‍VMsources

‍Secure Cloud and Business Continuity

‍Tuesday, 8 April 2025 09:22 ‍

Hello Visitor ‍,

It has been a while since the last newsletter, so we’ll keep it simple and cover just three topics:

1. Keeping old servers alive longer

2. Adapting to VMware under Broadcom (and alternatives)

3. Intelligent Security and Immutable Backups

VMsources is at your service to assist your Organization with any of these topics, feel free to reach-out to me at any time and we’ll schedule a call with the VMsources Team!

Your Infrastructure Specialist,

John Borhek

CEO, Lead Solution Architect

VMsources Group Inc.

Mobile: +1 928.606.0483

Direct-dial office: +1 928.864.0850

Email: john@vmsources.com

Website: https://vmsources.com

1. Keeping old servers alive longer

For many years (ESXi 4 to ESXi 7), VMware recommended Best Practice was to install ESXi using onboard flash media (USB or Micro SD). Unfortunately, over time, this has resulted in the premature failure of many ESXi hosts. This is no longer considered Best Practice, nor even supported for ESXi 8.X.

While we always recommend a timely hardware refresh (and sell a full-line of HEP servers at competitive prices), we also know that budgetary constraints at some Organizations may require prolonging the life of older servers.

VMsources has developed and tested a method for extending the life of older VMware ESXi hosts by replacing the embedded flash media with NVMe boot media.

We are offering a NVMe kit that will plug-in to an available PCI slot on older ESXi hosts, allowing the ESXi installation to be transferred from flash media to NVMe, rendering the ESXi host stable and compliant with a Best Practices installation of the latest supported version of ESXi.

Our NVMe kit also will function as the boot disk for Proxmox/Windows, leaving all available disk drive slots for configuration as local storage or CEPH Hyperconverged storage in a cluster.

Our NVMekit is tested on HPE G9 and G10 servers and will work with any server that has an available PCI slot. The kit comes with a complete set of instructions for you to install it and transfer the ESXi installation, but we'll also come to you and convert your servers for you.

2. Adapting to VMware under Broadcom

Users are still reeling at the acquisition of VMware by Broadcom. As a result, many Organizations are still considering their options. We would like to weigh in on a few viable strategies and their ramifications.

Read our report here (be sure to open in Acrobat or PowerPoint to read presenter notes):

1. PDF: VMware and Alternatives, Straight Answers to Tough Questions
2. PPTX: VMware and Alternatives, Straight Answers to Tough Questions

Continue to use your (legacy) perpetual VMware vSphere license

The vSphere license you purchased before Broadcom is likely a “perpetual” license. If it is perpetual, you can continue to use it legally for as long as you like, albeit without access to support (by VMware/Broadcom) or upgrades.

Ramifications:

1. Your vSphere version will eventually become unsupported. vSphere 7 will be supported until October 2025 and all previous versions are already unsupported. When vSphere is no longer supported, there are no updates available. Specifically, there are no security updates available. Any event which could have been mitigated as a result of updates that you could not apply will be your responsibility.
   
2. Technical Support from VMware/Broadcom will not be available.

Mitigation:

1. If you are running vSphere 7 or above, you will continue to receive updates until the version of vSphere you are on becomes unsupported.
   
2. Third-party Technical Support is available from companies such as VMsources.

Update your VMware vSphere license under VMware/Broadcom

You can purchase new vSphere licensing from Broadcom and continue to enjoy the benefit of vSphere with support and access to upgrades.

Ramifications:

1. vSphere licensing under Broadcom is significantly more expensive and only available under a SaaS/Subscription model. That means you will license vSphere annually and will not have the right or ability to use the platform if the subscription expires.

Mitigation:

1. Right-size your ESXi host CPUs at 16-cores with a higher clock speed (3+ Ghz.) to maximize COMPUTE at the least possible VMware/Broadcom licensing cost.
   
