Evolve Cloud Services helps organizations optimize and modernize their server-based workloads as they migrate to the cloud. Organizations that partner with Evolve gain insight into the technical and licensing aspects of cloud migration, which improve efficiency and reduce cost. A valuable component of this engagement is identifying the best virtualization solution for high performance and low cost.
At its most basic level, virtualization software makes it possible for organizations to run multiple operating systems and applications on a single machine. In virtualized scenarios, a single server provides compute, storage, and networking. These capabilities improve resource utilization while reducing cost through the consolidation of hardware and a reduction in licensing requirements. An additional benefit of virtualization software is that it helps organizations manage and provision their on‑premises and cloud workloads in one place.
As a pioneer in virtualization technology, VMware has been a long-time leader in this area. However, VMware was acquired by Broadcom 
in 2023 and has since made changes that negatively impacted their customers and partners. This has pushed organizations to seek alternatives to VMware, and Nutanix has become one of the most compelling virtualization technologies in the cloud.
Nutanix allows their customers to bring and use Nutanix licenses in various cloud environments including AWS and Azure (Google Cloud is in preview). Through the use of Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) , the Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV) helps organizations run virtualized workloads on premises and in the cloud while managing and securing the environments using a single tool. NC2 also assists in the actual migration of server workloads to the cloud, where technical and licensing benefits are available that improve performance, simplify management, and reduce licensing costs.
Technical Benefits of using Nutanix in the Cloud
There are several technical benefits for using NC2 including:
- Reduced management complexity by using a single platform to manage virtualized workloads on-prem and in the cloud
- Rapid low-risk cloud migration without changes or refactoring
- Multi-cloud management under a single pane of glass
- Increased virtualization density and improved resource utilization which enables datacenter consolidation
- Expanded geography through the extension of datacenters to different global regions
- Ability to choose server instance types based on business need with varied size, memory, and storage
- Increased scalability through on-demand cloud instances that can automatically burst to meet changing demand
- Elimination of DR cost and complexity through cloud failover solutions that can scale-out during DR events
- Improved data retention during upgrades or DR
- Automated identification and replacement of failed nodes
- Integration with cloud native and modernized services while bringing applications closer to the services they utilize
As organizations consider these benefits and decide to move to NC2, they may want an “easy button” to make the transition from VMware to NC2. The good news is that there is a free tool, Nutanix Move , that helps organizations migrate workloads from VMware to NC2 without refactoring or making any changes.
Licensing Benefits of using Nutanix in the Cloud for Microsoft Workloads
With the complexity and high cost of Microsoft licensing, the importance of developing a strategic licensing strategy prior to a cloud migration cost cannot be overstated. Organization who proactively understand the cloud options and services along with the cost impact of various licensing models can effectively lower cost, reduce license compliance risk, and plan for future modernization. Engaging with Evolve Cloud Services is valuable in determining the full range of possibilities.
Organizations who run Microsoft workloads often have significant investments in licenses, and the option to “bring your own license” (BYOL) to the cloud is an effective strategy in reducing cloud migration and deployment cost. The dedicated tenant nature of NC2 offerings in the public cloud provide BYOL benefits that are not possible in the shared tenant public cloud. The factor that separates NC2 offerings from the shared tenant cloud from a licensing perspective is that NC2 offerings in the cloud utilize Bare Metal instances, which occupy the entire server. The physical server is therefore physically dedicated to the use of one customer. As organizations who license Windows Server Datacenter and SQL Server Enterprise on-premises know, there are significant virtualization benefits available when licensing these specific products at the physical level. This can offer a highly cost-effective licensing option in cloud environments, especially when server workloads consistently run near server capacity. As organizations consider the BYOL options for Microsoft workloads in various cloud environments, it is important that they understand the difference between BYOL options on Azure and versus other clouds. For example, Microsoft limits Windows Server BYOL on AWS and Google Cloud to Windows Server 2019 and prior versions and requires that the licenses were purchased under agreements active before 10/2019. This is just one example, and there is clearly a lot for an organization to consider when identifying the most cost effective and compliant BYOL options. Evolve Cloud Services has extensive experience in this area.
