Virtualization Management Tools Cost

EMC2DATA

The cost of deployment

 

Virtualization systems management tools are sold separately from the hypervisor. Each vendor has its own pricing structure for its own products. Pricing is typically based around factors such as the number of sockets present in the server that will run the software, the number of virtual machines being managed and the size of the organization.

 

 

For example, VMware offers two different editions of vCenter. There is VMware vCenter Server Foundation, which is geared toward smaller organizations, and VMware vCenter Server Standard, which is for large deployments. The license cost for vCenter Server Foundation is $1,495, and licensing for vCenter Server Standard costs $4,995. VMware's vRealize Suite includes advanced automation and management capabilities for larger virtualization deployments, and can be used to manage private and hybrid clouds. The vRealize Suite is licensed either per-OS instance or per-CPU. The Advanced edition costs $575 per OS instance or $5,750 per CPU. The Enterprise edition costs $995 per operating system instance or $9,950 per CPU.

 

 

Dell uses a more simplified pricing model that is based around the number of sockets present in the server, with licenses starting at $799 per socket.

 

 

Microsoft, meanwhile, sells a Standard and a Datacenter edition of Virtual Machine Manager. The Standard edition sells for $1,323 and covers either two operating system environments (OSEs) or two physical processors (which ever number is greater). The Datacenter license sells for $3,067 and applies to an unlimited number of OSEs, but only covers two sockets. In other words, a separate data center license is required for every two sockets.

 

Citrix XenCenter is a free, open source management tool for Citrix XenServer

 

 

As you can see, each vendor has its own approach to pricing. This holds true for the hypervisor vendors and the third-party vendors. Some vendors, such as 5Nine use a simple and straightforward pricing structure ($199 per host for 5Nine Manager without any antivirus, and $249 per host for 5Nine Manager with antivirus), while others use a much more complex pricing structure. Still others vendor such as Ipswitch do not disclose pricing information at all.

 

Most of these vendors offer product support for an additional cost. You should determine your organization's needs and usage when choosing support options.

 

 

A virtualization management tool should be considered an essential investment for any organization that is highly virtualized. Although it is possible to manage large scale server virtualization deployments without a management tool, doing so quickly becomes impractical as the deployments size increases.

 

Conclusion

A virtualization management tool should be considered an essential investment for any organization that is highly virtualized. Although it is possible to manage large scale server virtualization deployments without a management tool, doing so quickly becomes impractical as the deployments size increases.