Private Cloud Platforms comparison & reviews

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Analysis expand Luciano Taranto
 		by Bhagyashri (Shri) Bhagvat Luciano Taranto
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General expand
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  • Fully Supported
  • Limitation
  • Not Supported
  • Information Only
Pros
  • + Full-Fledged IaaS
  • + Mature Vendor
  • + Enterprise Solution
  • + Mature on-prem IaaS solution
  • + High-fidelity implementation of AWS APIs
  • + Proven at scale over years of operation
  • + True Disconnected Offering of Cloud System
  • + IaaS and PaaS Solution
  • + Enterprise Solution
Cons
  • - Complex
  • - Little PaaS Capability
  • - Heavily Dependent on Underlying Hardware
  • - Recent acquisition concerns
  • - No administrative GUI
  • - Missing features beyond API compatability
  • - Disconnected Mode Only Billed as Capacity
  • - New to Market
  • - Closed Solution
  Content  
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Content Creator
Luciano Taranto
AppScale
Luciano Taranto
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Overview
VMware Cloud Foundation is an integrated software stack which bundles VMware components (see details)
Integrated software stack with AWS-compatible IaaS services.
Azure Stack is Microsofts extension of Azure that provides a way to deliver Azure services in an on-premises environment. (see details)
  Assessment  
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Maturity
VMware is a strong contender in the marketplace and VCF is comprised of components that have been tried and tested in the datacenter
Based on the Eucalyptus code-base that has been in production for over a decade, powering installations beyond 200K cores in size.
Azure Stack was made publicly available June of 2017 and builds off of Azure which has been available since February of 2010
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Disconnected Offering
VMware Cloud Foundation can be deployed on premises as a stack for a private cloud
Can be deployed in a disconnected environment
Azure Stack can be deployed in disconnected mode
Infrastructure Services expand
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  Compute  
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Virtual servers
VMware Cloud Foundation bundles vSphere which includes the ESXi virtualization platform for creating and running virtual machines and virtual appliances
Virtual servers are called cloud instances (equivalent to EC2 instances in AWS)
Azure Stack allows for the deployment of virtual servers called virtual machines
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VM Type - General Purpose
You can configure the virtual machine hardware to take advantage of the underlying hosts hardware
Virtual machine hardware can be configured to take full advantage of the underlying hosts hardware. A collection of instance types can be customized in terms of vCPUs, memory, and disk.
General purpose VMs are Basic A, Standard A, Av2-series, D-series, DS-series, Dv2-series, DSv2-series
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VM Type - Compute Optimized
You can configure the virtual machine hardware to take advantage of the underlying hosts hardware. For compute optimized instances, you would increase the CPU resources
Compute-optimized instance types can be customized by modifying the instance type
Computed optimized VMs are F-series, Fs-series, Fsv2-series
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VM Type - Memory Optimized
You can configure the virtual machine hardware to take advantage of the underlying hosts hardware. For memory optimized instances, you would increase the memory resources
Memory-optimized instance types can be customized by modifying the instance type
Memory optimized VMs are D-series, DS-series, Dv2-series, DSv2-series
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VM Type - Accelerated (GPU)
You can configure the virtual machine hardware to take advantage of the underlying hosts GPU hardware
GPU instance types can be customized through advanced configuration only. No official documentation.
There are no accelerated VM offerings with a GPU
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Metadata URL
There is no built-in way to access this functionality. (see details)
Metadata URL, featuring EC2-compatible information and thus compatible with cloud-init, is reachable from instances.
While Azure has an Instance Metadata service, this functionality is not currently supported on Azure Stack
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Rapid Provisioning
You can easily deploy VMs using a wizard, template, or cloning another VM
System components enable fast provisioning, particularly of EBS-backed instances.
You can easily and quickly deploy virtual machines using the Azure Stack console
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Resize existing VM
You can easily resize an existing VM by changing its virtual hardware after creation such as CPU and memory
EBS-backed instances can be resized after stopping by modifying InstanceType attribute via ModifyInstanceAttribute request (in CLI or Console).
This functionality is supported in Azure Stack as well
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Resource Management
Resources can be managed from either the vSphere Web Client or the vSphere Client
Resources can be managed from either the Console or CLI/API
The Azure Resource Manager provides a platform to manage all resources deployed within the Azure Stack
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Scalability
There is no vSphere functionality to easily scale up or down VMs from the console
AWS AutoScaling APIs are supported, with performance-based triggers for up- and down-scaling.
