Broadcom completed its acquisition of VMware in 2023, which has had major consequences for VMware users. Following the acquisition, significant changes have been implemented in the product portfolio and licensing model. Over 50 VMware products have been discontinued, and in future, only subscription-based licences will be offered.
For VMware users, this means drastically increased costs, which has led many to look for alternatives to VMware. At the same time, there is uncertainty surrounding the migration of their environments, something that has previously been very resource-intensive.
We at Binero have also faced this dilemma, and have now made the decision to migrate from VMware to OpenStack. We did this by developing a tool to move VMs to an OpenStack environment in the most efficient and automated way possible – with feature parity to the previous VMware setup.
Want to move away from VMware? Contact us and we will plan a migration for your environments.
Why migrate from VMware now?
We have seen the benefits of moving away from VMware since we launched our OpenStack platform in 2019. Moving away from VMware has previously been a time-consuming process, and as we have generally been satisfied with VMware's product, we have until recently chosen to prioritise other things.
Now the licensing situation has changed, and these changes have led to uncertainty about VMware's quality in the long term, so we made the decision to migrate to an open source-based platform – OpenStack. In addition to the financial benefits (no licence costs) and the security of not being dependent on third parties for both licences and infrastructure solutions, we have seen an increase in performance and availability.
How did we migrate from VMware to OpenStack?
To make migration as smooth and automated as possible, we have developed a tool that handles the entire process with minimal manual intervention. We can quickly and efficiently migrate a large number of virtual machines from VMware to OpenStack during a service window, without compromising the user experience.
With this, our team has successfully migrated environments with over 500 virtual machines to OpenStack, proving our process and tool to be reliable and secure.
1. Preparation
The system begins by evaluating each instance and identifying critical services. We retrieve metadata from VMware to reuse MAC addresses and minimise the impact of migration. Relevant ports and VLANs are configured in OpenStack to ensure a smooth transition. If monitoring is used, we set a migration window via API to avoid false alarms and unnecessary downtime.
2. Move
During a planned service window, the instance is taken down and its disk image is copied to OpenStack. The disks are then mounted and necessary updates are made to ensure compatibility, such as installing KVM drivers and updating the network configuration. The new instance is then created in OpenStack with the correct metadata, ports and configurations to mirror the original environment.
3. Function check
After migration, the instance is started in OpenStack, and we perform acceptance testing to ensure that it responds to the ports and services identified in the preparation phase. If the instance fails the test, the ports in OpenStack are closed and the instance is restarted in VMware. The migrated instance remains in OpenStack, making it possible to troubleshoot the problem later without the risk of unnecessary downtime.
When the instance passes the acceptance test, the CMDB is automatically updated to confirm the migration, and the instance is marked as migrated in VMware. The tool moves on to the next instance, and the migrated instance is now running from OpenStack!
Summary
Broadcom's acquisition of VMware has changed the playing field for many organisations. In response, we at Binero have developed an automated tool that enables smooth and efficient migration from VMware to OpenStack. With this, we have successfully migrated over 500 virtual machines from VMware to OpenStack with maintained functionality and minimal impact on applications.
Switching to OpenStack provides increased or equivalent performance, operational reliability, greater flexibility and freedom from licence fees. If you would like to know more about migrating from VMware to OpenStack, please contact us below.
