VMware alternative
Swiss VMware alternative.
Hikube is a Swiss VMware alternative: vSphere to cloud instances (VMDK import), Windows Server licenses, VLAN to VPC/subnets, Backup as a Service, Swiss law, operator with no US parent.
- Inventory
- Pilot
- Import
- ISO 27001
- 3 DC
- SLA 99.99%
Typical path: inventory → network and backup pilot → VM import → cutover with rollback. Plan sixteen weeks before the Broadcom renewal date for a 40 to 120 VM estate. The week-by-week backward plan and the detailed checklist are in the guide.
Path
01
Inventory
Clusters, OS, AD, VLANs, backup, Windows licenses, RPO/RTO.
02
Pilot
10–20 VMs: network, backup, one Windows app and one Linux.
03
Import
VMDK / QCOW2 / ISO. The OS travels with the disk.
04
Cutover
Window, documented rollback, then factory. No Kubernetes on day one.
In detail
A Hidora engineer frames the inventory, the network workshop and the 10–20 VM pilot: that is the starting point in every case. Then three setups, by the size of your team. Your team runs the factory with the pilot’s runbook. Or Hidora runs it as project work under a SOW, billed by time spent or milestones, on top of PAYG. Or a partner integrator owns the project and keeps the relationship. A two or three person IT team will not carry a hundred-VM cutover on top of its day job: say so at framing, not on the last weekend.
Order of magnitude for 40 to 120 VMs, counting back from your renewal date: T-16 inventory, T-12 the 10–20 VM pilot, T-8 wave imports, T-4 cutover of the last workloads, T-0 vSphere shutdown. Under eight weeks, an engineer will tell you to negotiate a short Broadcom extension rather than hold the date: a rushed cutover costs more than three months of licence. The detailed backward plan is in the guide.
No for a VM lift-and-shift. Import keeps the OS. Kubernetes modernization is a second wave, workload by workload, not a cutover prerequisite.
We map port-groups and VLANs to VPC and subnets (prod, DMZ, backup, admin). Heavy NSX micro-segmentation needs a workshop: not everything maps 1:1. No proprietary fabric to repurchase.
Windows Server VMs re-license on usage on the same cloud instances. AD, files and .NET stay VMs. Detail on the instances page (Windows) and Hikube vs VMware.
Active Directory, files, IIS / .NET, line-of-business Linux. Lift-and-shift keeps the OS. Kubernetes modernization is a second wave, workload by workload. Not on cutover day.
Hikube operates the hypervisor, the 3 DCs, the VPC, block replication and platform backup. You keep the OS, AD, apps and the application restore runbook. No more vCenter: control moves to the Hikube API and the console.
The TCO calculator compares Hikube, AWS, Azure and on-prem VMware over 36 months, in CHF. It is an order of magnitude, not a Broadcom quote. For a real estate, an engineer reconciles Windows licenses, backup and network. Published case studies stay qualitative.
Frequently asked questions
A 10–20 VM pilot: network, backup, one Windows line-of-business app and one Linux. Then the factory. Talk to an engineer, not a generic form without VMware context.
Not as-is. The hypervisor and vCenter stop. Control moves to the Hikube API and the console. Terraform: in preparation.
Infrastructure monitoring and on-call are 24×7 at Hidora. The support desk handles your requests on business days 08:00–18:00 CET, in French and English, with maximum response times per priority (P1 critical, 4 h). Your OS and applications stay under your own monitoring, as under vSphere. Detail on the support and operations page.
The same checklist has to apply to us. The contract governs reversibility at the end of the relationship: the return procedure, the retention period and any fees are set there, and the contract is what binds, the general terms. Technically: volumes exportable as disk images, S3-compatible object storage, standard kubectl and Helm. No SDN fabric or in-house backup format to buy back on the way out.
Hikube Backup as a Service takes copies in Switzerland. The application restore runbook stays yours. An engineer aligns the pilot RPO/RTO; no public number is published.
No. The 10–20 VM pilot validates network, backup, one Windows app and one Linux. The factory follows. Talk to an engineer.
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