This dilemma of whether to absorb the Broadcom price hikes or embark on the arduous and risky journey of untangling from the VMware ecosystem is triggering a broader C-level conversation around virtualization strategy. “For enterprises navigating this uncertainly, the challenge isn’t just finding a replacement for VMware. IT shops of all sizes see Broadcom’s actions as an opportunity to rethink their approach to virtualization, cloud strategy and IT modernization,” says Steve McDowell, chief analyst at NAND Research. Elliot says that server virtualization has been taken for granted for a long time, and the Broadcom-driven wake-up call is forcing organizations to reevaluate their virtualization strategies at the board level. “That kind of strategic conversation hasn’t happened for years. Customers are saying, ‘What can we do as this platform emerges from VMware. How do we think about this relative to our multi-cloud strategy and private cloud and the efficiencies we can gain? Let’s talk about risk reduction. Let’s talk about platform strategy.’ This is an opportunity to identify business value. It’s triggering this plethora of swim lanes.” Check the waters before diving in While there are multiple alternatives to the VMware platform, none of them are as good from a feature perspective, and there’s a risk associated with moving off a tried-and-true platform. In estimating the cost of a large-scale VMware migration, Gartner cautions: “VMware’s server virtualization platform has become the point of integration for its customers across server, storage and network infrastructure in the data center. Equally, it is a focus of IT operational duties including workload provisioning, backup and disaster recovery. Migrating from VMware’s server virtualization platform would require untangling many aspects of these investments.” It would take a midsize enterprise at least two years to untangle much of its dependency upon VMware, and it could take a large enterprise

Nutanix – which is actively courting disgruntled VMware customers – provides storage services that aggregate storage in a global pool that enables any VM to access and consume storage resources. Features include compression, deduplication, high-availability and snapshots. Enterprises running high-performance databases often require external storage arrays, and Nutanix has addressed that need by certifying storage with SAP HANA and Oracle RAC. (Read more: Cisco, Nutanix strengthen joint HCI package) 4. Scale Computing Platform Scale provides an all-in-one hardware and software package that includes all software licenses. Software features offered at no additional charge include high-availability clustering, built-in disaster recovery, replication and software-defined storage. Scale also offers a tool to automate migrations off vSphere, a centralized management feature for HCI clusters, and the ability to mix and match dissimilar hardware appliances in a cluster. In addition, all storage is pooled. Last summer, Scale Computing said in a quarterly earnings announcement that sales have taken off, thanks in part to Broadcom’s changes to VMware sales operations.  5. VergeIO VergeIO takes HCI to the next level with something it calls ultraconverged infrastructure (UCI). This means VergeIO can not only virtualize the normal stack of compute, networking and storage, it can also implement multi-tenancy, creating multiple virtual data centers (VDCs). Each VDC has its own compute, network, storage, management and VergeOS assigned to it. Enterprises can manage and use each VDC much like the virtual private clouds offered by the hyperscalers. VergeIO says this model creates greater workload density, which means lower costs, improved availability, and simplified IT.

“It will truly change what customers are able to do with AI,” Stowell said. IBM’s mainframe processors The next generation of processors is expected to continue a long history of generation-to-generation improvements, IBM stated in a new white paper on AI and the mainframe. “They are projected to clock in at 5.5 GHz. and include ten 36 MB level 2 caches. They’ll feature built-in low-latency data processing for accelerated I/O as well as a completely redesigned cache and chip-interconnection infrastructure for more on-chip cache and compute capacity,” IBM wrote.  Today’s mainframes also have extensions and accelerators that integrate with the core systems. These specialized add-ons are designed to enable the adoption of technologies such as Java, cloud and AI by accelerating computing paradigms that are essential for high-volume, low-latency transaction processing, IBM wrote.  “The next crop of AI accelerators are expected to be significantly enhanced—with each accelerator designed to deliver 4 times more compute power, reaching 24 trillion operations per second (TOPS),” IBM wrote. “The I/O and cache improvements will enable even faster processing and analysis of large amounts of data and consolidation of workloads running across multiple servers, for savings in data center space and power costs. And the new accelerators will provide increased capacity to enable additional transaction clock time to perform enhanced in-transaction AI inferencing.” In addition, the next generation of the accelerator architecture is expected to be more efficient for AI tasks. “Unlike standard CPUs, the chip architecture will have a simpler layout, designed to send data directly from one compute engine, and use a range of lower- precision numeric formats. These enhancements are expected to make running AI models more energy efficient and far less memory intensive. As a result, mainframe users can leverage much more complex AI models and perform AI inferencing at a greater scale

