--- title: "VMware Alternatives: What Changes on Your Cisco Network" description: Weighing VMware alternatives after Broadcom? See how Nutanix AHV, Hyper-V and others change your Cisco data centre network, and how to plan the move. --- [Blog](https://blog.iptel.com.au) # [VMware Alternatives: What Changes on Your Cisco Network](https://blog.iptel.com.au/vmware-alternatives-cisco-network) Written by [Mark McSherry](https://blog.iptel.com.au/author/mark-mcsherry) | 19 October 2026, 12:41:03 am Z Broadcom's takeover of VMware has turned a routine licence renewal into a board-level conversation. Most of the debate is about hypervisors and cost. The network usually comes up later, and that's where projects stall. In this blog, we'll look at the main VMware alternatives, what each one changes on your Cisco network, and how to plan a move that doesn't surprise your network team. ## VMware Licensing: Why Are Organisations Looking Elsewhere? Since Broadcom bought VMware, perpetual licences have ended and VMware is sold as subscription bundles, such as VMware Cloud Foundation and vSphere Foundation, licensed per CPU core. Many organisations have seen renewal costs rise sharply, so they're testing whether another hypervisor would serve them better. The terms have also moved around. In April 2025, Broadcom announced a 72-core minimum purchase, then reverted to 16 cores within weeks after a backlash. That uncertainty is a cost in its own right, and it's why boards are asking for a plan B. That doesn't mean everyone should leave. For some organisations, right-sizing to a smaller VMware bundle is the cheapest and least risky option. The point is to make the decision deliberately, with the full cost of change in view, including the network. Related reading - [Software Defined Networking: Explained](https://blog.iptel.com.au/software-defined-networking) - [Backup Assure for Key Cisco Platforms](https://blog.iptel.com.au/backup-assure-for-key-cisco-platforms) ## Hypervisor Options: What Are the Main VMware Alternatives? The main VMware alternatives for enterprise [virtualisation](https://iptel.com.au/technologies/virtualisation) are Nutanix AHV, Microsoft Hyper-V (including Azure Local), Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization and, for smaller sites, Proxmox VE. Each runs on Cisco UCS servers, but they differ in management tools, storage model and how they connect to the network. **Nutanix AHV** is the most common choice we see in larger environments. It runs on Cisco UCS through Cisco Compute Hyperconverged with Nutanix, managed from Cisco Intersight and Nutanix Prism. If you'd rather keep an external array, FlashStack with Nutanix pairs AHV with Everpure FlashArray. **Microsoft Hyper-V** suits Windows-heavy organisations that already hold the licences, and Azure Local extends it into a hybrid model with Azure. **Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization** runs virtual machines alongside containers, which appeals to teams already moving to Kubernetes. **Proxmox VE** is a capable open-source option for branch sites and smaller clusters. Related reading - [The Network as Code: Network Programmability](https://blog.iptel.com.au/the-network-as-code) - [ThousandEyes](https://blog.iptel.com.au/thousandeyes) ## Network Impact: What Changes When the Hypervisor Changes? Your Cisco switches barely change. What changes is the virtual switching inside each host and the services that depended on VMware. Port groups, distributed switches, NIC teaming and any NSX segments or firewall rules must be rebuilt in the new platform, and they must match the physical switch ports exactly. The diagram below shows what moves when you change hypervisor. Link teaming is the classic trap. Nutanix AHV uses Open vSwitch bonds, which default to active-backup and support LACP. Hyper-V's Switch Embedded Teaming doesn't support LACP at all, so a port channel configured for the old VMware hosts can stop traffic dead. The switch side has to match whatever the new hosts do. Security is the other big one. If you use NSX for microsegmentation, those rules don't come with you. They need a new home, such as Nutanix Flow or Cisco's own segmentation tools, before the first workload moves. **Pro-Tip:** Before you migrate anything, export the VLANs, MTU settings and teaming policy from every vSphere distributed switch, and compare them with the Nexus port configurations. In our experience, that one spreadsheet prevents most of the cutover-night surprises. Related