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What are VMware Alternatives? How can you relocate VMware workloads to Amazon EVS? How can you rehost VMware VMs to Amazon EC2? How can you modernize VMware applications? How can you extend AWS infrastructure on-premise? What are additional options for your VMware applications? How can AWS support your VMware needs?

What are VMware Alternatives?

VMware allows you to install multiple operating systems and applications on virtual machines. Most organizations that use VMware are already accustomed to the virtual environments it provides. Therefore, migrating from VMware to alternative virtualization platforms requires thoughtful planning and consideration.

Cost is one of the major factors that motivates organizations to find VMware alternatives. When migrating your VMware workload, consider virtualization solutions that enable you to scale resources according to your compute needs while meeting budget goals. Additionally, choose virtualization platforms that offer automation tools to help you provision infrastructure and streamline workflows at scale. Ideally, seek VMware alternatives that provide robust performance, seamless integration, and a user-friendly interface, allowing you to innovate flexibly in the cloud.

AWS for VMware provides managed services and advanced features that help you migrate, modernize, or optimize your VMware workloads to reduce costs and minimize business disruptions. With AWS, you can use existing virtualization software or innovate with cloud-native technologies on a high-performance infrastructure. There are four workarounds that allow you to continue running an existing VMware workload or entirely modernize your app. We explore each alternative to VMware in the subsequent sections.  

How can you relocate VMware workloads to Amazon EVS?

Amazon Elastic VMware Service (Amazon EVS) allows you to run VMware virtual machines on the AWS cloud without re-architecting existing software applications. It runs your VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) within the Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). With Amazon EVS, you can retain the existing VMware architecture while scaling your workloads with AWS services. This way, you can reduce operational disruptions, retain software teams, and adopt cloud modernization at your own pace. Moreover, you can choose to work with AWS partners or manage virtual machines on your own after migrating them.

Below are steps to prepare Amazon EVS for VMware migration.

  1. Create a VPC, including subnets, route tables, and a NAT gateway for internet access.
  2. Configure DHCP options so that VPC can retrieve DNS and NTP servers used for synchronizing network communications.
  3. If required, connect your on-premise data center to AWS with AWS Direct Connect.
  4. Set up an Amazon VPC Route Server to allow AWS to exchange network routes with your VMware workload.
  5. Create the Amazon EVS environment. Specify parameters such as Site ID, VCF license key, DNS hostname, and VPC.
  6. Next, validate the Amazon EVS environment you created. Ensure that it can control VLAN subnet traffic within the VPC. Then, use Amazon Secrets Manager to safely retrieve your VCF credentials.
  7. Configure the EC2 console, which you can use to directly interact with the VMware ESXi host. 

Now, you can start migrating your VMware workload to the Amazon EVS environment. 

How can you rehost VMware VMs to Amazon EC2?

Many organizations run VMware workloads on traditional on-premise architecture, which limits their ability to innovate and scale. To overcome technical debts and encourage cloud adoption, they can rehost their VMware virtual machines to Amazon EC2. Rehosting, also known as lift-and-shift, enables your application to remain in its original form. This is achieved by recreating a similar operating environment within the EC2 instance based on existing VMware virtual machine configurations.

AWS Transform is an agentic AI service that automates the entire VMware rehosting process. Software teams use AWS Transform to accelerate code discovery, map software dependencies, create migration plans, and more. With AWS Transform, you can reduce risks and make the migration process more transparent. Here’s how to rehost your VMware apps with AWS Transform.

  1. Set up credentials with AWS Identity and Access Management.
  2. Discover VMware applications and network topologies in your on-premises environment with AWS Application Discovery Service. Alternatively, you can upload your own data with RVTools. Based on the discovered data, AWS Transform automatically generates an application transformation plan, including migration waves and groupings of source servers and applications.
  3. Connect AWS Transform to the target AWS environment where you want to deploy the workload.
  4. Set up AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) and connect AWS Transform to it.
  5. Migrate the waves and track the deployment in the dashboard. Once completed, validate the production workload and perform a final cutover. 

How can you modernize VMware applications?

Another way to migrate your VMware applications beyond on-premises is to repack them as containerized applications that can be deployed in a modern cloud environment, such as AWS Elastic Container Service (ECS). This approach is often preferred when you have only a limited number of applications and are not subject to specific data residency regulations. Unlike mainframe applications, containerized applications are easier to scale at a more affordable cost.  When you modernize your VMware workload, you can leverage cloud computing capabilities that mainframe computing lacks. Moreover, you don’t have to worry about server provisioning, service availability, and resource management.

AWS Transform helps organizations modernize VMware applications, including those written in COBOL, into workloads that can be deployed on the cloud. Software teams can use AWS Transform to automatically analyze existing applications, generate documentation, refactor code, create transformation plans, and more. We share how it works below.

  1. Software engineer specifies the modernization goal through natural language chat.
  2. Then, AWS Transform breaks the goal into smaller, actionable steps. This includes creating migration waves and workload groupings, which enable efficient resource utilization during the migration process.
  3. The engineer provides information to help AWS Transform implement the required actions, including converting a COBOL codebase into a modern Java application.
  4. Start the migration and monitor the progress on the console. 

How can you extend AWS infrastructure on-premise?

Some VMware workloads must be hosted in an on-premises data center because they run mission-critical applications or are required by data residency regulations. In such cases, organizations can’t move the VMware virtual machines to the public cloud. However, they can bring selected AWS services to their data center with AWS Outposts and modernize their VMware on-premises environment. For example, you can relocate VMware workloads to Amazon EC2, which runs locally on an AWS Outposts server. 

What are additional options for your VMware applications?

If you need additional options for migrating or modernizing your VMware applications, consider these alternatives.

Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA)

ROSA is a fully managed platform that combines the benefits of running cloud applications with AWS services and OpenShift’s virtualization technologies. When you deploy a VMware application on ROSA, you can access built-in tools, including load-balancing, dashboards, and alerts.

Nutanix Cloud Clusters on AWS (NC2 on AWS)

NC2 on AWS creates a hybrid virtualized environment that allows software teams to deploy multiple virtual machines on Nutanix’s Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV). With NC2 on AWS, you can easily rehost applications on guest operating systems without needing to refactor them. Additionally, NC2 provides a centralized management interface that allows software teams to easily perform server virtualization and run multiple operating systems.

How can AWS support your VMware needs?

VMware modernization and migration allow organizations to reduce infrastructure costs, innovate more flexibly, and avoid vendor lock-in. The migration path requires thoughtful consideration to ensure app integrity, compliance, data security, and business continuity.

We’ve explored several alternatives that you can adopt to rehost, transform, or deploy your VMware workloads on the AWS cloud. AWS Transform can significantly reduce the timeline by automating the end-to-end process with agentic AI. Learn more about VMware alternatives on AWS here.