Last updated by Thomas Maurer at August 25, 2016.

Aug252016August 25, 2016August 25, 20160 Commentby Thomas Maurer

Microsoft’s new VMware migration offer for Windows Server 2016

Posted in Cloud, Containers, Hyper-V, IT, Licensing, Microsoft, Nano Server, Operations Management Suite, Private Cloud, System Center, Virtualization, VMware, Web, Windows, Windows 10, Windows Server, Windows Server 2016, Work

Microsoft just announced a new VMware migration offer for Windows Server 2016. In a nutshell: If you switch from VMware to Hyper-V from during September 1, 2016, through June 30, 2017, you can get free Windows Server Datacenter licenses when buying Windows Server Datacenter + Software Assurance. That ultimately means customers only pay for Software Assurance.

Microsoft also released a new TCO calculator to compare VMware and Hyper-V, which you can find here: VMware Shift

There are also a lot of great technical reasons to switch from VMware to Hyper-V. Check out my blog post about What’s new in Windows Server 2016 Hyper-V to get an overview about new features.

To get started just follow these steps:

To be eligible for the VMware migration offer, customers must follow these steps:

Step 1: Engage your account executive or sales rep to begin the process.
Step 2: Identify virtualized workloads to migrate and specify the Windows Server Datacenter cores required.
Step 3: Provide your account executive proof of eligibility. (Offer applicable to customers migrating from VMware to Microsoft).
Step 4: Engage your partner to start the migration process.
Step 5: Receive free Windows Server Datacenter licenses with Software Assurance and pay only the cost of Software Assurance to kick start your migration.

Feel free to contact us to help you switch!

Apr102015April 10, 2015April 10, 20150 Commentby Thomas Maurer

Enable SSH on VMware ESXi 6.0 via vSphere Client

Posted in IT, Virtualization, VMware, Web, Work

In another blog post I wrote how you can enable SSH on a VMware ESXi 6.0 host directly on the host it self. In this blog post I show you how you can enable SSH on your VMware ESXi 6.0 host via the VMware vSphere Client.

Open the VMware vSphere client and connected to your ESXi server and open the Configurations tab.

On the Configurations tab choose Security Profile.

Open the Properties tab so you cen see the Security Profile properties and the Remote Access services. Here you can enable the SSH Server on the VMware ESXi host.

If you have some issues check the firewall settings on your VMware ESXi host.

If you want to enable SSH on directly on your VMware ESXi host check out the following post: Enable SSH on VMware ESXi 6.0

Apr092015April 9, 2015April 10, 20150 Commentby Thomas Maurer

Enable SSH on VMware ESXi 6.0

Posted in IT, Virtualization, VMware, Web, Work

I already wrote some blog posts how you can enable SSH access for older VMware ESXi versions such as VMware ESXi 4.1, VMware ESXi 5.0, VMware ESXi 5.1 and VMware ESXi 5.5. This post now shows you how you can enable SSH on the VMware ESXi 6.0 host. As in the other versions this is pretty simple. By enabling SSH allows you to remote troubleshoot your VMware ESXi host and also coping files on your server.

On the Login screen of your VMware ESXi host press “F2”

It will ask you about username and password to login to the VMware ESXi server:

After the login go to the Troubleshooting Options on the System Customization page.

You can now enable SSH on your VMware ESXi 6.0 host. After you have enabled SSH you can connect to the ESXi host via your favorite SSH client.

If you want to enable SSH on your VMware ESXi host directly from the VMware vSphere Client you should have a look at the following post: Enable SSH on VMware ESXi 6.0 via VMware vSphere Client

Jul142014July 14, 2014July 14, 20147 Commentsby Thomas Maurer

Hyper-V is eating VMware’s lunch

Posted in Cloud, Hardware, Hosting, Hyper-V, IT, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Private Cloud, System Center, Virtual Machine Manager, Virtualization, VMware, Windows Server, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, Work

During the WPC 2014 Keynote Microsoft COO Kevin Turner showed the following slide and commented it:

Hyper-V is eating VMware’s lunch

Hyper-V has now 30,6% market share in x86 Server Virtualization which means Microsoft won 4.6% since the release of Windows Server 2012. VMware is now at 46.4% market share which means they lost 5.1% market share since the release of Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V.

And this because of good reasons, like great features and 4 times lower cost than VMware. So if you are still running VMware you should definitely have a look at Hyper-V now!

