Client Overview:
A medium-sized insurance claims processing organization operates with approximately 20 hosts and over 350 virtual machines in their VMware-based on-premises virtualization environment. With a crucial role in handling insurance claims, their IT infrastructure requires high reliability, scalability, and cost-efficiency to support their operations effectively.
The Challenge
The client faced a critical decision point with their virtualization strategy. Their existing VMware licensing was approaching renewal, but with Broadcom's acquisition of VMware, they were confronted with:
- A staggering 400% price increase for license renewal
- Transition to a subscription-based licensing model
- Uncertainty about VMware/Broadcom's long-term roadmap and support quality
- Concerns about future innovation under new ownership
The CloudOps Lead recognized these challenges as an opportunity to reevaluate their virtualization strategy and explore more cost-effective alternatives that would still provide enterprise-grade capabilities.
Our Solution
Arctiq proposed a comprehensive migration from VMware to Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization. This approach would:
- Eliminate dependency on VMware/Broadcom
- Provide a modern, container-based virtualization platform
- Leverage the client's existing Pure Storage infrastructure
- Deliver significant cost savings, especially for Red Hat Enterprise Linux workloads
- Offer a pathway to future cloud-native application development
The engagement focused on a small-scale OpenShift deployment to validate the solution's viability before committing to full migration of their 350+ virtual machines by year-end.
Implementation Process
Phase 1: OpenShift Deployment Design & Architecture
- Evaluated Red Hat OpenShift and Red Hat Enterprise Linux subscription options to determine the most cost-effective licensing model
- Conducted thorough assessment of hardware and infrastructure requirements
- Analyzed current capacity and developed capacity planning for OpenShift deployment
- Created cluster sizing and growth plan aligned with business objectives
- Assessed application requirements to establish metrics for environment scenarios
Phase 2: OpenShift Infrastructure Installation
- Deployed a 3-node bare metal OpenShift 4.15 cluster with mixed control/worker nodes
- Implemented core OpenShift infrastructure services for enterprise-grade reliability
- Integrated Portworx storage solution to support RWX (ReadWriteMany) volumes for virtualized workloads
- Enabled OpenShift virtualization capabilities to support VM workloads
- Verified compatibility with the client's existing Pure Storage array (version 6.3/6.5)
Phase 3: Virtualization Workload Migration
- Leveraged OpenShift MTV to migrate first phase of virtual machines from VMware
- Demonstrated live migration capabilities of virtual machines within the cluster
- Performed an upgrade to OpenShift 4.16 to showcase seamless upgrade processes
- Conducted knowledge transfer sessions to build client team expertise
- Developed documentation including best practices and operational guidance
Key Features
- Modern container-based virtualization platform capable of supporting both traditional VMs and containers
- Seamless migration path from VMware to OpenShift virtualization
- Integration with existing Pure Storage infrastructure
- Free Red Hat Enterprise Linux workload licensing when running on OpenShift
- Built-in high availability and live migration capabilities
- Scalable infrastructure that can grow with business needs
- Path to modernization beyond pure virtualization
Tools Used
- Red Hat OpenShift 4.15 and 4.16
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux
- OpenShift Virtualization
- OpenShift MTV (Migration Toolkit for Virtualization)
- Portworx storage for container-native persistent storage
- Pure Storage integration
Results
The project successfully demonstrated that Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization could meet the client's virtualization needs while delivering substantial benefits:
- Avoided the 400% price increase from VMware/Broadcom licensing
- Established a clear migration path for all 350+ virtual machines
- Reduced licensing costs for RHEL workloads running on OpenShift
- Gained independence from VMware/Broadcom's uncertain roadmap
- Improved operational capabilities with modern containerization tools
- Built internal expertise through mentorship and knowledge transfer
- Created foundation for future application modernization initiatives
With the project successfully completed, the client established a clear roadmap for migrating its virtualization environment to Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, positioning the organization to avoid significant licensing costs while modernizing its infrastructure.
