VMware vSphere vs. VMware Workstation Pro

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
VMware vSphere
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
An enterprise workload platform, vSphere is used to improve the performance for a data center. It is used to boost operational efficiency, supercharge workload performance, and accelerate innovation.
$995
per year
VMware Workstation Pro
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
VMware Workstation Pro is virtualization software which allows running multiple x86-based operating systems on one PC. Users can run Windows, Linux and BSD virtual machines on a Windows or Linux desktop.N/A
Pricing
VMware vSphereVMware Workstation Pro
Editions & Modules
Standard
$995.00
per year
Enterprise
$3,995.00
per year
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
VMware vSphereVMware Workstation Pro
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
VMware vSphereVMware Workstation Pro
Features
VMware vSphereVMware Workstation Pro
Server Virtualization
Comparison of Server Virtualization features of Product A and Product B
VMware vSphere
7.2
Ratings
12% below category average
VMware Workstation Pro
7.6
Ratings
7% below category average
Virtual machine automated provisioning7.00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Management console7.00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Live virtual machine backup6.00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Live virtual machine migration8.00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Hypervisor-level security8.00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
VMware vSphereVMware Workstation Pro
Small Businesses
DigitalOcean Droplets
DigitalOcean Droplets
Score 8.7 out of 10
DigitalOcean Droplets
DigitalOcean Droplets
Score 8.7 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
VMware vSphereVMware Workstation Pro
Likelihood to Recommend
7.0
(0 ratings)
7.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(0 ratings)
8.1
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(0 ratings)
7.7
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
VMware vSphereVMware Workstation Pro
Likelihood to Recommend
vSphere is well suited for multiple VMWare hosts and can be very useful in larger enterprises where vMotion is used to load balance and failover running virtual machines. In smaller businesses with one or two hosts then the features can be overkill. The addition of virtual TPM support is a very nice addition to provide vm security in a more Microsoft supported methodology.
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Some scenarios where VMware Workstation pro is best suited are: 1. Utilization for testing software - can install a virtual machine to simulate software requirements and testing it on your network. 2. Testing operating systems upgrades and installation on specific hardware requirements. 3. Virtualizing a physical server 4. Being able to backup a whole server and restore from it in the event of any issue occurring.
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Pros
  • Taking Snapshots of VMs and roll back to the previous state when faced with a problem.
  • Template creation - Once you have that perfect template you can easily create new VMs. Very useful feature.
  • VMotion - Being able to perform live migrations of a virtual machine from one physical server to another, without any downtime.
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  • Not HTML based - Web applications are not always the best method to access VM's
  • Isolation - VM's can be pulled off production networks for testing in a safe environment
  • Operability - The interface mirrors the HTML format giving the user all of the features necessary to modify, access and manage VM's
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Cons
  • Allow enable EVC without requiring host shutdown
  • More detail in recent tasks. Instead of just showing a task called "Reconfigure virtual machine" also have a link to more detailed information as to what was reconfigured, changed or removed.
  • Allow searching tasks or events
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  • Making it easy to export VMS is something that Workstation struggles with; exporting to OVA which is the primary type of VM we export to is cumbersome and can be difficult without proper knowledge on how to do this.
  • Management of VMS could be a little bit more in depth.
  • I think the networking portion of Workstation could use some slight improvements, more in-depth segmentation to support containers, however, this is a small issue and not something many people will miss or need.
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Likelihood to Renew
We are constantly looking for change that will benefit our company. We are not ones to stick with a product simply because it is what we know, but rather looking for what fits us best. We can't imagine another product on the market today doing a better job of handling our infrastructure than vSphere.
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It's a solid product, and if they make it compatible with HyperVM (WSL, Docker, etc.) it would be great
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Usability
Very useful for environments where space and energy consumption are issues and management is not very keen on upfront spending on hardware every time whenever requirement comes from any dept for provisioning a machine for their occasional use, easily can be done in case of VMware vSphere in few clicks. Backup, security, monitoring and management everything is covered but at additional cost.
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It is well documented since it is a long actor in the virtualization scene. Easy to use for most user cases. Pretty much not maintenance on the software besides the occasional software updates and/or compatibility issues from time to time.
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Support Rating
I rarely ever have to contact support and when I do need to resolve an issue, there is always an abundance of kb articles and research information available that can help quickly resolve the issue. Depending on the type of support contract you have, you may get support from some offshore group in another country and this could be a little challenging because of the language barrier.
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I haven't had to call VMware Workstation support. The majority of the time, whenever I have a problem, I can perform an online search and find the answers I need. Online forums and users with similar situations are generally sufficient to answer any questions I have had, though, from previous experience at another company, their support is outstanding and responsive to circumstances. However, that is generally for a paid support contract and should be expected when you are paying for that support.
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Implementation Rating
Just make sure that when you implement, that the person implementing truly knows what they are doing and has a plan of action coming in. Since our initial implementation using a consulting service, I have implemented a few vSphere just from what I learned at the initial implementation and use over time, and the person implementing really needs to know what they are doing or you will miss out on features that may help you down the line
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
vSphere provides more control over the Virtualization environment.
It allows users to have great management User Interface with lots of dynamic features.
VM creation.
Perform vMotion.
Network Management.
Datastore Mangement.
Cluster Management.
Schedule tasks.
Affinity and anti-affinity rules.
Easy to upgrade.
Backup the configuration data which can be restore after a disaster.
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VMware Workstation does have a price unlike VirtualBox, that is free. But, Workstation Pro makes up for it by how many features comes with it. We are also able to take VM's in our vSphere Production environment and spin it up on and isolated laptop for sandbox testing within Workstation Pro. I'm not sure that VirtualBox is able to do that
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Return on Investment
  • Having vSphere helped my business quickly recover from a ransomware attack which would have crippled us for weeks if we were not virtualized. I think the ROI on something like that is immeasurable.
  • vSphere has allowed my company to purchase bigger server hardware to host 3 or 4 virtual servers, which was at a cost much lower than buying 3 or 4 server hardware boxes, saving us thousands each time we need to upgrade hardware.
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  • The ROI on Workstation would be hard for us to compute. It makes things easier to do and to get access to, but there are other applications and methods to do much the same thing.
  • Where there has to be a some form of ROI is in the fact that you will actually do things that you might not otherwise do simply because Workstation makes them easier. Sandbox testing is a good example of this idea.
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ScreenShots