VergeIO is not, however, using an off-the-shelf version of KVM. Rather, it is using what Crump referred to as a heavily modified KVM hypervisor base, with significant proprietary enhancements while still maintaining connections to the open-source community. VergeIO’s deployment profile is currently 70% on premises and about 30% via bare-metal service providers, with a particularly strong following among cloud service providers that host applications for their customers. The software requires direct hardware access due to its low-level integration with physical resources. “Since November of 2023, the normal number one customer we’re attracting right now is guys that have had a heart attack when they got their VMware renewal license,” Crump said. “The more of the stack you own, the better our story becomes.” A 2024 report from Data Center Intelligence Group (DCIG) identified VergeOS as one of the top 5 alternatives to VMware. “VergeIO starts by installing VergeOS on bare metal servers,” the report stated. “It then brings the servers’ hardware resources under its management, catalogs these resources, and makes them available to VMs. By directly accessing and managing the server’s hardware resources, it optimizes them in ways other hypervisors often cannot.” Advanced networking features in VergeFabric VergeFabric is the networking component within the VergeOS ecosystem, providing software-defined networking capabilities as an integrated service rather than as a separate virtual machine or application.

The modular data center industry is undergoing a seismic shift in the age of AI, and few are as deeply embedded in this transformation as Andrew Lindsey, Co-Founder and CEO of Flexnode. In a recent episode of the Data Center Frontier Show podcast, Lindsey joined Editor-in-Chief Matt Vincent and Senior Editor David Chernicoff to discuss the evolution of modular data centers, the growing demand for high-density liquid-cooled solutions, and the industry factors driving this momentum. A Background Rooted in Innovation Lindsey’s career has been defined by the intersection of technology and the built environment. Prior to launching Flexnode, he worked at Alpha Corporation, a top 100 engineering and construction management firm founded by his father in 1979. His early career involved spearheading technology adoption within the firm, with a focus on high-security infrastructure for both government and private clients. Recognizing a massive opportunity in the data center space, Lindsey saw a need for an innovative approach to infrastructure deployment. “The construction industry is relatively uninnovative,” he explained, citing a McKinsey study that ranked construction as the second least-digitized industry—just above fishing and wildlife, which remains deliberately undigitized. Given the billions of square feet of data center infrastructure required in a relatively short timeframe, Lindsey set out to streamline and modernize the process. Founded four years ago, Flexnode delivers modular data centers with a fully integrated approach, handling everything from site selection to design, engineering, manufacturing, deployment, operations, and even end-of-life decommissioning. Their core mission is to provide an “easy button” for high-density computing solutions, including cloud and dedicated GPU infrastructure, allowing faster and more efficient deployment of modular data centers. The Rising Momentum for Modular Data Centers As Vincent noted, Data Center Frontier has closely tracked the increasing traction of modular infrastructure. Lindsey has been at the forefront of this

As the demand for data center power surges in Texas, nuclear startup Last Energy has now announced plans to build 30 microreactors in the state’s Haskell County near the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The reactors will serve a growing customer base of data center operators in the region looking for reliable, carbon-free energy. The plan marks Last Energy’s largest project to date and a significant step in advancing modular nuclear power as a viable solution for high-density computing infrastructure. Meeting the Looming Power Demands of Texas Data Centers Texas is already home to over 340 data centers, with significant expansion underway. Google is increasing its data center footprint in Dallas, while OpenAI’s Stargate has announced plans for a new facility in Abilene, just an hour south of Last Energy’s planned site. The company notes the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area alone is projected to require an additional 43 gigawatts of power in the coming years, far surpassing current grid capacity. To help remediate, Last Energy has secured a 200+ acre site in Haskell County, approximately three and a half hours west of Dallas. The company has also filed for a grid connection with ERCOT, with plans to deliver power via a mix of private wire and grid transmission. Additionally, Last Energy has begun pre-application engagement with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for an Early Site Permit, a key step in securing regulatory approval. According to Last Energy CEO Bret Kugelmass, the company’s modular approach is designed to bring nuclear energy online faster than traditional projects. “Nuclear power is the most effective way to meet Texas’ growing energy demand, but it needs to be deployed faster and at scale,” Kugelmass said. “Our microreactors are designed to be plug-and-play, enabling data center operators to bypass the constraints of an overloaded grid.” Scaling Nuclear for