Jan112014January 11, 2014January 11, 20142 Commentsby Thomas Maurer

Enable SSH on VMware ESXi 5.5

Posted in IT, Virtualization, VMware, Web, Work

I already wrote how you can enable SSH on a VMware ESXi 5.1, VMware ESXi 5.0 and VMware ESXi 4.1. This little guide shows you how you can enable on a VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5 box. As before for the other version it is pretty easy. This allows you to remote troubleshoot your VMware ESXi host and also coping files on your server.

On the start screen press F2 to “Customize System” and login with your administrator or root account.

After the login select Troubleshooting Options on the System Customization page.

Now you can enable SSH on your ESXi 5.5 server, and you can connect via your favorite SSH client.

If you want to enable SSH on your VMware ESXi host directly from the vSphere client you should have a look at the following post: Enable SSH on VMware ESXi 5.5 via vSphere Client.

Nov272013November 27, 2013November 27, 20132 Commentsby Thomas Maurer

TechNet Switzerland Event: From VMware to Hyper-V

Posted in Cloud, Hyper-V, IT, Microsoft, Powershell, Private Cloud, System Center, Virtual Machine Manager, Virtualization, VMware, Web, Windows Server, Windows Server 2012 R2, Work

On Tuesday, December 03 I will present together with Markus Erlacher, former Microsoft Switzerland TSP and now Managing Director at itnetx gmbh, on a free Microsoft Switzerland TechNet event. The topic this time will be why and how you migrate from VMware to a Microsoft Hyper-V and System Center environment. The event will cover an overview about Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V and System Center 2012 R2 and all the Virtualization features you need in your environment. At the afternoon session we will also cover how you can migrate from VMware to Hyper-V so you can quickly enjoy the new Private Cloud solutions from Microsoft.

The event is free and in will be in the Microsoft Conference Center in Wallisellen Zürich. To join that event register on the Microsoft Event Website. The event will be in German and will no be streamed to the web.

Agenda

Tuesday, December 03

08:30 – Coffee
09:00 – Session 1 – Hyper-V Overview (Virtual Machines, Hyper-V Manager, Virtual Switch, VHDX format)
10:30 – Coffee Break
10:45 – Session 2 – Hyper-V Advanced Features (Hyper-V Networking and Storage, Hyper-V over SMB, Network Virtualization)
12:00 – Lunch
13:00 – Session 3 – Management (VM and Fabric Management with System Center Virtual Machine Manager, PowerShell and more…)
14:30 – Coffee Break
14:45 – Session 4 – VMware Migration (Migration from VMware to Hyper-V, Tools, Best practices, automation, real world example)
16:15 – End

More Information and registration

More information and registration on the Microsoft Event Website.

Oct042013October 4, 2013October 4, 20132 Commentsby Thomas Maurer

Speaking at E2EVC 2013 Rome

Posted in Cloud, Hyper-V, IT, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Powershell, Private Cloud, Software, System Center, Virtual Machine Manager, Virtualization, VMware, Web, Windows, Windows 8.1, Windows Server, Windows Server 2012 R2, Work

E2EVC Virtualization Conference is a non-commercial, virtualization community Event. The main goal is to bring the best virtualization experts together to exchange knowledge and to establish new connections. E2EVC is a weekend crammed with presentations, Master Classes and discussions delivered by both virtualisation vendors product teams and independent experts. This is not just a Microsoft only event, this event covers products from all the big vendors in the virtualization area such as Citrix, VMware and Microsoft.

This year I already had the chance to speak at the E2EVC (Experts 2 Experts Virtualization Conference) in Copenhagen, and this November (1.-3. November) I get the chance to speak at the E2EVC in Rome. If you are working in the virtualization space this is absolutely the right event for you. Here are some numbers:

Attendees and experts from around 18 countries
18 Microsoft MVPs, 15 Citrix CTPs and 6 VMware vExperts.
20th event in 10 years

Together with Michael Rueffli I will do a session around System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager and Windows Azure Pack.

SCVMM 2012 R2 and Windows Azure Pack: The Cockpit for your private cloud

SCVMM 2012 R2 and Windows Azure Pack: The Cockpit for your private cloud – New Features and Capabilities to build Windows Azure like private / hybrid clouds

So make sure you to checkout the E2EVC homepage and register for the event in Rome, Italy.

This will be my third E2EVC, as already mentioned I was speaking at the E2EVC Copenhagen this year and at the E2EVC in Hamburg last year.

Tag: ESX

Microsoft’s new VMware migration offer for Windows Server 2016