Microsoft undercuts VMware on private cloud pricing
Microsoft taps into frustration over new VMware pricing to lure would-be private cloud users.
Microsoft has always positioned Hyper-V to be a less expensive alternative to VMware. Now the software giant says that with VMware's new VRAM-based pricing, it calculates a private cloud built on Microsoft can cost up to $70,000 less than one built under VMware's licensing schemes.
The calculations are based using a two-node cluster hosting three VMs per processor (a total of 12 VMs in the cluster). Microsoft says a private cloud built on Windows Server 2008 R2, Hyper-V and System Center will cost $18,480 using Microsoft products. The same configuration will cost VMware customers $72,918, Microsoft says. For higher-density VMs, 6 per processor/24 per server, Microsoft says its costs won't change, but VMware will charge $95,790.
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BACKGROUND: VMware backpedals on price changes after customer criticism
These prices are based on a lot of configuration assumptions, including Windows Server 2008 R2. The whitepaper says:
"If this scenario is licensed through Microsoft ECI Datacenter
- You'll require four ECI Datacenter licenses (as there are a total of four physical processors) and the two hosts can run three VMs per processor (a total of 12 VMs in the cluster).
- You'll not need to pay separate licensing fee for each VM running in your environment, as ECI Datacenter edition includes Windows Server Datacenter, which supports unlimited virtualization rights. This means that you have the use rights to run an unlimited number of virtualized instances of Windows Server on processors licensed with Windows Server Datacenter without purchasing additional licenses. Similarly ECI Datacenter includes System Center SMSD, which supports management for unlimited number of VMs.
- Your total cost (License + 3 year SA) will be - $4620*4= $18,480
"If this scenario is licensed through VMware Cloud Infrastructure Suite, you'll require
- • vSphere 5.0 licenses ($6,117/processor)
- license for vCenter Server ($8,742 per instance)
- to pay separate licensing fee for every VM in your environment for vCenter Operations, vCenter SRM, vShield, and vCloud Director ($1,906 for every VM)
- Four Windows Server Datacenter licenses to run guest Operating Systems ($4,209 per processor)
- Your total cost (License + 3 year SnS) will be $6117*4 + $8742 + $1906*12 + $4209*4=$72,918"
At the 24 VM density rate, Microsoft calculates the separate licensing fees for vCenter Operations, SRM, vShield, and vCloud to be $1,906 multiplied by 24, hence the hefty increase in price.
