Google Cloud announced the general availability of a self-managed VMware solution running VMware Cloud Foundation 9.x on dedicated Z3 bare metal servers. This new offering provides customers with root access across ESXi, vCenter, and NSX in 22 regions, shifting lifecycle management, patching, and Broadcom licensing responsibilities back to the customer. The self-managed VMware solution sits alongside the Google-managed VMware Engine and competes with similar customer-operated offerings from AWS and Oracle.
By making this self-managed VMware Cloud Foundation available on bare metal, Google Cloud is catering to enterprise customers who prefer to have full control over their VMware environment. This move allows businesses to maintain their existing VMware investments while leveraging the scalability and reliability of Google Cloud's infrastructure.
What happened
Google Cloud announced the general availability of a self-managed VMware solution, VMware Cloud Foundation 9.x, running on dedicated Z3 bare metal servers. This solution provides customers with root access across ESXi, vCenter, and NSX in 22 regions. It is designed to be managed by the customer themselves, without the need for Google to handle the management. This offering sits alongside the Google-managed VMware Engine and matches customer-operated offerings from AWS and Oracle. By shifting the lifecycle, patching, and Broadcom licensing management back to the customer, Google Cloud allows greater control and flexibility for organizations using VMware environments.
Google Cloud's self-managed VMware Cloud Foundation on bare metal is now available for customers to deploy in their preferred regions. This announcement comes after a period of beta testing and feedback from early adopters. The solution promises to provide a more flexible and customizable VMware environment for organizations looking to leverage Google Cloud's infrastructure.
The release of this self-managed VMware solution is part of Google Cloud's ongoing efforts to expand its cloud computing offerings and cater to the needs of enterprise customers. By providing a self-managed option, Google Cloud aims to appeal to organizations that prefer to have full control over their VMware environments, rather than relying on managed services.
Why it matters
With the general availability of self-managed VMware Cloud Foundation 9.x on dedicated Z3 bare metal, Google Cloud is now providing a more flexible and customizable VMware environment for enterprise customers. This new offering sits alongside the Google-managed VMware Engine and allows customers to have full control over their VMware deployments, including root access to ESXi, vCenter, and NSX.
For IT teams, this means greater control over the lifecycle management, patching, and Broadcom licensing of their VMware environments. This self-managed option aligns with customer-operated offerings from AWS and Oracle, giving businesses more choice in how they deploy and manage their VMware workloads on the Google Cloud platform.
The availability of VMware Cloud Foundation 9.x on dedicated bare metal in 22 regions provides a robust and scalable solution for enterprise workloads, with the added benefits of Google Cloud's global infrastructure and services. This could lead to increased adoption of VMware on Google Cloud, as businesses look to leverage the best of both worlds - the proven enterprise-grade capabilities of VMware combined with the flexibility and scalability of Google Cloud.
In addition, the general availability of this offering could spur competition among cloud providers, potentially driving down prices and increasing innovation in the VMware cloud market. As customers have more choices, they can make more informed decisions about how to best meet their business and IT needs.
phpWhat to do
- Consider migrating on-prem VMware workloads to Google Cloud's self-managed VMware Cloud Foundation on bare metal for better performance and flexibility.
- Assess the cost-benefit trade-offs of managing the VMware environment yourself versus using a fully-managed service like Google's VMware Engine.
- Review the 22 regions where this solution is available and determine which one(s) would best meet your needs.
- Compare Google Cloud's offering to similar self-managed solutions from AWS and Oracle to see if it provides the best fit for your organization's requirements.
- Plan for the additional responsibilities that come with self-managing the VMware environment, including lifecycle management, patching, and Broadcom licensing.
2TI lens
Google Cloud's new self-managed VMware Cloud Foundation offering on bare metal aligns with the growing trend of customers preferring to manage their own cloud infrastructure. This development caters to enterprises that value control and customization over managed services, allowing them to maintain root access across ESXi, vCenter, and NSX. The availability of this solution in 22 regions further enhances Google Cloud's infrastructure capabilities, making it a strong competitor alongside AWS and Oracle in the self-managed cloud space.
Sources
The primary source for this article is InfoQ, which reported that Google Cloud has made a self-managed VMware solution generally available, running VMware Cloud Foundation 9.x on dedicated Z3 bare metal with root access across ESXi, vCenter and NSX in 22 regions. It sits beside the Google-managed VMware Engine and matches customer-operated offerings from AWS and Oracle, shifting lifecycle, patching and Broadcom licensing back to the customer.
The story was published on November 8, 2023 by Steef-Jan Wiggers.