reading - [Cisco SD Access: Micro Segmentation Explained](https://blog.iptel.com.au/blog/cisco-sd-access-micro-segmentation-explained) - [Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) Introduction](https://blog.iptel.com.au/zero-trust-architecture) ## Data Centre Fabric: Do You Need to Change Your Nexus Design? Usually not, but a hypervisor change is a good moment to review it. Hyperconverged platforms such as Nutanix send storage replication traffic between hosts, so east-west traffic grows. That needs non-blocking 25 or 100 GbE between hosts, with redundant paths through a Nexus vPC pair or a VXLAN EVPN fabric. If you keep an external array instead, the storage network stays much as it is. FlashStack with Nutanix, for example, connects Everpure FlashArray over NVMe/TCP, so the storage VLANs, MTU and switch redundancy carry straight across. We explain that design in [What Is FlashStack?](https://blog.iptel.com.au/what-is-flashstack-everpure-cisco). Either way, check that your switch software and optics are supported for the speeds the new hosts need. Older 10 GbE access ports are often the hidden bottleneck. Related reading - [What Is FlashStack? Everpure (Pure Storage) and Cisco](https://blog.iptel.com.au/what-is-flashstack-everpure-cisco) - [Copper vs Fibre](https://blog.iptel.com.au/copper-vs-fibre) ## Migration Planning: How Do You Move Without Breaking Things? Plan the migration in waves, not as one big bang. Start with an inventory of workloads and their dependencies, build a pilot cluster, prove the network and storage design with real traffic, then move workloads in small groups with a tested rollback for each. Measure application performance before you start, so you can prove nothing got worse afterwards. Tools such as ThousandEyes and our Highlight monitoring platform give you that baseline, and they're far more convincing than "it feels slower". Back up the network as well as the virtual machines. The Nexus, fabric interconnect and firewall configurations change during a migration, and a known-good copy makes rollback quick. Finally, keep the old and new platforms running side by side for a while. Hypervisor migrations rarely fail on the technology. They fail on the one application nobody knew was talking to a server in the other room. Related reading - [ThousandEyes](https://blog.iptel.com.au/thousandeyes) - [Building AI Into Our Managed Services With Highlight](https://blog.iptel.com.au/building-ai-into-our-managed-services) ## VMware Alternatives: FAQs ### What Are the Best VMware Alternatives? The main VMware alternatives for enterprise virtualisation are Nutanix AHV, Microsoft Hyper-V and Azure Local, Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, and Proxmox VE for smaller sites. The best fit depends on your workloads, skills, storage and existing licences. ### Will Changing Hypervisor Affect My Cisco Network? The Cisco switches themselves rarely change, but the host-facing configuration does. VLAN trunks, MTU and link aggregation must match the new hypervisor's virtual switching, and any NSX security rules need rebuilding elsewhere. ### Can I Keep My Existing Storage? Often, yes. Nutanix AHV can use external Everpure FlashArray storage through FlashStack with Nutanix, and Hyper-V and other platforms support existing SAN and NAS storage. Check the vendor compatibility lists first. ### Should We Stay on VMware? Sometimes staying is the right call. If migration costs, skills or application support outweigh the licence savings, right-sizing your VMware subscription may be cheaper. Compare the full cost of change, including the network. ## VMware Alternatives: Summary Moving away from VMware is a business decision first and a technical one second, but the network decides how smoothly it goes. Your Cisco switches can stay. The virtual switching, link teaming, MTU and security rules all need rebuilding to match the new hypervisor, and a little planning there saves a lot of late nights. ### Need Help With Your VMware Migration? We design and support [virtualisation platforms](https://iptel.com.au/technologies/virtualisation) on Cisco infrastructure, from hypervisor selection to network design and migration. Our [Cloud & AI Assessment](https://score.iptel.com.au/cloud-ai-assessment) is a good place to start. If that's useful, [get in touch with the IPTel team](https://iptel.com.au/contact-us) or email [sales@iptel.com.au](mailto:sales@iptel.com.au). 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