Migration from VMware to KVM: reliable transition without compromise

Challenge: licensing pressure following Broadcom's acquisition of VMware

For us, accepting the new pricing would mean nearly a fourfold increase in licensing costs for our existing public cloud. Such an increase would significantly affect our pricing model and the long-term sustainability of the services. Consequently, the risk of losing subscribers would become a real threat. 

As we were at that time in the final phase of establishing the new, high-performance data center DC3 – Ljubljana Sever, we had all the appropriate infrastructure and capacity available to carry out a complete replacement of the virtualization platform, without compromising reliability, performance, or service availability. 

Although I have always personally valued VMware as a reliable and technically sophisticated virtualization solution—after all, it was our first choice when establishing the cloud infrastructure—the new licensing policies confronted us with an unavoidable challenge. The financial analysis clearly showed that continuing with this technology is, for smaller providers—practically all of us in Slovenia—unsustainable in the long term.  

Strategy and first steps: finding a long-term alternative

At the beginning of 2024, we made a strategic decision to seek an alternative to the existing virtualization platform. Despite a long-standing partnership with VMware and our status as one of the first certified cloud service providers in Slovenia, we found that the new licensing structure results in a disproportionate increase in costs and therefore seriously jeopardizes the cost-efficiency of our public cloud.

With a clear objective to maintain high availability, security, and performance while preserving cost competitiveness, we began actively looking for open-source and modern solutions that would enable the further development of our services.

Analysis and Evaluation of Virtualization Platforms

We launched an internal initiative that brought together our systems engineers, infrastructure architects, and operations team. The goal was to identify a modern, stable, and long-term viable alternative that can handle the complexity of the existing system while also enabling further growth.

In real-world scenarios, we tested and compared more than 10 different virtualization platforms and public cloud management solutions. Among the solutions we analyzed in detail were:

• XCP-ng

• Microsoft Hyper-V

• Proxmox VE

• Nutanix AHV

• Citrix Hypervisor

• Scale Computing Platform

After a detailed technical and business analysis, we chose a solution based on KVM technology and began building our new public cloud around it, flexible, scalable, and fully under our control.

Implementation and migration plan: uncompromising reliability and continuity

Together with our technical team, we developed a detailed and carefully coordinated migration plan that included both the deployment of new infrastructure and the phased relocation of existing services. The key objective was to ensure a seamless transition with no downtime, while maintaining security and performance.

The plan also included the migration of all data from the old data center, DC2 – Ljubljana South, to the new, modern data center, DC3 – Ljubljana North. We paid particular attention to minimizing risks and ensuring high availability for all our clients.

A key part of success was open and proactive communication. We presented our clients with a detailed overview of both the migration plan and the long-term vision for the development of our cloud platform. With flexibility and responsiveness, we provided them with support throughout the entire process, which significantly reduced operational risks and increased user satisfaction.

In addition, we successfully completed the entire migration within the strictly defined timelines dictated by Broadcom’s termination of licenses. This ensured uninterrupted business continuity and maintained the reliability of our services at all times.

Result and a look to the future: technological agility and scalability

We successfully completed the migration to KVM technology. This significantly reduced licensing costs while maintaining, or even improving, the level of services our clients expect. The move to an open-source platform has opened the door to greater technological flexibility and agility, a key factor in quickly adapting to dynamic market demands.

Going forward, we plan to upgrade our private cloud with the implementation of the OpenStack platform, which will enable fully automated management and even greater autonomy for our clients. We will also expand our offering by introducing virtual data centers, which will allow our clients to benefit from more tailored, secure, and scalable cloud solutions.

With this step, we have further strengthened our position as a public cloud provider that combines state-of-the-art technology, reliability, and cost efficiency, thereby laying the foundations for sustainable growth and the digital transformation of the future.