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VergeIO Announces Official Release of Terraform Provider, Simplifying Virtualization
[Ann Arbor, MI – August 20, 2024] – VergeIO, known for streamlining IT infrastructure, announces the official release of the VergeIO Terraform Provider. This release represents a significant advance in VergeIO’s mission to make high-performing IT environments more accessible and manageable for organizations of all sizes.
What is Terraform?
Terraform is an open-source infrastructure-as-code (IaC) software tool that allows users to define and provision data center infrastructure using a high-level configuration language. It automates infrastructure deployment and management, ensuring consistency, reducing errors, and simplifying workflows. The VergeIO Terraform Provider integrates VergeOS into this tool, enabling customers to manage their VergeIO resources more simply.
The VergeIO Terraform Provider allows users to manage VergeIO resources with the simplicity that VergeOS is known for, using Terraform’s declarative language. Users can now implement Infrastructure as Code (IaC) without direct access to VergeIO’s internal code base, making deploying and managing IT infrastructure easier.
Key Benefits for VergeIO Customers
- Infrastructure as Code: Customers can now define and manage VergeIO resources using Terraform, reflecting VergeIO’s focus on reducing complexity and costs in IT environments.
- Automation: The provider simplifies provisioning and managing VergeIO resources, minimizing manual errors and saving valuable time through streamlined processes.
- Version Control: Integrating with Terraform allows customers to track changes to their infrastructure over time, fostering better collaboration and consistency.
- Integration: The provider supports quickly incorporating VergeIO resources into existing Terraform workflows, enabling users to continue using familiar tools and services.
- Consistency: Ensures reliable deployment of resources across different environments, maintaining infrastructure stability.
“Our Terraform Provider reflects VergeIO’s vision of a simpler, more accessible IT future,” said Jason Yaeger, SVP of Engineering at VergeIO. “By bringing VergeOS together with Terraform, we are improving the experience for our current users and lowering the barrier to entry for new customers, making it easier than ever to adopt and benefit from our technology.”
The VergeIO Terraform Provider currently supports a wide range of resources, including VMs, drives, networks, and users and data sources for clusters, groups, and more. VergeIO is committed to continually enhancing and expanding this provider’s capabilities to meet its customers’ evolving needs.
Customers can view the code, submit update requests, and contribute to the provider through GitHub. Approved pull requests and tagged new versions will be automatically pushed to the Terraform Registry, ensuring that users can always access the latest features and updates.
Sign up for our live demonstration this Friday at 1:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM PT for more details. You can also visit the VergeIO Terraform Provider documentation and GitHub repository:
About VergeIO
VergeIO is a leader in simplifying IT infrastructure through its innovative virtualization software, VergeOS. VergeOS integrates the hypervisor, storage, and networking into a single, unified platform, replacing the traditional IT stack. Designed to run on commodity hardware. VergeOS extends hardware lifespan through AI-driven self-management and self-optimization, making IT environments more accessible and cost-effective for businesses of all sizes. By empowering IT generalists to deploy entire virtual data centers quickly and easily, VergeIO is at the forefront of the future of virtualization.
Simplifying Virtualization Operations
Organizations should also consider simplifying virtualization operations when looking at a VMware alternative. The key to that goal is to look for a VMware alternative that, in addition to lowering licensing costs, can enable automation for consistent and accurate infrastructure deployment. Using Terraform’s declarative configuration language, the VergeIO Terraform Provider allows users to define, manage, and automate VergeIO resources such as virtual machines, networks, and storage. This integration simplifies the deployment and management of IT infrastructure by enabling infrastructure-as-code practices for VergeOS environments.
What is Terraform?
Terraform is an open-source software tool that allows users to define and manage infrastructure through code. By using a high-level configuration language, Terraform helps automate the setup and management of IT environments. This approach ensures consistent deployments, reduces errors, and streamlines the overall process. VergeIO’s Terraform Provider integrates VergeOS with Terraform, allowing users to manage their resources more simply.
What is VergeOS?
