (file system for sharing raw block devices across multiple hosts)
- DRS, Distributed Resource Scheduler (migrating VMs between hosts in the cluster based on resource usage)
- vDPM, Distributed Power Management (managing host/cluster power state based on resource usage)
- VDS Distributed Switch / DVSwitch (single control plane for shared switching across all hosts in a cluster)
- vSAN (close to being one-click hyper-converged shared cluster storage)
I just don't think you find the above features bundled together in another platform with the ease of a VMware ESXi cluster. I really wish that wasn't the case! I'm not even listing the various replication, fault tolerance, hot-plug/hot-add technologies here either.
Many things were quite half-baked and a bit dreadful but at least mostly worked... AutoDeploy with Host Profiles and Host Customisations all needing to be mangled through a dreadful UI instead of being able to just point to an HTTP endpoint or git repository. Metrics... please just have hosts and cluster expose Prometheus/OpenMetrics natively.
But for the last 15-20 years or so, I'd have said VMware vSphere was pretty much the best option for an SME needing on-prem.
It's been close to 10 years since I used VMware in a corporate world so I can't comment on the license charges but the uncertainty around Broadcom's direction led me to ditch VMware in my home lab (I paid for a VMUG Advantage EvalExperience license for many years) in favour of ProxmoxVE for the time being - perfectly good enough for a homelab. And I'd potentially recommend ProxmoxVE for small clusters of on-prem biz workloads too if the company was committed to maintaining a decent team of techies.
But in general all the vSphere equivalents still feel a long way from passing the CTO test. If nothing else vSphere, AWS, Azure etc are just simply easier to hire for than RHEV/oVirt or XCP-NG and that often matters more than license cost, which is what I expect Broadcom are betting on. In reality Broadcom will probably find the real winners will simply be AWS, Azure, GCP etc.
Play stupid games, wins stupid prizes
"Broadcom insists that Cloud Foundation quickly pays for itself by providing a cheaper alternative to public clouds"
Preaching to the Choir here: Well, there's the nub. Every man, woman and small furry creature from Alpha Centuri knows this was a money grab. Short term vision and thinking. Just be slightly cheaper than the cloud and the money will follow.
VMWare used to occupy a beautiful space in IT. It was available to the home hobbyist, and through to the largest of enterprises. Just about a "must-have" on any CV. At the low end, only a few small players, like KVM. At the corporate end, HyperV and only a few others. It was very nearly "all things to all people".
Going after the money meant the suddenly left a great big vacuum at the hobbyist end and SME and even the Fortune 500 are feeling the pain. All pain, minuscule upside for a few. Goodwill and mindshare blown. 3 to 5 years and I'd say Broadcom will make it's money back. But at that point, the revenue will dry up like and Australian river at the end of the wet season. And so VMWare will be jettisoned, a hollowed out husk of what it used to be.
1 year ago, there wasn't even a market there, Broadcom just created one.
Now, one or more of these "new" players is going to come along and become the darling of the home hobbyist. And so it will virally (in a good way) creep in to businesses. And, slowly, the money will follow.
(If I was a betting small furry creature from Alpha Centuri, and I am, then I would follow any project that has nice on premises feel but integrates well with Terraform, et al and so offers cloud management capabilities as well. That's where the money will be)