Before VMworld I have assisted to VMware EVO: RAIL presentation. VMware Hyper-Converged infrastructure presentation video wasn't available to the public until today, when Duncan Epping has published the video done by Dave Shanley. So here is EVO: RAIL Demo Video.
VMware EVO:RAIL has been demoed during VMworld and I have also published a details, together with other hot VMworld news and announcements, but video does provides excellent insight of the look and feel.
While the details are out and video too, some questions might arise and will arise. One of those question that I have in mind is for example for deployment in brownfield environments. Is possible to integrate EVO:RAIL into brownfield environment?
How about replacing older hardware and swapping licensing. EVO:RAIL will be distributed with single SKU, and provides hardware and software. But what if a customer needs to replace old hardware and wants to keep their existing licensing?
During the demo we could see that the VMware licensing will be based on enterprise plus licensing. Referring to the point above, what if the licensing of the customer is vSphere Standard for example and he wants to keep it. Does EVO: RAIL enable that or the only way is to rip and replace (including licensing?).
I'm sure those questions will get answered and I think that I'm not the only one that would be interested knowing more about EVO:RAIL solutions, as the technology is not only very cool, but also simplifies the deployment.
Here is the video by Dave Shanley. Enjoy.
VMware is stepping into the hyper-converged market. This proves that the hyper-converged market is in movement since few years and that other solutions like Nutanix (“Why NoSAN solutions for virtualization will be a success”), which are on the market since several years, are the way to go for better scalability.
With flash pricing falling further I'd expect the flash to become even more present in the data centers and more present in small businesses where often we see still traditional SAN or NAS devices only. It will be interesting to see how (and if) there will emerge a hyper-converged solutions for small shops.
I heard that the licensing are not transferable. In essence, rip and replace. I talked to 2 folks at the EVO Rail booth at VMworld (vmware person and a dell rep) and they both stated that I’d be purchasing ‘new’ licenses for vsphere if I went to EVO. I hope that changes in the very near future because the model will make it cost prohibitive for existing customers to jump on board if they’re looking to migrate to EVO. If it’s a new project, like VDI, then maybe it’ll work.
I could be wrong, but that’s what I was told. I’ll be sure to stay tuned.