In lots of customer discussions, the one thing that comes out often - How does Microsoft Virtualization stcak ( Hyper-V & System Center 2012 R2) compares with VMWare virtulization stack (vSphere 5.5 Enterprise Plus + vCenter Server 5.5). I have tried focus on real-world perspective based on my experience implementing both solutions in the field throughout my career. In this article, I’ll provide a summarized comparison of the feature sets provided by each of these latest releases using the currently available public information from both Microsoft and VMware as of this article’s publication date for additional reference.

How to compare?

Rather than simply comparing feature-by-feature using just simple check-marks in each category, I’ll try to provide as much detail as possible for you to intelligently compare each area. As I’m sure you’ve heard before, sometimes the “devil is in the details”.

For each comparison area, I’ll rate the related capabilities with the following color coded rankings:

• Supported – Fully supported without any additional products or licenses
• Limited Support – Significant limitations when using related feature, or limitations in comparison to the competing solution represented
• Not Supported – Not supported at all or without the addition of other product licensing costs

In this article, I’ve organized the comparison into the following sections:

• Licensing
• Virtualization Scalability
• VM Portability, High Availability and Disaster Recovery
• Storage
• Networking
• Guest Operating Systems

Are you keeping score at home?

Of course, not all of the features and capabilities presented in the summary below may be important to you. As you review the comparison summary of each section, just make a note of the particular features that you're likely to use in your environment. When you're done, tally up the Green ratings in each column to determine which platform achieves a better score in meeting the needs of your organization.

Here we go…