VergeOS is a virtualization software developed by VergeIO that simplifies IT infrastructure by integrating virtualization, storage, and networking into a single, unified platform, making it the ideal alternative to VMware. Unlike traditional virtualization stacks that rely on multiple layers and restrictive hardware requirements, VergeOS runs on various commodity hardware within that same instance, extending its lifespan and reducing overall costs. It uses AI-driven self-management to optimize performance and eliminate the need for hardware compatibility lists. This makes it possible for IT generalists to quickly deploy and manage entire virtual data centers, making robust IT environments more accessible to businesses of all sizes.
Simplifying Virtualization Operations With VergeOS and Terraform
The integration of VergeOS with Terraform represents a powerful combination for IT administrators looking to streamline and automate their infrastructure management. By combining VergeOS’s unified approach to virtualization with Terraform’s infrastructure-as-code capabilities, organizations can achieve a level of simplicity and efficiency previously difficult to attain.
Sign up for this Friday’s live demonstration of our new Terraform provider in action. Learn how to use Terraform and VergeOS to simplify virtualization.
With VergeOS handling the complexities of virtualization and Terraform providing a consistent, code-based approach to infrastructure management, IT teams can automate the entire lifecycle of their virtual environments. This includes everything from initial provisioning and configuration to ongoing management and scaling. The result is a more agile infrastructure that can adapt quickly to changing business needs without the overhead and complexity of traditional IT setups.
Moreover, this combination allows for more predictable and repeatable deployments. Since both VergeOS and Terraform emphasize consistency and automation, IT administrators can ensure that their infrastructure is deployed the same way every time across all environments. This reduces the risk of configuration drift and makes it easier to manage large-scale deployments.
For organizations looking to modernize their IT operations, the synergy between VergeOS and Terraform offers a path to greater flexibility, reduced operational costs, and faster time-to-value. It empowers IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than getting bogged down in the day-to-day management of complex systems.
The Benefits of Simplifying Virtualization Operations with VergeOS and Terraform
1. Simplified Infrastructure Management
VergeIO’s Terraform Provider allows administrators to manage resources using Terraform’s configuration language. This means infrastructure can be managed as code, making setting up and maintaining environments faster and less prone to errors. By automating tasks that were once manual, administrators save time and reduce the chance of mistakes.
2. Increased Automation
The integration with Terraform enables greater automation in managing VergeIO resources. Administrators can automate the provisioning and management of infrastructure, freeing them to focus on higher-level tasks. For organizations already using Terraform, adding VergeIO resources to their workflows is straightforward, allowing for a smooth transition and easier adoption.
3. Consistency and Version Control
With Terraform, infrastructure is treated as code, which can be version-controlled like any other software. This allows administrators to track changes, revert to previous configurations if needed, and collaborate more effectively. The consistent deployment of resources across different environments ensures stability and reliability, which is essential for maintaining a healthy IT ecosystem.
4. Easier Adoption for New Users
For organizations new to VergeIO, the Terraform integration makes it easier to start using the platform. By leveraging Terraform, a familiar tool for many IT professionals, the barrier to entry is lowered. This accessibility is particularly beneficial for smaller teams or organizations with limited resources, enabling them to take advantage of VergeIO’s virtualization without a steep learning curve.
5. Preparing for the Future
The need for flexible and scalable solutions will only increase as IT environments grow. VergeIO’s Terraform integration ensures that organizations are well-equipped to manage their infrastructure today while being ready to scale as demands change. By combining VergeOS with Terraform, administrators can maintain a more agile and responsive IT setup.
Conclusion
VergeIO’s Terraform integration is an important advancement in simplifying IT management. By providing tools that allow for automation, consistency, and easier adoption, VergeIO is helping organizations reduce complexity and improve their infrastructure management. Whether you’re an IT administrator looking for a better way to manage your resources or an organization seeking a more accessible virtualization solution, VergeIO’s Terraform integration offers the tools needed to succeed.
How To Migrate VMware VMs
Understanding how to migrate VMware VMs into VergeOS is a critical factor in customers selecting it as their VMware alternative. VergeOS has developed a powerful solution that simplifies the entire migration process while ensuring minimal disruption to operations. This blog explores how VergeOS efficiently migrates VMware VMs into its environment, and the benefits customers can expect post-migration.