Azure Stack includes scale sets which allow for automatic scaling of instances based on load
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VM Imaging
You can clone a virtual machine to a template which can then be used to deploy other virtual machines later
Images (akin to AMIs and AKIs) can be created and shared with other cloud users. Existing instances can be saved into an image.
You can create and publish a custom marketplace item
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VM Import/Export
You can import and export virtual machines in the OVF and OVA formats
Instances can be imported using raw disk or VHD formats. Exports done manually at hypervisor level. No API support for the operation exists.
You can import and export a disk used by a VM. In addition, you may be able to import/export a VM state but this is not confirmed (see details)
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VM live migration
You can perform a live migration of a virtual machine without affecting availability, called a hot migration, using vMotion
VMs can be live-migrated using CLI / API. In the event of a host failure instances to not automatically restart.
Azure Stack supports live VM migration as a preventative measure to protect resources from failing hardware
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VM to host affinity
You can create VM to host affinity rules within a DRS cluster
Not supported. Can only be achieved by backend administration using instance migration.
This capability is not supported by Azure Stack
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VM to host anti-affinity
You can create VM to host anti-affinity rules within a DRS cluster
Not supported. Can only be achieved by backend administration using instance migration.
Azure Stack provides Availability Sets which replicate the VM across different hosts for high availability thus enforcing host anti-affinity
  Networking  
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Cloud virtual networking
VMware Cloud Foundation bundles NSX Data Center for vSphere which provides a platform programmatically managing software-defined virtual networks
Overlays a virtual network on top of your existing network. Supports EDGE (EC2 Classic) and VPCMIDO (AWS VPC) modes.
The Network Resource Provider delivers a series of Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) features
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Cross-premises connectivity
The VCF platform is integrated into the customer datacenter and provides cross-premises connectivity to other customer networks
Support for AWS VPN Gateway is available but only when using VPCMIDO network mode.
Cross-premises connectivity can be established in Azure Stacks which are deployed in the connected mode
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DNS hostname resolution
You can install NSX Edge as an Edge Services Gateway (ESG) between networks which will then allow you to configure external DNS servers. (see details)
DNS names for VM instances is supported automatically
Azure Stack supports DNS hostname resolution
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DNS zone management
No mention in documentation. Functionality would need to be built up by the end-user and then VMware components can take advantage of it
No mention in the documentation
Azure Stack supports the creation and management of DNS zones and records using both the console and the API
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IP reassignment
You can statically set an VMs IP address from vSphere as well as specify a network protocol which is a pool of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses that vCenter will assign to virtual machines
Elastic IP and Elastic Network Interface functionality enables flexible IP address assignment.
You can reassign an IP by modifying the virtual network interface or by deleting it and creating a new one (Experience)
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Load balancing
You can install NSX Edge as an Edge Services Gateway (ESG) and take advantage of the logical load balancer
Elastic Load Balancer is an included service.
The Azure Stack provides load balancing functionality
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Network Interfaces
Virtual machines can have a variety of different network adapters added and configured
Elastic Network Interface functionality allows attaching and detaching of virtual NICs to instances
You can create and modify network interfaces attached to virtual machines (Experience)
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Outbound Network Connectivity
You can connect virtual machines to the physical network
Can be configured to connect to external networks with both EDGE (EC2 Classic) and VPCMIDO (Amazon VPC) networking modes.
The Azure Stack is integrated into the customers datacenter and has outbound network connectivity to the customers border
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Public IP Address
You can connect virtual machines to the physical network
Public IP addresses can be assigned to instances either automatically or from a pool of Elastic IP addresses.
Azure Stack supports IPv4 public addresses
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SR-IOV support
There is a specific network adapter type (SR-IOV passthrough) designed to enable and support SR-IOV networking
Can be customized to use SR-IOV for instance networking by advanced configuration only. No official documentation.
No mention of this capability for Azure Stack
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VM Security Groups
Virtual Machines can be added to a security group which has a specific network security policy applied to it
Instances can be added to a security group which has a specific network security policy applied to it.
VM Security groups are provided as network security groups
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Virtual Network Peering
You can set up cross-vCenter deployments as well as implement VPNs to access corporate and other cloud networks securely
Ability to create a peering connection between two VPCs is supported.
Not supported as of 20190124
  Storage  
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Object storage
No mention in the documentation
Supports S3-compatible object storage using its Object Storage Gateway (OSG)
Azure Stack provides blob storage for object storage
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Block storage
vSphere provides a variety of different storage options and functionalities
Elastic Block Storage (EBS) provides block-level storage volumes that you can attach to instances.
