Source: 3-minute data and storage class public number

virtualization remains the main business form of enterprise data centers for a long time to come. After the authorization mode of VMware is changed, what other options are available if VMware server virtualization is not used?

Third-party virtualization software

this lineup is actually a lot, including a number of server manufacturers have their own virtualization products, such as Huawei's fusionsphere, InCloud Sphere,H3C, etc. all have their own server virtualization software.

Of course, most of them are based on open-source KVM secondary modifications. The underlying technologies do not differ much. The main differences are in user experience and compatibility. Just like the same Android operating system, Xiaomi and OPPO have different experience.

The biggest problem may still lie in compatibility. The essence of virtualization technology is the operating system. A large number of third-party hardware compatibility needs to be considered. A variety of hardware on the market, most third-party manufacturers do not have such charisma as VMware, so they can make others compatible with it.

Once you choose a brand of virtualization software, you will probably have to buy their servers, because basically no third-party hardware is compatible. There is a compatibility problem with forced use. It is normal to prevaricate with each other. This is almost a common problem for domestic IT manufacturers, digging their own trenches respectively.

Of course, there are also pure third-party virtualization software in the market, such as CNware and zstack, which may be relatively open in compatibility because they do not produce hardware themselves. But at the same time, it also faces the problem of brand appeal. There are tens of millions of hardware types, and it is difficult to achieve a wide range of hardware compatibility tests simply by virtualization manufacturers themselves. The user may become a mouse accidentally.

HCI hyper-Fusion

the advantage of HCI is that hardware and software are bound together without worrying about compatibility. The HCI architecture does not require independent storage devices and has obvious cost advantages in small-scale environments. But there are also some natural defects of their own.

1. HCI is an integrated storage and computing architecture. Computing and storage are bound together. To expand the storage capacity, you must expand the storage capacity at the same time. However, most of the time, the data growth and computing growth in an enterprise are not synchronized. If you want to expand the storage capacity separately, you can only purchase them together.

2. Expansion can only find the same vendor, which is equivalent to binding the vendor to death.

3. Scenarios with high storage performance requirements are not suitable. Most HCI hyper-conversions use open-source distributed storage based on Ceph, and the underlying layer of Ceph is object storage, both performance and I/O latency have big bottlenecks.

Cloud vendor solutions

most well-known public cloud vendors provide solutions for private cloud deployment, such as Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud, and Qingyun, all support the deployment of their cloud solutions in their own data centers.

The advantage of these Internet vendors is their strong technical strength. The entire solution has been verified by a large number of customers in the public cloud, and its stability is guaranteed. However, the disadvantages are obvious. The entry threshold of the scheme is very high, which is not suitable for small and medium-sized customers. And once you choose, it is often a deep binding cooperation mode between enterprises. Basically, you can't have other options in the later period, and you can only go to the dark one by one.