The Two-Phased Approach To Migrate VMware VMs: Back Up, Then Convert
VergeOS employs a two-phased approach to VMware migration. This method streamlines the migration process and enhances data safety and flexibility. Here’s how it works:
Phase 1: Backup of VMware VMs for Efficient Migration
The migration begins by setting up a VMware service that connects to your existing vCenter Server or standalone ESXi hosts. This service is crucial as it ensures seamless communication between the VergeOS environment and your VMware infrastructure. Once the service is configured and connected, VergeOS initiates a comprehensive backup of your VMware VMs.
This backup is not just a precaution but a critical first step that captures a complete and accurate copy of your VMs. The backup schedule can be customized to fit your organization’s needs—whether you need backups every few minutes, hourly, daily, or on a different schedule. Initially, the backups are full backups, capturing the entire state of each VM. Subsequent backups utilize VMware’s Backup API with Change Block Tracking (CBT) to perform block-level backups. This means only the data blocks that have changed since the last backup are captured.
By leveraging block-level backups, VergeOS minimizes the amount of data that needs to be transferred during each backup session, optimizing the efficiency of the process. This approach significantly reduces the time and resources required for backups, ensuring that your VMs are consistently backed up with minimal impact on your system’s performance.
Phase 2: “Import” or Conversion to VergeOS VMs for Seamless Migration
Once the backup is complete, the migration enters its second phase: “Import,” or conversion to a VergeOS VM. This phase is where VergeOS truly shines. The conversion from VMware VMs to VergeOS VMs happens in seconds and can be scheduled at a time that best suits your organization, minimizing disruptions to your workflow.
Migrate VMware VMs Without Stress
One of VergeOS’s standout features is its ease of migration. While our professional services team is always available to assist, most customers find that they can handle the migration process independently. Customers successfully convert thousands of VMs in just a few days.
This ease of migration enables customers to convert to VergeOS according to their timeline without needing to adjust based on the availability of professional services. This flexibility means you can plan and execute your migration at a pace that aligns with your business needs, ensuring a smoother transition with minimal disruption.
Migrate VMware VMs and Test at Scale
A key benefit of migrating to VergeOS is the ability to perform safe, scalable testing using VergeOS’s Virtual Data Center technology. This feature allows customers to create multiple “Virtual Labs” to test their environment at scale before fully committing to the migration.
Thanks to VergeOS’s integrated global deduplication, customers can create dozens of Virtual Labs of the same workload and assign them to different test groups with minimal impact on capacity or performance. Not all deduplication is created equal. VergeOS’ deduplication is integrated into the software’s core; all aspects, such as storage, computing, and networking, benefit from its use. Traditional storage-based deduplication only optimizes storage capacity. VergeOS’ deduplication benefits all aspects of the infrastructure.
The combination of VergeOS’ deduplication and Virtual Data Centers means you can replicate different scenarios and stress-test applications and ensure that all aspects of your infrastructure will function seamlessly once fully migrated. Creating numerous testing environments with minimal resource usage provides unparalleled flexibility and confidence, ensuring potential issues are identified and addressed in a controlled environment before going live.
We demonstrate this all in our on-demand workshop and demonstration, “Migrations at Scale.” Register Here
Migrate VMware VMs with Step-by-Step Process
Let’s break down the VMware to VergeOS migration process step-by-step:
- Create and Configure VMware Service The process begins with configuring the VMware service to connect to your vCenter Server or standalone ESXi Host. This involves assigning an IP address via DHCP and ensuring the service can communicate with your VMware environment.
- Create a VMware Backup Schedule Once the service is configured, you establish a backup schedule that fits your organizational needs. Depending on your specific requirements, this schedule can be as frequent or as infrequent as necessary.
- Apply Backup Schedule to VMs After creating the backup schedule, apply it to the VMs you intend to migrate. The initial backup will be a full backup, with subsequent backups being block-level backups using VMware’s CBT to capture only the changed data blocks.
- Monitor Backup Completion Times It’s important to monitor the completion times of your backups. This monitoring allows you to track the efficiency of the backup process and understand how much data is being transferred, especially during block-level backups.