2. VMsources offers vSphere licensing by Broadcom:
   1. VMware vSphere Standard: $50.00/core/year
   2. VMware vSphere Foundation: $150.00/core/year

Migrate to a different platform/hypervisor

There are many good platforms/hypervisors available. We still consider vSphere to be the best technical choice, but it may no longer fit with your organization’s budget or guidelines. Furthermore, many platforms/hypervisors have a much broader Hardware Compatibility List (HCL), which means that you can continue to leverage older servers for longer, so long as the hardware is working, and replacement components are available. While we may want to drive a Mercedees, we know that a Honda will get the job done.

 At this point, VMsources considers the viable vSphere alternatives for Enterprise/SMB to be:

• Proxmox
  • Fully-scalable with included Hyperconverged storage (CEPH)
• Hyper-V
  • Great for standalone (single host) installs
• Nutanix
  • Proprietary and supports only Hyperconverged Nutanix storage

Ramifications:

1. Migrating to a different platform/hypervisor is time-consuming, technical, and will incur at least some downtime.
   

Mitigation:

1. VMsources is prepared to help your organization migrate to Proxmox, Hyper-V or Nutanix.
   1. We prefer Proxmox as a trusted/scalable/affordable platform and it has the widest hardware compatibility. Proxmox can be installed in place of VMware ESXi, on existing hardware and utilize existing SAN/Network.
   2. Hyper-V is also a good choice for smaller installations, with wide hardware compatibility. Hyper-V can be installed in place of VMware ESXi, on existing hardware and utilize existing SAN/Network.
      
   3. Nutanix is a great and scalable choice but does not support your current SAN infrastructure and has a HCL similar to VMware, meaning that a migration to Nutanix will probably also require a complete hardware refresh.
      

Migrate to the Cloud

If your IT services do not revolve around Operational Technology/OT (process-specific-applications), the Cloud may be a good choice. Moreover, if your organization simply wants to get out of the hardware/Infrastructure business and focus on users and applications, VMsources Cloud may be a good choice.

Ramifications:

1. If you migrate to the Big Cloud, you will deal with intense technical requirements/limitations for your management/services, such as network connectivity, APIs, printers and devices.
   
2. With the Big Cloud it is almost impossible to determine a budget/TCO for your needs and many migrations end up costing hundreds of percent more than anticipated.

Mitigation:

1. VMsources offers a dedicated, fully-managed Cloud which is connected to your Organization using secure IPsec VPNs. That means that all applications, printers and devices continue to operate as if the services were right on your LAN.
   
   1. Migration to VMsources Cloud is simple and fully-managed by us (we use Veeam), meaning that there is no learning curve for your people.
      
   2. Cut-over happens quickly requiring little downtime for your Organization.
      
   3. VMsources Cloud usually costs less than half of what the Big Cloud does and every migration project has a fixed budget/TCO, so you will know what it costs in advance, just ask our customers!
   4. All VMsources Cloud hosted applications include 30-days of Immutable backup (3-2-1 Rule certified) and trans-continental availability (replication).
      

3. Intelligent Security and Immutable Backups

It’s not a matter of if, but rather when your Organization is affected by Ransomware. Bar none, the best protection for your Organization is Immutable Backups.

Read our report here:

1. PDF: Intelligent Security
2. PPTX: Intelligent Security

VMsources is prepared to help your Organization implement Immutable Backups in one of several ways:

We can help you install Immutable Backup repositories 

This is not only cost-effective but will help secure your current backups from access by Threat Actors.

Usually, Immutable Backups can be implemented for no more than the cost of a commodity block storage device (think: Synology/Buffalo) and a few hours of one of our consultants’ time. We even provide a roadmap for you to do it yourself.

Offsite Backups to VMsources

All Offsite Backups to VMsources Cloud are stored on Immutable repositories as well as S3 object storage, providing full compliance with the 3-2-1 Rule.

• The VMsources Cloud Immutable repository permits fast restores to your servers or to our Cloud in the event your servers are unavailable (as in a disaster/DR event)
• The S3 object storage is additional insurance in the unlikely event of technical issues at VMsources and gives every customer immediate compliance with the 3-2-1 Rule for backups.

Even if your current Backup repositories remain on a non-immutable filesystem, the VMsources Cloud repositories will protect you.

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