The alternative to using BYOL is to use “license-included instances”, which include the cost for licensing Windows Server and SQL Server in the cost of the instance. Organizations using license-included instances can “pay-as-they-go” while turning instances on and off as needs dictate. This helps organizations reduce cost by paying only for what they use, which can be cost effective compared to the traditional method of purchasing licenses that may not be needed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Organizations using NC2 can also virtualize their cloud servers into a sizable number of license-included virtual instances. For example, a customer using one AWS i4i bare-metal server could run 64 virtual instances with 128 virtual cores (vCPUs). The cost for using license-included Windows Server and SQL Server in this scenario is based on the number of active vCPUs on a per-second basis. NC2 customers who turn instances off when they are not required can reduce license included cost.
The choice between using BYOL or license included instances has a significant impact on cost as demonstrated by several Evolve NC2 engagements. In one example, Evolve was engaged to assist an organization in moving 400 servers from an on-premises VMware environment to NC2 on AWS. During the analysis, Evolve found that the organization could save over $350k annually by bringing Windows Server to NC2 dedicated servers versus paying for Windows Server as license included. In another example, Evolve helped a different organization analyze the cost of moving over 600 servers from an on-prem VMware environment to NC2 on Azure. When the option to BYOL Windows Server to NC2 Dedicated Hosts was identified, the organization was able to reduce their Windows Server subscription licenses by over 1600 cores! They were also able to reduce their SQL Server licensing requirements by licensing the physical host, instead of bringing SQL Server to shared tenant Azure where there is a four-vCPU minimum per instance.
As organizations consider BYOL versus license included instances, they often face two challenges. The first challenge is determining whether BYOL or license included is most cost effective for a specific scenario. Each option has its own advantages. For example, dynamic workloads where capacity is constantly changing can often benefit from using license included instances. As capacity needs ramp up, additional instances can be automatically provisioned until they are no longer needed. This is also true for deployments with monthly or seasonal spikes in demand, such as payroll or tax software solutions. In contrast, BYOL is often cost effective when the server workload remains steady, predictable, and close to full capacity.
The second challenge is identifying whether an organization has licenses that are eligible for BYOL, while determining the licensing rules in different clouds. This can be rather challenging as Microsoft licensing options in Azure can vary significantly from other clouds such as AWS and Google Cloud. Unless a company has a deep background in Microsoft licensing, making decisions in this area is challenging, confusing, and risky.
How Evolve Cloud Services Can Help
With the completion of over 3000 optimization and licensing assessments, Evolve Cloud Service has deep experience in helping organizations identify the best technical and licensing options for their on-premises and cloud workloads. Specific to NC2, Evolve’s Nutanix Migration and Optimization Program has completed over 30 assessments for organizations moving to Nutanix on AWS and Azure. During these engagements, various technical options, cloud service choices, and licensing alternatives were identified and recommended based on the diverse needs of varying workloads.
Evolve starts by evaluating an organization’s applications and server requirements to identify the most optimal technical and sizing options. Through this analysis, organizations often find that they can optimize and consolidate their server footprint, leading to reduced licensing and infrastructure cost. During NC2 engagements specifically, Evolve helped organizations reduce their SQL Server cores requirements by an average of up to 45% and Windows Server cores requirements by an average up to 78%. These reductions led to significant licensing savings.
The next step in the assessment is for Evolve to identify the full range of licensing options available to an organization along with the price impact of various choices. During this analysis, Evolve helps the organization identify the quantity of licenses owned while determining how the licenses can be most strategically used in the cloud. As each public cloud provider offers different solutions (e.g., managed versus unmanaged, desktop as a service, modernized offerings), Evolve partners with organizations to evaluate the technical and cost benefit of various choices.
Are you interested in learning more about how Evolve Cloud Services can help your organization migrate to Nutanix NC2 in the cloud? Do you need help determining the best technical and licensing options during a cloud migration?
To learn more about how you can receive a fully-funded Nutanix Migration Optimization Assessment (MOA), please click here. If you have questions about migrating to Nutanix NC2 or need help determining the most cost-effective technical and licensing options for a cloud migration, please contact us.
Authored by Lance Spratt, Senior Licensing Specialist at Evolve Cloud Services
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