Azure Stack supports page blobs which are the equivalent of block storage
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Shared file storage
VMWare provides NFS but not SMB storage solutions
Shared file storage is not supported.
Azure Stack does not provide a SMB or NFS solution
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Backup
VCF provides backup and restore capability of components
Procedures for backing up and restoring everything except root disks of instance-store (ephemeral) instances are documented.
Microsoft Azure Backup Server can be used to back up data within Azure Stack (see details)
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Local Data Protection
Virtual Volumes support replication capabilities for disaster recovery
Relies on replication features of underlying software and hardware (RAID and Ceph) for local data protection from hardware failures.
Local data is encrypted and replicated across nodes in case of hardware failure
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Remote Replication
Virtual Volumes support replication capabilities for disaster recovery
No special functionality for automatic remote replication are provided, but backup process can include transfer of backed up data offsite for disaster recovery.
The only replication option available is locally redundant storage
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Snapshots
Virtual volumes provide snapshot capability to preserve the state and data of a virtual machine at a given point in time
EBS snapshots are supported in both Web console and via CLI/API.
Snapshots are supported for blobs (limited to 1000 per blob) but not for page blobs
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Storage Architecture
VMware provides for a very flexible storage architechture
Deployed as customer configurable two-level storage system. Support for HCI not documented.
Azure Stack provides for either a hybrid or all-flash storage architechture
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Storage QoS
You can configure the vSAN cluster (shared storage pool) to be either hybrid or all-flash (see details)
Supports only a single storage class for both block and object storage.
Azure Stack supports standard and premium storage
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Storage Scalability
You can expand an existing vSAN cluster by adding hosts or devices to existing hosts without disrupting ongoing operations
The Storage Controller (SC) and Object Storage Gateway (OSG) are molular and enable storage capacity to be dynamically allocated independent of the system.
Azure Stack operators can increase the overall capacity of an existing scale unit by adding additional scale unit nodes
Platform Services expand
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  Compute  
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Kubernetes Orchestration
VMware Pivotal Container Service (PKS) provides an enterprise-grade Kubernetes solution which can be deployed on VMware Cloud Foundation
No support for Kubernetes orchestration is available.
Azure Stack has a preview capability to deploy a Kubernetes cluster but it is not supported in the disconnected scenario
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Serverless
This functionality is not offered by VCF but can be supported on top of VCF
No support for a serverless runtime is available.
App Service (available in PaaS offering) provides Azure Functions which executes event-driven serverless workloads
  Data  
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Relational database
Customer needs to build this functionality on top of the infrastructure
No support for DBaaS is available.
Relational databases are supported through the use of optional resource providers SQL Server and MySQL Server
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NoSQL—key/value storage
Customer needs to build this functionality on top of the infrastructure
No support for a NoSQL database is available.
Table storage is Microsofts NoSQL key/attribute store
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Caching
Customer needs to build this functionality on top of the infrastructure
No support for an in-memory cache service is available.
No mention of Azure Cache for Redis being available but can use Redis marketplace item
  Developer Tools  
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Message Queuing
Customer needs to build this functionality on top of the infrastructure
No support for message queuing is available.
Queue storage provides the capability for message queuing
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Pub/Sub Messaging
Customer needs to build this functionality on top of the infrastructure
No support for pub/sub messaging is available.
Azure Stack does not currently support either Service Bus nor Event Grid which provide the pub/sub messaging capability in Azure
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Web Applications
Customer needs to build this functionality on top of the infrastructure
No support for a PaaS-type service for hosting Web applications is available.
App Service is available on Azure Stack (additional PaaS offering) which provides web apps
  Analytics and IoT  
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Internet of Things
Customer needs to build this functionality on top of the infrastructure
No support for IoT services is available.
Not much documentation out there but there appears to be a private preview for IoT Hub on Azure Stack which is fairly recent
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Edge compute for IoT
Customer needs to build this functionality on top of the infrastructure
No support for service that deploys cloud intelligence onto Edge devices is available.
No solid documentation of this as a full capability but Azure Stack does support Azure Functions which is used for IoT Edge (see details)
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Streaming data
Customer needs to build this functionality on top of the infrastructure
No support for data streaming is available.
