VKernel, the award-winning provider of enterprise class performance and capacity management products for virtualized data centers and cloud environments, announced today a new
online resource for VMware customers looking to understand new VMware vSphere 5 vRAM pricing.
VMware’s announcement yesterday changed the licensing strategy for vSphere 5. The new pricing model means that vSphere will be sold based on total virtual RAM allocated to virtual machines in an environment. This consumption based model has consequences for virtual environments that ...
- ... operate with high density core and memory servers
- ... over-allocate memory either at the host level or on a per-VM basis
- ... are facing hardware refreshes with next generation server technology
The consequences for VMware’s customers will be:
- Price increases for some
- A greater focus on minimizing vRAM usage for all
- A renewed focus on chargeback
In particular, vRAM sizing will likely become a high priority for many data centers when the new pricing structure is implemented. Customers that have over-allocated vRAM for their VMs or have over allocated vRAM at the host level could find themselves with a price increase for VMware licenses relative to the memory that their environment’s VMs truly require. VKernel’s award-winning vOPS Optimizer product will detect the actual vRAM requirements for each VM and enable automated sizing implementation to ensure that VMs use the minimum amount of memory needed to maintain high performance.
VKernel has assembled the following resources for VMware customers to assist with this transition:
- Online analysis detailing the impact on customer environments
- A new white paper titled vRAM Sizing Considerationscoauthored by noted vExpert David Davis
- 30 Day Trial of vOPS Optimizer to reduce vRAM allocation and save customers vSphere licensing costs
- A free tool, CapacityVIEW, for rapid assessment of the number of VMs with over committed vRAM in an environment
“VMware’s vRAM pricing model will cause customers to focus more closely on effective memory usage,” says Bryan Semple, Chief Marketing Officer, VKernel. “VMware customers need to quickly understand if they can reduce vRAM usage in a safe manner to reduce licensing costs. VKernel can help drawing on our years of experience in capacity management focused on optimizing CPU, storage and memory resources.“
Vkernel’s online resource guide can be found at www.vkernel.com/vram.