- Ensure Correct Network Uplink Connectivity Exists Before the final cut-over, ensure that the correct network uplink connectivity exists. This involves providing the necessary trunked networks and recreating the same virtual networks within VergeOS.
- Perform Cutover from vSphere to Verge.io Finally, select the appropriate VergeOS vSAN Storage Tier for your migrated VMs, attach them to the network, and power them on within VergeOS. The migration is complete, and your VMs are fully functional within the VergeOS environment.
This infographic gives you an overview of the process. Click to enlarge.
Post-Migration Benefits of VergeOS for Long-Term Efficiency
Once the migration to VergeOS is complete, customers can immediately start to realize several key benefits:
- Cost Efficiency: VergeOS optimizes resource utilization, reducing infrastructure requirements and saving on operational costs. This efficiency allows organizations to allocate budgets and resources to other strategic initiatives.
- Enhanced Security: Post-migration, VergeOS employs advanced snapshots, hardware resiliency, encryption, and security protocols to ensure data integrity and confidentiality. This provides ongoing protection for sensitive information, giving customers peace of mind.
- Secure Multi-Tenancy: Through its Virtual Data Center technology, VergeOS supports secure multi-tenancy, enabling multiple customers or departments to share the same infrastructure while ensuring strict isolation and security for each tenant. This capability enhances resource utilization while maintaining robust security standards.
- Scalability: VergeOS supports dynamic scaling, allowing organizations to expand their virtual environments as needed quickly. This flexibility ensures that IT infrastructure can grow in line with business demands.
- Simplified Management: VergeOS offers a user-friendly interface and comprehensive management tools, streamlining ongoing operations and making it easier for IT teams to manage and monitor virtual environments.
- Improved Performance: Organizations benefit from VergeOS’s optimized performance in terms of compute efficiency and storage IO response times with VergeFS. These capabilities enhance application speed and enable the creation of dense environments. Density is the key to further reducing costs and creating a more sustainable data center.
Conclusion
VergeOS simplifies the complex task of VMware migration, offering a robust, flexible, and secure environment that ensures minimal downtime and maximum efficiency. For businesses looking to transition away from VMware, VergeOS provides a compelling alternative that meets and exceeds modern IT infrastructure’s demands.
High-Performance VMware Migration
In addition to being less expensive and delivering feature parity, VMware alternatives must also provide high-performance migration out of the legacy platform. What sounds like a fast migration time—a couple of minutes per virtual machine (VM)—can actually cause significant outages. The impact of this slow migration is often overlooked during testing because the customer doesn’t migrate at an equal scale to their production environment.
Why Fast Migration is Critical
Most VMware Alternatives require that the VMware VM be powered off during the migration, and all require it for the final cut-over. As a result, seemingly fast migration times can result in substantial downtime when dealing with at-scale migrations. For example, a migration time of two minutes per VM might seem reasonable. However, when extrapolated to 100 VMs, it totals over three hours (200 minutes). For 1,000 VMs, this translates to over 33 hours (2,000 minutes) of potential downtime, which is simply unacceptable for most businesses. Even if migration is done ten VMs at a time, there is the potential for 10 outages of 20 minutes each. The prolonged migration time can lead to significant disruptions, affecting productivity, customer service, and revenue.
On August 15th VergeIO, we demonstrate, live the capability to migrate over 100 VMware VMs in less than five seconds. This high-performance VMware migration significantly reduces downtime, ensuring business continuity and minimizing operational impact. Because VergeOS’ integrated migration capability leverages the VMware backup API set and, therefore, also supports change block tracking, customers can make the final cutover with an absolute minimum of downtime.
IT Time Savings from High-Performance VMware Migration
High-performance VMware migration optimizes efficiency and resource use. Quick transitions free up IT personnel, allowing teams to focus on other critical tasks instead of lengthy migration processes. This efficiency saves time and reduces labor costs and resource usage.
Our solution, VergeOS, exemplifies this efficiency. By integrating the VMware migration function into a unified data center operating environment, VergeOS enables the rapid migration of VMs, optimizing the use of existing hardware and resources. IT can migrate VMs in seconds and spin up test environments in less than a minute. They will also find that the VergeOS interface is faster and more responsive than VMware vCenter.
