What is the most cost effective approach for SMB customers if they want to remain using VMware virtualization technologies?
vSphere Standard, which requires 72-cores minimum or vSphere Essentials Plus, which has a maximum of 3x hosts and/or 96-cores?
It depends on your environment, but I will supply all the necessary information so you can make the best choice for your organization.
vSphere Standard
List price per core: $50 (as of 04/01/2025)
Minimum cost: $3,600 per year (72-cores)
Benefits: Can expand past 96 cores (future growth)
vSphere Essentials Plus
List price per core: $35 (as of 04/01/2025)
Flat cost: $3,360 per year (96-cores)
Benefits: Cheaper cost per core ($240 annual savings)
Drawbacks: Cannot expand past 3 hosts and/or 96-cores
If the cost mentioned above cannot be justified to run highly available and reliable IT operations software, then there are always cheaper virtualization options listed below.
