Summary of "The VM Revolution: Why It’s Time to Rethink Virtualization with Modern Private Cloud"

Summary of “The VM Revolution: Why It’s Time to Rethink Virtualization with Modern Private Cloud”

Key Technological Concepts and Product Features

1. Virtualization Challenges and Market Context

Rising public cloud costs, complexity, and privacy risks.
New AI workloads require optimized infrastructure placement.
Aging on-premises IT with high administrative overhead limits innovation.
Budget constraints and VM licensing issues drive the need to rethink virtualization strategies.

2. HPE’s Private Cloud and Virtualization Portfolio

Morpheus VM Essentials: Drives up to 10x cost savings on virtualization licensing.
Integrated into multiple HPE private cloud offerings:
- Private Cloud Enterprise (PCE)
- Private Cloud Business Edition (PCBE)
- Private Cloud AI (PCAI)
Embedded in HPE SimpliVity and available standalone or via HPE GreenLake Flex.
Portfolio expansion includes:
- Orchestration (Morpheus)
- Observability (OpsRamp)
- AI factory capabilities
Air-gapped private cloud solutions launched for enhanced security.
Cloud Ops Suite (announced June 2023) unifies Morpheus, OpsRamp, and Zerto software for management, orchestration, monitoring, and protection.

3. VM Essentials Software (VME)

Comprises a KVM-based hypervisor (HVM runs) and a management tool (VME manager).
Pricing is per socket, not per core, offering predictable and significantly lower costs.
Near bare-metal performance (<1% overhead) achieved through partnerships with Intel and AMD and technologies like CPU and memory pinning.
Supports heterogeneous environments with multi-vendor hardware and storage.
Simplified management allows coexistence and provisioning alongside existing virtualization clusters.
Future roadmap includes:
- Kubernetes integration and container orchestration via Morpheus.
- Software Defined Networking (SDN) with VXLAN overlay networks.
- Micro-segmentation enabling zero-trust security models.
- High availability features including stretch clusters and disaster recovery with Zerto integration.
- Confidential computing leveraging trusted execution environments (secure enclaves) for data protection during processing.
- Enhanced migration tools supporting NFS targets, cross-cluster mobility, and API automation.

4. Ecosystem and Support

Over 300 global service engineers with 20+ years of virtualization support experience.
Broad hardware and software certification matrix ensures interoperability.
Ecosystem includes guest OS, ISVs, backup solutions, and cloud-native tools.
Focus on partner collaboration for training, certifications, and customer enablement.

5. Partnership with Veeam (VEH)

Joint solutions for VM workload protection and recovery across hybrid and multi-cloud.
Integration of Veeam’s data platform with Morpheus software for unified management and backup.
Support for Kubernetes native backup and containerized workloads.
Data resiliency by design framework combining cyber resilience and maturity modeling.
Strong partner enablement programs including training and certification to accelerate adoption.

6. Customer Case Study – Danfoss

Danish family-owned company focused on sustainability and productivity.
Doubling growth led to complexity requiring scalable IT solutions.
Early adopter of HPE GreenLake private cloud and now Private Cloud Enterprise.
Emphasis on on-premises control for mission-critical systems like SAP.
Utilizes SAP Rise CDC for hybrid cloud SAP deployments within own data centers.
High performance computing (HPC) for simulation workloads.
Transition to VM Essentials and Morpheus Enterprise seen as a journey, not a one-time migration.
Edge strategy enabled by VM Essentials for remote sites with scalable, resilient, and cost-effective virtualization.
Trust in HPE as a partner critical for managing integration challenges and ongoing innovation.

Reviews, Guides, and Tutorials Provided

Virtualization Footprint Assessment: HPE Cloud Physics tool for free assessment of existing virtualization environments regardless of vendor.
Migration Strategy: Use of VM Essentials migration tools with future enhancements for automation and cross-cluster migration.
Management and Orchestration: Morpheus software provides a unified management plane for VMs, containers, and hybrid environments.
Security and Networking: Built-in SDN and micro-segmentation for zero-trust security.
Performance Optimization: Techniques like CPU/memory pinning to achieve near bare-metal performance.
Backup and Recovery: Veeam integration for VM and Kubernetes workload protection.
Data Resiliency Maturity Model: Framework and workshops to assess and improve customer security posture.
Partner Enablement: Training and certifications to help partners understand value propositions and drive customer success.

Main Speakers / Sources

Sherry Williams – HPE, overview of virtualization challenges, private cloud portfolio, and customer engagement.
Rajie Bargeo – VP and Chief Product Officer, HPE Private Cloud Software; detailed technical update on VM Essentials, roadmap, and enterprise features.
Tim (SVP and General Manager, Veeam) – Discussed partnership with HPE, data protection integration, Kubernetes backup, and partner enablement.
Casper (Danfoss) – Customer perspective on virtualization journey, sustainability focus, edge strategy, and partnership with HPE.

This session provided a comprehensive update on HPE’s virtualization strategy centered on VM Essentials and Morpheus software, emphasizing cost savings, performance, security, and hybrid cloud management, supported by strong partnerships and real-world customer experiences.