Running VMware on AWS: Key Takeaways from AWS re:Invent 2024

At AWS re:Invent 2024, Andy Reedy, Sr. Manager, EC2 Product Management at AWS, and Aarthi Raju, Sr. Manager, EC2 Engineering at AWS, provided insights into running VMware on AWS and introduced the Amazon Elastic VMware Service (Amazon EVS). This session outlined AWS’s approach to VMware migrations, the technical details of Amazon EVS, and how customers can leverage this new service for flexibility, control, and scalability.

Why Run VMware on AWS?

At the beginning of the session, Andy Reedy addressed a common customer question: Why consider running VMware on AWS instead of moving workloads directly to EC2? He explained that there are several compelling reasons organizations choose to continue using VMware, including:

• Rapid Migration Needs: Some enterprises face time-sensitive migration events that require a quick lift-and-shift to the cloud without rearchitecting workloads.
• Legacy and Complex Applications: Many businesses run workloads that are deeply integrated with VMware, making migration challenging.
• IP Address Constraints: Some applications rely on fixed IP addresses, and changing them could disrupt operations.
• Disaster Recovery: Companies often repurpose aging on-premises hardware for disaster recovery (DR), but maintaining such systems can be costly and time-consuming. Amazon EVS offers an alternative by enabling DR in AWS without hardware overhead.

Andy emphasized that AWS aims to provide the best environment for running VMware workloads while offering customers control and flexibility.

Evolution of VMware on AWS

AWS has supported VMware workloads for over eight years with VMware Cloud on AWS, a fully managed service operated by VMware (now Broadcom). While VMware Cloud on AWS remains a key offering, customer demand for more control and flexibility led AWS to develop Elastic VMware Service (Amazon EVS). This new service allows customers to run VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) directly on EC2 bare metal instances within their own AWS accounts, providing a self-managed alternative.

Introducing Amazon Elastic VMware Service (Amazon EVS)

Andy outlined the key benefits of Amazon EVS, which was launched in preview at re:Invent 2024:

• Full Administrative Control: Customers have complete control over their VMware environment, including root access and the ability to install custom configurations.
• Flexible Consumption Models: Amazon EVS supports on-demand, one-year, and three-year pricing models, allowing businesses to scale up or down as needed.
• Seamless Migration: The service supports VCF 5.2.1 with the same architecture as on-premises environments, minimizing migration challenges.
• Choice of Management Options: Customers can self-manage their VMware environment, opt for partner-managed services, or continue using VMware Cloud on AWS for a fully managed experience.

Technical Deep Dive: How Amazon EVS Works

Following Andy’s introduction, Aarthi Raju provided a detailed overview of the technical architecture of Amazon EVS and its core building blocks:

1. VMware Cloud Foundation on AWS Infrastructure

Amazon EVS allows customers to deploy standard VCF 5.2.1 on AWS infrastructure. Unlike VMware Cloud on AWS, which runs inside a VMware-controlled AWS account, Amazon EVS runs inside the customer’s own AWS account, providing more control over networking, security, and operations.

2. Compute and Storage

• Amazon EVS runs on EC2 i4i.metal instances, offering high-performance computing with 75 Gbps network throughput and 30 TiB of storage per host.
• The primary storage solution is VMware vSAN, but customers have the option to integrate additional external storage solutions.

3. Networking and Connectivity

• Amazon EVS integrates with AWS Transit Gateway for seamless on-premises connectivity.
• Customers can maintain existing VMware networking configurations, reducing the need for major reconfiguration.

4. Deployment and Automation

• Amazon EVS uses VMware Cloud Builder to automate environment provisioning.
• Customers provide configuration details (e.g., VPC, subnets, DNS), and AWS automates the deployment process.

Aarthi demonstrated the AWS Console experience, showing how customers can deploy and manage their VMware environments with just a few clicks. The end-to-end deployment process takes approximately three hours, with the majority of the time spent on cloud builder validations.

Getting Started with Amazon EVS

To help customers adopt Amazon EVS, AWS introduced new primitives within the console:

• Virtualization Environment: A logical container for all resources associated with a VCF deployment.
• Host Groups: Configuration templates for instance types, networking, and server settings.
• Hosts: Individual EC2 bare metal instances provisioned for VMware workloads.

During the demo, Aarthi showcased how users can create a virtualization environment, define host groups, and provision EC2 hosts directly from the AWS console.

Roadmap and Future Enhancements

Andy and Aarthi concluded the session by discussing AWS’s roadmap for Amazon EVS:

• More EC2 Instance Types: AWS plans to support additional x86-based EC2 metal instances for VMware workloads.
• Expanded Storage Options: AWS will introduce more external storage integrations beyond vSAN.
• Additional Licensing Models: Currently, Amazon EVS operates on a bring-your-own-subscription (BYOS) model for VCF, but AWS will soon offer license-included options.
• More Partner Offerings: AWS is working with partners to build managed services on top of Amazon EVS, giving customers more management choices.

Conclusion

Andy and Aarthi wrapped up the session by encouraging attendees to sign up for the Amazon EVS preview and provide feedback. They emphasized that AWS’s goal is to offer the best possible environment for VMware workloads while giving customers more control, flexibility, and scalability than ever before.

Key Takeaways:

• AWS now offers Amazon Elastic VMware Service (Amazon EVS), a self-managed VMware solution on AWS infrastructure.
• Customers can retain full control of their VMware environment while leveraging AWS scalability.
• Migration is simplified with VCF 5.2.1 compatibility, maintaining consistency with on-premises setups.
• AWS plans to expand Amazon EVS with more instance types, storage options, and licensing models.

This session provided valuable insights for enterprises looking to transition their VMware workloads to AWS, offering a clear path forward with greater choice and flexibility.