VMware Cloud on AWS
Running VMware environments on AWS infrastructure: what VMware Cloud on AWS is, its availability through Broadcom since April 2024, Amazon EVS as AWS's current VMware option, and how they compare with migrating to EC2.
4 min read · Last reviewed · SAA-C03
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What it is
VMware Cloud on AWS is a managed service that combines AWS infrastructure with VMware's software-defined data center (SDDC) software, the same virtualization, networking, and management stack that many companies run On-premisesIn data centers or offices that you run yourself, rather than in the cloud. Hybrid architectures connect on-premises systems to AWS, for example through AWS Direct Connect or a VPN.Glossary entry. It lets organizations move VMware workloads to the cloud and run them with the VMware tools and skills they already have, without converting their VM (Virtual machine)A software computer that runs its own operating system on shared physical hardware, kept apart from other VMs by a hypervisor. An EC2 instance is a VM, except bare metal instances.Glossary entry to EC2.
On the exam, it is the answer when a company running VMware vSphere on premises wants to move to AWS, or extend into AWS, quickly and without re-platforming its virtual machines or retraining its staff.
Availability today
The service has changed hands, and questions written before 2024 may not reflect it:
- As of April 30, 2024, AWS and its channel partners no longer resell VMware Cloud on AWS. New subscriptions, add-ons, and renewals are not available through AWS.
- The service remains available through Broadcom, which owns VMware, directly or through Broadcom resellers. Existing customers who bought through AWS keep being billed by AWS until their term ends.
- For new VMware deployments, AWS now offers Amazon Elastic VMware Service (Amazon EVS).
Amazon EVS
Amazon EVS deploys and runs VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) directly on EC2 bare metal instances in your own VPC.
- You bring your own VCF license, bought from Broadcom; you can't buy VCF licenses through AWS.
- It is self-managed: you install, upgrade, and patch the VCF stack and get root access to vSphere and NSX, while AWS handles the bare metal hosts, firmware, networking, and VPC connectivity. You can also have an AWS Partner run it for you.
- You pay hourly for the EC2 bare metal instances and the EVS control plane, with On-Demand or 1- and 3-year terms.
- Because it runs in your VPC, workloads can use other AWS services directly.
Choosing a path for VMware workloads
| If the requirement is | Choose |
|---|---|
| Move VMware VMs to AWS quickly, keep VMware tools and operations, with a managed SDDC (existing or Broadcom-sold subscriptions) | VMware Cloud on AWS |
| Run VMware Cloud Foundation in your own VPC with full control, using your own license | Amazon EVS |
| Retire VMware and run the servers as EC2 instances | AWS Application Migration Service, now AWS Transform MGN (rehost to EC2) |
| Keep VMware on premises but add AWS infrastructure locally | AWS Outposts |
| Modernize to managed services, such as containers, managed databases, or serverless | ECS or EKS, RDS, Lambda, and other AWS services |
Security, resilience, performance, and cost
Security
- Responsibility is shared: the infrastructure and the SDDC software are managed for you, while you remain responsible for your virtual machines, their operating systems and data, and who can access them.
- With Amazon EVS you manage the VMware stack yourself, including patching it, so your share of the responsibility is larger.
Resilience and performance
- Workloads keep the VMware features you already use for availability, and gain access to AWS infrastructure and services in the same AWS RegionA separate geographic area where AWS runs its services, such as us-east-1 in Northern Virginia, made up of several Availability Zones. Most resources live in one Region; you choose Regions for latency, data residency, and the services you need.Glossary entry.
- Plan connectivity to the on-premises data center, for example with AWS Direct Connect, for migration and hybrid operation.
Cost
- VMware Cloud on AWS is now bought from Broadcom; Amazon EVS is billed by AWS for the instances and control plane, plus your own VCF license from Broadcom.
- Compare both with rehosting to EC2, which removes VMware licensing costs but changes how you operate the servers.
Monitoring
- Operations continue to use VMware's own management tools; resources in AWS are monitored with Amazon CloudWatch and AWS CloudTrail as usual.
Reverse mindmap: when the question points here
- Yes, when the question says
- Migrate vSphere VMs quickly without converting them leads to VMware Cloud on AWS
- Keep VMware tools and skills after moving to AWS leads to VMware Cloud on AWS
- Extend the VMware data center into AWS leads to VMware Cloud on AWS
- Know what changed
- Buy or renew it today leads to Through Broadcom, not AWS
- AWS-native VMware option in your own VPC leads to Amazon EVS
- Bring your own VCF license leads to Amazon EVS
- No, when the question says
- Rehost servers onto EC2 instances leads to AWS Application Migration Service
- AWS infrastructure in our own data center leads to AWS Outposts
- Modernize away from VMware leads to Containers, managed databases, or serverless
Key takeaways
- VMware Cloud on AWS runs VMware's SDDC software on AWS infrastructure, so VMware workloads move without conversion.
- Since April 30, 2024, AWS no longer resells it; it is available through Broadcom.
- Amazon EVS is AWS's current way to run VMware Cloud Foundation, self-managed in your VPC on EC2 bare metal, with your own license.
- For leaving VMware altogether, rehost to EC2 with AWS Application Migration Service (now named AWS Transform MGN), or modernize.