Eco4Cloud Wokload Consolidation rightsizing your VMware clusters
Pros
- It consolidates workloads in VMware clusters using an algorithm that seems to work better than VMware DRS. It keeps headroom for workload peaks and to withstand the number of host failures set for the cluster in vCenter.
- If the workload is very variable, Eco4Cloud will not continuously turn a host on and off but it will settle to keep the host running. It sort of "rightsizes" the cluster keeping only the right number of hosts running. This is another main difference when comparing Eco4Cloud with VMware DRS/DPM which strictly follows the workload and sometimes isn't fast enough in turning on the hosts when the workload is ramping-up.
- To do a good job Eco4Cloud needs to analyze the hosts and the VMs. Therefore, the troubleshooting component of Eco4Cloud can figure out if there are problems in the configuration of the hosts (e.g. vMotion settings). It can also determine if a VM is stuck and can't vMotion (e.g. using the physical CD-ROM) or if it's oversized or undersized.
- Something Eco4Cloud has and others don't is a technology named Smart Ballooning. With Smart Ballooning Eco4Cloud recovers unused RAM from the VMs and gives it back to the host way before the host goes over the 94% RAM threshold. This allows us to reach higher levels of overbooking.
Cons
- It would be useful to have a version that works with OpenStack.
- It should be made compatible with VMware VSAN.
- It would be useful to have a version that works with hybrid clouds using the new "vMotion anywhere" or share nothing vMotion feature.
Return on Investment
- Eco4Cloud causes a reduction in power consumption both on old VMware clusters and especially on new ones.
- It also causes a delay in CapEx investments because you buy more hosts only when really needed.
Other Software Used
vSphere
