VM /ETC

In the official press release today Veeam Software Offers New Essentials Bundle, Acceleration Kits for VMware vSphere 4 Veeam mentions a new policy removing support for the use of Veeam Backup with the free version of ESXi.

“At the same time, Veeam introduced a new policy with respect to support for the free edition of VMware ESXi. “As a longtime Premier Technology Alliance Partner and supporter of VMware’s product strategy, Veeam Software takes great pride in creating innovative software products that enhance the customer value of VMware ESX, ESXi, and ESXi Free,” said Ratmir Timashev, Veeam president and CEO. “One such example is support for the free edition of VMware ESXi in Veeam Backup and Replication.

“Recently, VMware requested that Veeam discontinue support for ESXi Free in Veeam Backup and Replication in order to comply with VMware’s updated licensing policy,” Timashev continued. “In light of VMware’s request, and our close technical partnership, Veeam Backup and Replication will no longer support ESXi Free. We will still continue to offer support for ESXi Free to existing Veeam customers who purchased Backup & Replication prior to version 3.1.””

Be sure to read those two paragraphs again.

Veeam, a company that seems to have found a successful niche marketing to SMBs and remote branch office VMware deployments, has been asked to remove support of the use of one it’s popular products with free ESXi. Possibly shedding some additional light on this mystery, the press announcement mentions respect for VMware’s product strategy and Veeam’s long time status as a technology partner. There is no mention of Veeam pulling free ESXi support of the popular FastSCP file management tool.

Without any inside information about the VMware ESXi roadmap and strategy, here is a quick review of ESXi’s public timeline:

• VMware announces ESX3i and the availability of ordering hardware with ESXi embedded. ESXi appears to be poised to become a ubiquitous hypervisor in datacenters
• VMware declares ESX classic and the Service Console will be phased out due to security, patching, and distribution size, and the firmware appliance -like ESXi will become the only hypervisor version offered from VMware.
• VMware announces ESXi Update 2 is free to compete with emerging hypervisor competition. The free version appears to be geared towards small deployments or an introduction to VMware’s licensed versions, and is locked down preventing remote access
• ESXi Update 3 is mistakenly released with remote administration left open via the RCLI. VMware recognizes the mistake and closes back down remote administration with ESXi Update 4
• VMware introduces the concept of VIMA/vMA appliances for technology partners to develop remote console based replacements for current Service Console agents used in ecosystem products (VM backup, etc)
• Veeam publicly removes support for Veeam Backup with free ESXi at VMware’s request.

The above order is relatively chronological, but not necessarily in the exact order.

A shift in Strategy For ESXi?

At a time when most of the virtualization community expects VMware to bend to the free offerings available from the hypervisor competition by offering more features in free ESXi (VMotion, HA, or even remote adminstration), VMware appears to be doing the opposite while asking (forcing?) a technology partner to abandon existing/potential business. On that note, how many VMware ecosystem partners have announced new versions that work in a remote console, VIMA/vMA configuration even with a licensed version of ESXi? None come to mind for me.

Does VMware favor the mass adoption of ESXi any longer or, is this the tip of the iceburg of a power play to sqeeze out competition alternatives to VMware vSphere’s new features? (VMware VCB, vDR and SRM versus Veeam Backup, for example) Keith Ward may have been a prophet with his post Cutting Off the Competition’s Air Supply?

“VMware CEO is Paul Maritz. Paul Maritz is the former No. 3 at Microsoft, and a key player in the late-90s U.S. Department of Justice anti-trust trial. It was Maritz who allegedly made the famous threat about “cutting off Netscape’s air supply.” It’s important to note that Maritz has denied saying it (an Intel executive during the trial said he heard Maritz make that statement during a meeting), but it played a key role in the case.”

Adding to the VMware competition conspiracy theory is last week’s VMworld exhibitors and sponsors contract changes PR nightmare.

[updated 06.06.09] - SearchServerVirtualization’s Alex Barrett provides VMware’s reasons for the request to Veeam. My thoughts and summary here.

Other reactions to Veeam’s announcement so far

[updated 06.05.09]

Is VMware becoming the bully Microsoft is known for? – by Gabe

Is VMware becoming the bad guy? – by Erik Scholten

Keeping Sales a Priority — at The Expense of Free Tools – by Rick Vanover

Comments on the Veeameup.com post Veeam and Free ESXi – it’s official now

Follow Twitter replies to Veeam’s announcement on Tweetgrid : http://tweetgrid.com/grid?l=0&q1=veeam

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