There has been many discussion as to which is better – OpenStack or VMware. The debate is not just OpenStack vs. VMWare, but what each platform offers and focuses on. While these two technologies share similarities, there are also important differences. Although both are viable options, in determining which platform is best for your organization’s needs, the winner depends on what services you want to deliver and who your clients are.

Why Use OpenStack

OpenStack is about the cloud. The main idea is to build a cloud infrastructure from the ground up. By combining various tools or projects, OpenStack forms an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platform to build public and private clouds. Although OpenStack is not dependent on legacy applications, it does depend on virtual machines.

As an open-source operating system, OpenStack has a large and active community of designers, developers, documentation writers, and testers. These members contribute and create numerous projects or tools that can tackle your various computing requirements.

Why Use VMware

VMWare is about virtualization. As the provider of proprietary cloud computer software, VMware offers a wide range of products that cater to infrastructure solutions. VMware has products that handle such tasks as infrastructure automation, virtualization security, and enterprise management.

VMware enables all types of companies to become digital businesses. With the help of a cloud hypervisor, VMware can manage the connection and the shared resources between physical computers and the virtual machines it creates.

OpenStack vs VMware – Pros and Cons

• Industry leader
• Free to use
• Easy automation
• Flexible design and deployment
• Robust architecture
• Supports most hypervisors
• Scalability

• Requires automation
• Complicated set up, installation, and deployment
• Documentation quality of projects varies greatly
• Upgrading is difficult and time-consuming
• Must hire managed support

• Many available features
• Strong vendor support
• Good cloud security for virtualization
• Virtualization security works well with other security solutions
• Lower cost than traditional infrastructures
• Built-in redundancy

• High licensing fees for proprietary products
• Steep learning curve
• Incompatible with some hardware
• Support services required
• The trial version has limitations

The ongoing OpenStack vs. VMware comparison comes down to infrastructure. OpenStack provides an infrastructure platform for building private and public clouds. VMware provides a platform for the virtualization of infrastructures. While both can fit into an organization’s infrastructure, and both can integrate to create a more advanced solution, the main question for deciding between the two is what services you want to offer and to which kind of client.

As a data management company, RingStor has IT experts who can help you choose the best solutions for your needs. Whether you choose OpenStack and/or VMware, RingStor can keep your data assets safe using backup, storage, and recovery solutions. To learn more about data security, cloud operating systems, and virtual machines, contact us today via email or call us at (609) 955-3422.