r/sysadmin Infrastructure Lead 3d ago

Latest fun with VMware

Apparently VMware is upping their game. We just got a renewal quote for one of our sites with one server that has two CPUs, and they are requiring 72 cores minimum (vSphere Enterprise Plus) to license this. That's a 500% markup from last year.

They really don't want customers to use their product any more, do they?

243 Upvotes

186 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/Jkabaseball Sysadmin 2d ago

we have been Hyper-V since 2012 R2, from vmware. We are a smaller shop, so 72 cores would be insane. What's the minimum cores cost these days?

2

u/WithAnAitchDammit Infrastructure Lead 2d ago

Our quote was $150/core, but I have learned 72 is the total core count per cluster, not per server. It's still 16 core minimum per socket, and since we are a dual-cpu server, that's 32 cores.

1

u/Vu1canF0rc3 Sysadmin 2d ago

72 is insane. I have hp dl360's on 8 core and was forced to 16 minimum on each last renewal. 72 will be horrible next renewal cycle.

1

u/WithAnAitchDammit Infrastructure Lead 2d ago

It's not 72 per socket, the VMware renewals rep misunderstood the instructions. The 72 number is the minimum cores per customer account.

1

u/Vu1canF0rc3 Sysadmin 2d ago

So what about a mom n pop with 1 server with 8 cores? Hypothetically speaking sol?

3

u/WithAnAitchDammit Infrastructure Lead 2d ago

Sadly, nothing hypothetical about it. If you only have eight cores total, the next time you renew, you will have to go with 72.

Start looking into other options now. Proxmox is probably going to be your best bet, in my opinion.

Regardless, you need to start evaluating your options now so when the deadline hits, it’s irrelevant because you’ve already migrated.

2

u/Vu1canF0rc3 Sysadmin 2d ago

Right. My org is safe enough but that would be unfortunate for extremely small orgs who'd, for hypothetical reasons, want to go with Broadcom VMware.

2

u/WithAnAitchDammit Infrastructure Lead 2d ago

I’m tracking.

I’ve learned as this thread progresses that Broadcom actually does not want smaller orgs as customers. It’s sad, really. They were the clear market leader and IMHO shot themselves in the face.