Sheetz, a US-based convenience store chain with 838 locations, has announced that it will be migrating its virtualization platform from VMware to StorMagic’s SvHCI. This decision comes after the company expressed concerns over Broadcom’s changes to VMware’s licensing model, which include eliminating perpetual licenses in favor of subscription-based services.
According to Scott Robertson, infrastructure team manager at Sheetz, the company decided to switch due to the uncertainty created by Broadcom’s changes. “The projected price hikes, coupled with a mandatory subscription model and a five-year commitment, simply created too much uncertainty around long-term budgeting and increased our vendor dependence,” he said.
Sheetz has been using VMware virtualization across two Dell R440/R450-series servers at each of its locations since 2019. The company is currently migrating 12 to 14 virtual machines (VMs) in each store from VMware vSphere to StorMagic’s SvHCI, with an additional two VMs to be replaced over the coming months to transition from Windows 10 to Windows 11.
The migration process has been ongoing for several months, with more than 600 stores already completed. Sheetz expects to finish the migration in four months, averaging around 200 stores per month. The company has also reported that it will save a significant amount of money by not having to send technicians to every site and by being able to move from SvSAN to SvHCI remotely without requiring hardware upgrades.
StorMagic’s SvHCI offers a range of benefits for Sheetz, including centralized management, resilience, and the ability to scale as needed. “Our initial rollout proved StorMagic could deliver the resilience and centralized management needed across a large, distributed retail environment,” said Gary Sliver, director of platform engineering at Sheetz.
The migration process has not been without its challenges, however. According to Robertson, automation and the VM Import Utility were critical in scaling the migration, particularly given the 24/7/365 nature of Sheetz’s operations. “Operating in a 24/7/365 retail environment meant that minimizing business disruption was critical,” he said.
Sheetz is not alone in its decision to migrate away from VMware. Other companies, including Allstate, T-Mobile, and UK grocery chain Tesco, have also announced plans to move off the platform due to concerns over Broadcom’s licensing changes. StorMagic has positioned itself as a viable alternative for large enterprises with distributed locations, offering a range of benefits that include cost savings, scalability, and ease of management.
**Why Sheetz chose StorMagic:**
* Centralized management: SvHCI allows Sheetz to manage its virtual machines from a single interface, reducing the complexity of managing multiple sites.
* Resilience: SvHCI provides high availability and redundancy, ensuring that Sheetz’s operations are not disrupted by hardware failures or other issues.
* Scalability: SvHCI can scale as needed, allowing Sheetz to easily add or remove virtual machines as its business demands change.
**Challenges faced during migration:**
* Automation: Sheetz relied heavily on automation and the VM Import Utility to scale the migration process, particularly given the 24/7/365 nature of its operations.
* Business disruption: Minimizing business disruption was critical for Sheetz, which operates in a retail environment where downtime can be costly.
**Conclusion:**
Sheetz’s decision to migrate away from VMware and towards StorMagic’s SvHCI is just the latest example of companies looking for alternative virtualization solutions due to concerns over Broadcom’s licensing changes. As more companies follow suit, it will be interesting to see how StorMagic continues to position itself as a viable alternative for large enterprises with distributed locations.
Source: Original article