Cost Savings with High-Performance VMware Migration
Extended migration periods often come with increased costs. Slow migration can lead to the need for additional hardware. Customers must typically acquire a complete suite of extra servers to be available for the duration of the migration process. High-performance VMware migration solutions like VergeIO’s can dramatically reduce these costs. Fast migrations and a flexible code base mean that VergeOS can utilize existing hardware, making “migrate-in-place” a reality.
Enhanced Testing and Performance Through High-Performance VMware Migration
Another critical factor is the ability to create test environments quickly. Slow migration processes can extend testing periods, potentially leading to incomplete or inadequate testing. This can result in unforeseen issues when the alternative platform goes live. High-performance VMware migration ensures that test environments can be created and validated quickly, allowing thorough compatibility and performance testing.
VergeOS facilitates this by enabling the rapid creation of multiple test environments thanks to its fast migration. Its Virtual Data Center technology enables multiple virtual test labs to be created of the same group of VMs or workloads to facilitate parallel testing. This capability ensures that businesses have confidence in the new environment’s performance and reliability.
Scalability and Reduced Risk with High-Performance VMware Migration
High-performance VMware migration is essential for scalability. As businesses grow, their IT infrastructure needs to scale accordingly. Slow migration processes can hinder this growth, leading to bottlenecks and delays. With VergeIO’s rapid migration capabilities, businesses can scale their infrastructure efficiently, migrating additional VMs as needed without significant downtime.
The Value of VergeOS Post-Migration
Once the migration to VergeOS is complete, businesses can immediately begin to realize several key benefits:
- Cost Efficiency: VergeOS reduces operational costs through optimized resource utilization, reduced infrastructure requirements, and a per-server licensing model. This efficiency allows organizations to allocate budgets and resources to other strategic initiatives.
- Enhanced Security: Post-migration, VergeOS continues to employ advanced encryption and security protocols to ensure data integrity and confidentiality, providing ongoing protection for sensitive information.
- Secure Multi-Tenancy: VergeOS supports secure multi-tenancy, enabling multiple customers or departments to share the same infrastructure while ensuring strict isolation and security for each tenant. This capability enhances resource utilization while maintaining robust security standards.
- Scalability: VergeOS supports dynamic scaling, allowing organizations to expand their virtual environments as needed easily. Nodes of different types can be added to the VergeOS instance, including compute-only or storage-only servers. This flexibility ensures that IT infrastructure can grow in line with business demands and that servers can run for years beyond their warranty.
- Simplified Management: VergeOS offers a user-friendly interface and comprehensive management tools, streamlining ongoing operations and making it easier for IT teams to manage and monitor virtual environments. Customers repeatedly tell us they can get more done in their day with VergeOS than they could under VMware.
- Improved Performance: Organizations benefit from VergeOS’ optimized performance, which enhances application speed and reliability. This results in a more responsive and efficient IT environment, contributing to overall operational excellence.
Conclusion
As Chris Mellor over at Blocks and Files said, “Several suppliers of alternative hypervisor systems,” so when considering a VMware alternative, the ability to migrate VMware VMs quickly and efficiently is a critical differentiator. High-performance migration reduces downtime, enhances efficiency, cuts costs, and ensures thorough testing. VergeIO’s solution, VergeOS, exemplifies these benefits, making it a compelling choice for businesses looking to transition from VMware. It offers not only a rapid transfer but also a more robust and complete solution capable of virtualizing the entire data center.
If you are interested in witnessing this high-performance VMware migration in action, we are hosting a webinar on August 15th, 2024, at 1:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM PT. The webinar will feature a live demonstration showcasing the migration of 100 VMware VMs in seconds, highlighting the significant advantages of our solution. Register now to see this rapid migration in action and learn more about how VergeIO can transform your IT infrastructure.
For more information about VergeIO and to see the press release detailing our latest achievements, visit VergeIO Simplifies VMware Migration.
