VMware ESXi vs. KVM Hypervisor
Your virtualization platform’s hypervisor serves as its structural backbone, and there are numerous options available, including open source and products from established manufacturers. With its vSphere virtualization platform and ESXi hypervisor, VMware is a well-liked option for virtualization. Linux includes the kernel-based virtual machine (KVM), an open source alternative.
KVM Hypervisor
The licensed KVM Hypervisor is an open source virtualization technology that transforms the Linux kernel into a virtualization-capable hypervisor. It serves as an alternative to proprietary virtualization technologies like those provided by VMware.
Being able to examine, modify, and improve the source code underlying your hypervisor is essential when switching to a KVM-based virtualization platform. When you have access to the source code, you can innovate by virtualizing established workloads and applications and laying the groundwork for cloud-native and container-based workloads. The licensed KVM Hypervisor is also simple to use and deploy due to its integration into the Linux kernel.
Platform powered by VMware
The licensed VMware ESXi and vSphere virtualization platform are both provided by VMware. You can consolidate your hardware by installing VMware ESXi, a bare-metal hypervisor, directly onto a physical server. In order to modernize your infrastructure and deliver and manage both new and legacy applications, you can create and provision virtual machines (VMs) using VMware’s virtualization technologies.
The control stack provided by the licensed VMware must be used to manage your virtual machines (VMs) if you choose VMware vSphere. Various license entitlement levels are available.
how to pick the ideal hypervisor?
Cost
KVM and VMware’s virtualization solutions differ significantly in terms of price. There is no additional cost because KVM is distributed as a component of many open source operating systems. You will be tied to an enterprise license agreement (ELA) with VMware and required to buy licenses for a number of their products. Even though an ELA might save you money up front, over time, costs may rise while capacity and functionality gradually improve. KVM has a lower total cost of ownership overall.
Integration
Different techniques are employed by hypervisors to interact with the host’s physical hardware. You must use additional components of VMware‘s control stack because ESXi makes use of the management platform from that company. Your hardware requirements may go up as a result.
Because the licensed KVM Hypervisor is an open source and compatible with a wide range of Linux and Windows platforms, you won’t be subject to the same limitations when using it.
Performance
The impact of the hypervisor’s performance on your infrastructure is one of the most crucial factors to take into account. Both KVM Hypervisor and VMware ESXi are type 1 hypervisors, so they should outperform a type 2 hypervisor.
In comparison to KVM, ESXi typically takes longer to install and launch a server. Even though this performance difference may not be noticeable under normal load conditions, ESXi performs slower when running servers. KVM runs applications faster than other commercial hypervisors, at speeds that are close to native.
Support
You will receive enterprise-level support from VMware as a part of your ELA. When using KVM, you’ll need to rely on the support of your own IT department, the open source community, or a vendor with support, like Red Hat.
Scalability
Although the licensed VMware provides a scalable virtualization platform, it’s important to take into account how adding more hosts or VMs might affect an ELA. With a maximum of 64 hosts per cluster, vSphere offers a maximum of 12TB of RAM per host. vSphere comes with a number of application programming interfaces (APIs) that can be used to simplify the management of your virtual machines.
If there are more requests and guest machines, KVM, which is a component of the Linux kernel, scales to meet those demands. Most enterprise virtualization setups, including data centers and private clouds, are built on KVM, which enables the virtualization of even the most demanding application workloads.
The licensed KVM can easily be integrated and scaled to meet your needs because it is also compatible with your current infrastructure and gives you access to the source code.
Maturity
Enterprise workloads can be supported by both KVM and ESXi, which are both established and reliable hypervisors.
Advantages over VMware vSphere of KVM
A reliable, stable hypervisor with outstanding features is provided by VMware. However, using proprietary virtualization may prevent you from having the funds necessary to invest in automation, containers, and clouds. Vendor lock-in can be eliminated, giving you the freedom, adaptability, and resources you need to lay the groundwork for a cloud-native and containerized future.
With the features you need to support your physical and virtual infrastructure and at a lower operating cost, KVM is production-ready for enterprise workloads. The advantages of KVM-based virtualization over competing products like VMware vSphere are numerous.
KVM Hypervisor offers
- Lack of vendor lock-in. Avoid limiting your software options or paying for items you aren’t using.
- Excellent performance: KVM outperforms other hypervisors in terms of how quickly applications run.
- The benefit of open source software is that you can access the source code and integrate it with anything.
- Lower total cost of ownership, freeing up operating budget to research cutting-edge technologies.
- Interoperability across platforms: KVM works on Linux and Windows platforms, allowing you to make the most of your current infrastructure investments.
- the ease with which one virtualization platform can easily create, start, stop, pause, migrate, and template hundreds of VMs running on thousands of different pieces of hardware or software.
Justifications for selecting Red Hat and KVM for business virtualization.
KVM is the choice you make when you choose Red Hat Virtualization. For virtualized servers and technical workstations, Red Hat Virtualization is a complete infrastructure solution. Red Hat Virtualization offers simplicity of use, agility, and security for virtualized, resource-intensive workloads thanks to its foundation in the robust Red Hat Enterprise Linux platform and KVM. Better performance, affordable pricing, and a reliable Red Hat environment help organizations optimize their IT infrastructure.
You can overcome today’s challenges while laying the groundwork for tomorrow’s technologies with the help of Red Hat’s quick and affordable virtualization. A company that wants to support cloud-native apps running in a hybrid cloud cannot do so with the current scale-up virtualization solutions offered by vendors like VMware because they are expensive and offer no such path. To create a hybrid cloud environment, one must first abandon proprietary virtualization.
In Red Hat Enterprise Linux, which is a component of Red Hat Virtualization, are two technologies called sVirt and Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) that were created specifically to identify and stop the sophisticated security threats that are currently present in the IT environment.
All the advantages of an open source hypervisor are yours with Red Hat Virtualization, along with enterprise-level technical support, updates, and patches that let you keep your environment current and operational at all times. Cross-platform interoperability is provided by open and RESTful APIs and certification for Microsoft Windows. This licensed solution can be extended and supported to work with your current and preferred management tools with the help of the provided API and software development kits (SDKs).