Technical Guide: Migrating from VMware to Zadara Edge Cloud; Seamless, Flexible, Cost-Efficient

Are rising VMware licensing costs and operational complexities weighing down your business? You’re not alone. Many service providers are actively seeking powerful, flexible, and more economical alternatives. Enter Zadara Edge Cloud, a compelling, fully managed, KVM-based infrastructure designed to provide a smooth, low-risk pathway away from VMware.

This guide will walk you through the technical aspects of migrating to Zadara Edge Cloud, highlighting how you can achieve a truly seamless transition.

Migrating from VMware Architecture Overview 

Zadara understands that “rip and replace” isn’t feasible for most organizations. That’s why their platform supports a phased migration approach, allowing you to move at your own pace and minimize disruption.

Scenario 1: Hybrid Co-existence (Initial Phase)

Think of this as dipping your toes in the water.

  1. Deploy Zadara Edge Cloud on the same network layer as your existing VMware infrastructure. This ensures seamless communication between the two environments.
  2. Start by running non-critical workloads on Zadara. This could include test/development environments, backup replicas or file services.
  3. Maintain VMware for your tightly coupled or legacy VMs in the initial stages. This allows you to gain familiarity with Zadara without impacting your core operations.
Scenario 2: Gradual Live Migration

Ready to move more production workloads? This phase focuses on intelligent, controlled transitions.

  1. Utilize live migration tools such as virt-v2v, Veeam, or even custom rsync-based scripts to move virtual machines.
  2. Ensure compatible OS templates. Zadara supports most major guest operating systems, making conversion straightforward.
  3. Begin with Linux-based workloads as they generally offer smoother conversions. Windows and database stacks can follow in later phases once you’re comfortable with the process.
Scenario 3: Full Replacement
  1. Retire VMware clusters as Zadara nodes progressively absorb your production workloads.
  2. Leverage Zadara’s API-driven automation and its native snapshotting and replication tools for efficient management and data protection.
  3. Seamlessly integrate with public cloud or disaster recovery (DR) sites like AWS or Azure through Zadara’s robust hybrid capabilities, ensuring business continuity and flexibility.

Key Technical Enablers 

Feature VMware Zadara
Hypervisor ESXi KVM (fully managed)
Management vCenter (self-managed) Zadara Self-service portal (fully managed)
Billing CAPEX (upfront license + support) OPEX (pay-as-you-go)
DR/Backup Add-ons Built-in replication/snapshot
Location On-prem or cloud On-prem, colocation, or cloud
  • Security & Compliance
  • Fully isolated tenants per customer
  • Support for secure multi-tenancy
  • Optional integration with SSO/LDAP
  • Compliance: ISO, GDPR-ready

Final Thoughts

The beauty of migrating to Zadara Edge Cloud lies in its flexibility. You’re not forced into a disruptive “rip and replace” scenario. Instead, you can migrate on your terms, workload by workload, ensuring a controlled and confident transition.

Whether you’re a Managed Service Provider (MSP), a telco, or a large enterprise, Zadara offers a truly enterprise-grade cloud alternative. You get the power and capabilities you need, without the daunting operational overhead and financial burden often associated with VMware.

Ready to explore a more flexible, cost-efficient future for your infrastructure?

Picture of Matt Edmond

Matt Edmond

Field CTO for Zadara Japan, APAC With over five years of experience at the company. He brings a wealth of expertise in cloud solutions and infrastructure, previously serving as a Solution Architect for Zadara in Tokyo. Matthew has held several senior roles, including Director of Engineering & Product Management at Alphanote and Senior Product Manager at Rakuten, where he led agile product development and managed key financial and eCommerce products. With a background in SaaS and cloud services, Matthew has consistently driven innovation in IT infrastructure and product management across diverse industries.

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