We Make the Transition Easy
Migration from VMware to Proxmox through Automation
How can you achieve a fast and efficient migration?
VMware to Proxmox Migration
Following the acquisition of VMware by Broadcom in November 2023, the product portfolio has been significantly reduced. Only the VCF (VMware Cloud Foundation) and VVF (VMware vSphere Foundation) packages are available by subscription. Popular products such as vSphere+, VMware Aria Suite, and VMware NSX are no longer available individually. The free and highly popular ESXi Hypervisor has been discontinued.
Due to the significantly increased costs, VMware has become unattractive for some companies. User associations have approached the EU Commission to examine Broadcom’s behavior, demanding protection for European customers from such actions. The contract changes made and the new pricing policy were only possible due to the strong dependency and customer lock-in.
Fortunately, there is a cost-effective alternative to VMware: Proxmox VE. Proxmox is a Vienna-based company that develops the open-source software Proxmox VE. Migrating from VMware to Proxmox VE requires comprehensive knowledge of the current VMware infrastructure, but support is provided through import assistants. Additionally, our knowledge platform, DC360Ocean, helps create a precise documentation of the VMware environment to develop a migration strategy.
Our Solution
The Prologue
VMware Environment
Capturing the Current Status
The Migration
VMware to Proxmox
Planning & Transformation
The Follow-Up
finalizing tasks
Transition to Regular Operations
Structured recording of the current state, comparison against the desired state, and development of the migration strategy.
Key Questions
- What does my current VMware infrastructure look like?
- Why select the Proxmox solution?
- Is there a transition phase where both systems can coexist?
- What about VMware-specific technologies (VSAN and NSX)?
Services
- Understand the company’s VMware infrastructure using (partially automated) collection of relevant data and information
- Planning of the new Proxmox infrastructure
- Assist with hardware architecture and setup of the new environment
- Implement necessary changes to the VMware infrastructure
- Planning a migration strategy and defining necessary changes to internal and external processes
- Ensure smooth communication and liaison with all stakeholders
Outcome
- Get a complete view of your VMware infrastructure
- Comparison of current and desired state
- Presentation and discussion of migration project plan
Partially automated, partially manual migration from VMware into a new or existing Proxmox VE environment.
Key Questions
- What is the most efficient way to migrate?
- What is the impact on production?
- How can downtime be minimized?
- What is the timeline and project horizon?
Services
- Project management and execution: Create and categorize work items, assign responsibilities (to teams/individuals), and define timelines.
- If not yet available: Create target Proxmox VE environment and configure (cluster) functionality
- Validation of the IT migration concept and detailed planning of the implementation
- Migration of VMs, containers and remaining infrastructure in the most efficient way
- Maintain communication with all involved parties and stakeholders, e.g. IT infrastructure teams, affected business units and management chain
Outcome
- Operational target Proxmox environment
- Migration of indentified IT-services infrastructure
- Minimized impact on business operations
- Avoid future vendor lock-in with VMware
Seamless transition to production phase of the Proxmox environment in the enterprise and VMware shutdown.
Key Questions
- What post-migration tasks need to be performed?
- How will the new production environment be operated and monitored?
- What does professional long-term support look like?
- How can we automate the documentation of changes?
- How to deal with the (old) VMware environment, including contracting?
Services
- Implement automated asset documentation based on the DC360Ocean Knowledge Platform
- Establish software-based monitoring, alerting, and a regular, repeatable optimization process
- Periodically collect infrastructure data and proactively analyze it to prevent problems
- Create a project plan for the orderly decommissioning of the VMware environment
- Define quality assurance processes for the Proxmox environment
Outcome
- Optimized virtualized environment based on Proxmox VE
- End control to ensure productive operation and regular health checks
- Software-based, (partially) automated process to optimize the infrastructure
- Post-transition support beyond the migration process
