Licensing changes after the acquisition
The VMware portfolio was reworked into subscription bundles. Licence renewal became a hard to predict budget item and often includes components you will never use in production.
VMware migration
Move from VMware to Proxmox with minimal downtime and without Broadcom licences
We design, test and carry out the migration of your virtualisation platform to Proxmox VE. You get lower running costs, an open platform without vendor lock-in and support from a European partner.
Book a consultation Why migrate
The VMware licensing model has changed. So have your budgets.
After Broadcom acquired VMware, both the licensing model and the pricing policy changed. Companies now deal with higher costs, bundled licences that include components they do not need, and far less room to negotiate. Migrating to an open platform is the answer that stays entirely in your own hands.
Vendor lock-in
A closed ecosystem, proprietary formats and dependence on a single vendor limit your decisions. Any change of terms lands directly in your operations and there is nothing you can do about it.
Rising cost of operations
On top of licences come support, upgrades and training. Total cost of ownership grows faster than the value you actually get out of the platform.
Why Proxmox VE
An open platform you actually control
Proxmox VE is a mature European virtualisation platform built on Debian and KVM. We run it in production for our customers and for our own cloud infrastructure. We are a Proxmox partner and we handle installation, migration, management and training.
Open source, no per socket fees
The source code is open. You pay no licence fees for the hypervisor or per CPU socket, and the subscription for the enterprise repository and support is optional.
KVM and LXC in one interface
Full virtualisation (KVM) and lightweight containers (LXC) with the same tooling for backups, migrations and monitoring. One web interface for the whole environment.
HA cluster and live migration
High availability with automatic failover, plus moving running virtual machines between nodes without interrupting the service.
ZFS and Ceph
Data integrity, snapshots, compression and replication through ZFS. For scaling across nodes we deploy Ceph distributed storage.
Proxmox Backup Server
Incremental deduplicated backups, integrity verification, client side encryption and fast restore of whole VMs as well as individual files.
Full control of the environment
Open APIs, standard disk formats and Linux under the hood. You can take the environment over into your own hands at any point, nothing keeps you tied to us.
Process
How we run the migration
We work so that every step is reversible and downtime is planned in advance and kept as short as possible. Zero downtime is something we confirm only after the audit, and only for systems where the setup allows it. Production only moves after a verified pilot.
01
Audit of the existing environment
We map your VMware environment: hosts, virtual machines, storage, networks, backups and application dependencies. The output is a clear picture of what is migrated and in what order.
02
Target architecture design
We design a Proxmox cluster that matches your workload: number of nodes, storage type (ZFS or Ceph), network topology, high availability and the backup strategy.
03
Pilot
We validate the procedure, performance and backups on a sample of non critical servers. Production is only touched once the pilot succeeds.
04
Virtual machine migration
We move virtual machines in waves according to an agreed schedule. For most systems we manage the move with minimal downtime, and where the setup allows it, with none.
05
Verification
After each wave we check application functionality, performance, backups and restores. The original environment is only decommissioned once you confirm it.
06
Operations and support
We either take the environment into full management or train your team. Monitoring, updates and service support are part of the package.
We can supply the hardware too
You do not have to source servers separately. We design and deliver the complete hardware platform including storage and networking, install Proxmox on it and hand it over ready to run.
Managed or on-premise
The cluster can run in your own server room, in our private cloud, or as a combination of both. Leave the management to us, or take it over after training.
Benefits
What the migration gives you
Lower costs are only the start. The real gain is that decisions about your virtualisation are yours again.
- Lower total cost of ownership (TCO)
- No licence fees per hypervisor socket
- Independence from a single vendor and its price list
- High availability and live migration built into the platform
- Backup and restore through Proxmox Backup Server
- Open formats and the option to take over management anytime
- A partner in Europe, in your language and time zone
- Installation, migration, management and training from one team
VMware to Proxmox migration FAQ
Before we start
Can we migrate with minimal downtime?
For a large share of virtual machines we manage the move with a downtime window of a few minutes that we schedule outside business hours. Fully zero downtime is possible only for selected systems and we confirm it after the audit. It depends on the type of application, on the storage and on whether the system runs in a cluster. We set the expectations during the audit, so you know in advance which systems will have downtime and how long it will last.
What happens to our existing backups?
Existing backups stay untouched and available for restore throughout the migration. In parallel we build the new backup regime, typically on Proxmox Backup Server, and put it into service before the original environment is decommissioned. Retention of older backups follows your internal policy and legal requirements.
Do you support Proxmox in the long term?
Yes. Proxmox is our primary virtualisation platform. We run our own cloud infrastructure and customer environments on it and we are a Proxmox partner. For the solutions we deliver we offer warranty and support for up to five years, including updates, monitoring and service interventions.
Can we stay on-premise?
Yes. The Proxmox cluster can run entirely in your own server room. We take care of the design, hardware delivery, installation and ongoing support. We can equally run the environment in our data centre or combine both models into a hybrid setup.
Will you train our team to manage the platform?
Yes. Proxmox training for administrators is part of our offering: day to day operations, backup and restore, clustering, updates and incident handling. After the training you can run the environment yourself, or keep us on hand only for the harder cases.
How much does the migration cost?
The price depends on the size of the environment, the number of virtual machines and whether we supply the hardware as well. After the audit you receive a calculation split into one off costs and running costs, including a comparison with what you pay today for licences and support.
Let us calculate what the migration brings
Get in touch and we will arrange a no obligation consultation. We will go through your current VMware environment and prepare a migration proposal including a cost calculation.