Choosing the Right Hypervisor for Your Needs - KVM vs. VMware

Author: Carol Platz, MBA

VMware vs KVM: How to Choose?

Some organizations don’t. It’s possible to use both VMware and KVM as part of a hybrid virtualization environment. For example, you might choose VMware for certain workloads or legacy applications, while KVM could be used for other, more modern, or open-source-based workloads. In this case, both hypervisors would operate in parallel, potentially managed through separate management tools (e.g., VMware vCenter for VMware environments and OpenStack for KVM environments).

If you are making a choice, choosing between VMware and KVM depends on several factors, including your budget, technical requirements, and the scale of your virtualization environment. VMware is ideal if you’re looking for enterprise-grade features, support, and ease of use, and KVM if you want a cost-effective, flexible, open-source solution with full control over your infrastructure.

If you’re looking to deploy a cloud infrastructure, KVM is often preferred due to its integration with OpenStack, OpenShift, and other cloud platforms. VMware cloud solutions, like VMware Cloud Foundation, are proprietary and locked into VMware’s ecosystem. KVM offers greater flexibility and control, especially in environments where you want full transparency and customization of your virtualization setup. It integrates seamlessly with other open-source tools and can be customized to meet specific needs. If your budget is a concern, KVM is an attractive option since it is open-source and free to use, whereas VMware requires purchasing licenses for its products, which can be expensive, especially for large environments.

A KVM-based virtualization platform like Red Hat? OpenShift? Virtualization provides the assurance of comprehensive security features and reliability, as its source code is continuously refined and enhanced by a global community of experienced open-source contributors. As you virtualize traditional applications and establish a foundation for cloud-native and container-based workloads with KVM, you gain from a constantly evolving platform enriched by the collective expertise and advancements of the open-source community.

To learn more, read the full article "KVM vs. VMware: Choosing the Right Hypervisor for Your Needs."