VergeIO Simplifies VMware Migration: 100 VMs Migrated in Seconds
August 6th, 2024—Ann Arbor, MI — Organizations seeking a robust VMware alternative often face concerns about the time and operational disruptions associated with migrating to a new platform. VergeIO, a leading innovator in data center virtualization, has addressed these concerns by demonstrating the capability to migrate over 100 VMware Virtual Machines (VMs) in less than five seconds. This remarkable achievement significantly outpaces other alternative solutions, which average 3 to 7 minutes per VM, translating to a lengthy 5 to 12 hours for migrating 100 VMs.
Why Migration Time Matters
Migration speed is critical for several reasons. Firstly, organizations need to thoroughly test their applications for compatibility and performance consistency on the new platform. Slow migration can extend testing periods, potentially resulting in incomplete or inadequate testing and unforeseen issues when the alternative platform goes live.
Secondly, slow migration times can lead to extended downtimes when switching to an alternative solution permanently. After testing, the final migration must capture a clean data copy while the VMware VM is down. Slow migrations either necessitate migrating one VM at a time to minimize outages or result in significant multi-hour outages during the cutover.
VergeIO’s Innovative Solution
VergeOS, VergeIO’s flagship solution, integrates the VMware migration function to convert hundreds of VMs in seconds, addressing both concerns. This rapid migration capability enables the quick creation of test environments. VergeIO’s Virtual Data Center technology allows for multiple instances of each environment to be created simultaneously for parallel testing at scale. Additionally, VergeOS’ integrated global inline deduplication minimizes capacity impact.
For production environments, VergeOS ensures minimal downtime. The integrated migration function performs block-level updates of VMs, allowing for a quick sync to capture the latest production data set post-testing. IT teams need only to power on the VM, facilitated by VergeOS’ rapid boot times, which are 3x faster than VMware. Consequently, most customers can transition applications from VMware to VergeOS with less than a minute of downtime.
“VergeIO’s migration capabilities exceeded our expectations,” said Darrin Whitney, CIO of YANA Systems. “We were able to migrate hundreds of VMs with minimal downtime, which allowed us to focus on optimizing our environment and providing value to our customers. VergeOS has significantly improved our operational efficiency.”
Post-Migration Benefits
- Cost Efficiency: VergeOS reduces operational costs through optimized resource utilization and reduced infrastructure requirements. This efficiency allows organizations to allocate budgets and resources to other strategic initiatives.
- Enhanced Security: VergeOS continues to employ advanced encryption and security protocols to ensure data integrity and confidentiality, providing ongoing protection for sensitive information.
- Scalability: VergeOS supports dynamic scaling, allowing organizations to expand their virtual environments as needed easily. This flexibility ensures that IT infrastructure can grow in line with business demands.
- Simplified Management: VergeOS offers a user-friendly interface and comprehensive management tools, streamlining ongoing operations and making it easier for IT teams to manage and monitor virtual environments.
- Improved Performance: Organizations benefit from VergeOS’ optimized performance, which enhances application speed and reliability. This results in a more responsive and efficient IT environment, contributing to overall operational excellence.
“At VergeIO, we understand the critical importance of minimizing operational disruption during migration. Our ability to migrate over 100 VMs in less than five seconds showcases our commitment to delivering seamless and efficient solutions for our customers,” said Jason Yaeger, SVP of Engineering, VergeIO. “We are proud to offer a technology that not only accelerates the migration process but also ensures compatibility and performance consistency, enabling organizations to transition confidently to VergeOS.”
Live Demonstration
VergeIO will host a live demonstration to showcase this breakthrough in VMware migration technology. During the session, attendees will witness the migration of 100 VMware VMs to VergeOS in real-time, demonstrating the speed and efficiency of our solution. This event will provide a firsthand look at how VergeOS can transform IT operations with minimal disruption. Register here:
About VergeIO
VergeIO is the leading VMware Alternative. Unlike hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI), its ultraconverged infrastructure (UCI) collapses the traditional IT stack (computing, storage, and networking) into an integrated data center operating environment, VergeOS. Its efficiency enables greater workload density using existing hardware while improving data resiliency. The result is dramatically lower costs, improved availability, and greatly simplified IT.
For media inquiries, please contact: Judy Smith
JPR Communications
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