Event Hubs was announced at Ignite 2018 as on the roadmap for Azure Stack but as of yet it is not available
Management Tools expand
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  Interface  
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Console
In addition to console functionality such as vSphere, VCF includes SDDC Manager which provides a centralized user interface for configuration, provisioning, and lifecycle management of the stack
Web Console supports most of the cloud user functionality that is also accessible via CLI/API.
Azure Stack offers both an administration portal as well as a user (tenant) portal
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API
The bundled components of VCF (vSphere, VSAN, and NSX) all provide API interfaces
AWS-compatible API is at the core of the product, with extensive support of many IaaS-level services, powering both the CLI and the Web Console.
Azure Stack offers a REST API as well as programmatic access through PowerShell/CLI
  Auditing  
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Health / Performance / System Monitoring
vSphere provides a suite of health and performance monitoring tools for the infrastructure
Monitoring is available via the CloudWatch service, with metrics visible in the Web Console and available from the CLI.
Azure Stack offers monitoring services for compute including but not limited to host/guest metrics, performance counters, application, logs in addition to other sources
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Event Logging
VCF bundles vRealize Log Insight which covers infrastructure logs
Logs are available to the operations team but must be configured using at the OS-level using technologies such as syslog.
Logs are collected both within the Azure Stack as well as by the infrastructure components themselves
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Analytics
VCF bundles vRealize Log Insight which aggregates infrastructure and application logs in order to provide actional dashboards and sophisticated analysis
No support for analytics service is availalble.
Supported
  Automation  
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Automated Tasks
VCF bundles vRealize Automation which can be used to deploy service blueprints and external technologies through Orchestrator plugins to automate IT tasks
CloudFormation doman-specific language and service enables users to orchestrate cloud application deployment and resource management.
Azure Functions provides an event-drive programming model which allows for the automated execution of tasks in response to events
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Marketplace
While you can deploy VMs from templates, there is no central marketplace offerring third-party applications
No support for a marketplace of images is available.
Azure Stack supports a marketplace but it does not come preloaded with any images
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Marketplace Syndication
Since there is no marketplace, there is no syndication for those items
No support for a marketplace syndication is available.
A cloud operator has the ability to download a curated list of items (see details)
Security & Compliance expand
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  AAA  
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Authentication
Authentication can be implemented by integrating into the customers network and using their Active Directory instance
User management and resource access control is available through Access and Identity Management (IAM) service.
Azure Stack supports authentication through either Azure AD in connected scenarios or AD FS for disconnected scenarios
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Multi-Factor Authentication
vCenter SSO also allows for two-factor authentication methods
No support for MFA is available.
Multi-factor authentication can be configured in connected scenarios using Azure AD and disconnected scenarios using AD FS
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SSO / Integration
The Platform Services Controller provides functionality for Single Sign-On into vCenter services and integrates with Windows Active Directory as well as other AD/LDAP schemes
Support for LDAP/Active Directory integration (via periodic synchronizations) is supported.
Azure Stack can integrate with AD FS for user authentication and SSO
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Access Control
Access control can be implemented by integrating into the customers network and using their Active Directory instance
Sophisticated access control policies are supported by the Identity and Access Management (IAM) service.
Access control is implemented using roles - owner, contributor, and reader
  CIA  
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Encryption (Data at Rest)
Provides for storage-level encryption for data at rest
System-wide at-rest encryption can be configured in the deployment.
All Azure Stack infrastructure and tenant data is encrypted at rest using BitLocker
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Encryption (Data in Transit)
Provides network-level micro-segmentation, distributed firewalls, and VPN capability among others
Support for HTTPS endpoints can be manually configured on the UFS nodes
Data in transit is encrypted both at the infrastructure level and for external endpoints using TLS 1.2
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Key / Secret Management
Customer needs to build this functionality on top of the infrastructure
Uses AWS-style access keys and secret keys for access to resources.
Keys and secrets are managed using Key Vault
  Regulatory  
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Multi-Tenancy
You can use VMware vCloud Director to support multi-tenancy on the VCF platform
User identities are organized into accounts and are the equivalent to the AWS IAM account alias.
Support for multi-tenancy is only available in connected scenarios deployed using Azure AD
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Regulatory Compliance (PII, PHI, PCI-DSS, RMF, NIST SP 800-53 ,etc)
VMware components meet specific 800-53 requirements
Can be manually hardened using avaiable security technical implementation guides for underlying OS only
Microsoft provides guidance for controls they implement to achieve various regulatory standards including PCI-DSS, FedRAMP High, NIST SP 800-53, etc

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