For many long-standing VMware customers, Azure Local represents a promising yet unfamiliar frontier. Navigating the Azure ecosystem for the first time can pose research and comparison challenges, especially when evaluating Azure Local as a strategic replacement.
The table below bridges that gap by mapping VMware components to their Azure Local counterparts.
If you have questions or would like a conversation about moving from VMware to Azure Local, please contact us.
| Feature | VMware vSphere | Microsoft Azure Local |
| Platform | vSphere (Cloud Foundation) is a hybrid cloud platform that integrates vSphere, vSAN, NSX, and SDDC Manager to deliver a unified, software-defined data center for running on-premises and hybrid applications across private and public clouds. | Azure Local (previously known as Azure Stack HCI) is a hybrid cloud solution that enables virtualized Windows and Linux workloads to run on-premises with seamless integration to Azure cloud services. It brings public cloud control and consistency to local environments, supporting VMs, containers, VDI, and Azure services. Its native, seamless integration with Azure cloud is what sets Azure Local apart from VMware, which does not have a native cloud solution. Azure Local utilizes Azure Arc, a bridge that simplifies governance and management by delivering a consistent multi-cloud and on-premises management platform. It also manages virtual machines, Kubernetes clusters, and databases as if they are running in Azure. |
| Licensing | VMware vSphere is now primarily available through subscription-based licensing, with a shift away from perpetual licenses for new deployments. Pricing is generally based on the number of CPU cores in your environment, with a minimum core count required per socket or host. Subscription costs can vary based on the chosen edition (e.g., Standard, Foundation, Cloud Foundation) and contract length (1, 3, or 5 years). | Azure Local pricing is based on a monthly fee per physical core on your on-premises servers. The base fee is $10 per physical core and there’s no minimum core requirement) or annual commitment. If you have Windows Server Datacenter licenses with Software Assurance, you can leverage the Azure Hybrid Benefit to waive the host service fee. |
| Hypervisor | ESXi is a type-1 hypervisor that runs directly on hardware. It supports a wide variety of operating systems and is managed in vCenter with various management tools such as vCenter Server, Software-Defined Data Center manager (SDDC), NSX Manager, and VMware Aria Automation. | Hyper-V is a type-1 hypervisor that runs directly on hardware. It’s used in Azure Local, Windows and Windows Server to virtualize Windows and Linux operating systems, and is included at no extra cost. You can use Windows Admin Center, PowerShell, and Azure portal to manage Hyper-V on-premises. Hyper-V’s integration with Azure portal provides a streamlined and simplified way to manage hybrid cloud environments. |
| Storage architecture | Datastores act as vSphere’s virtual storage for virtual machines, providing different options like VMFS (a clustered file system for VMs), NFS (network-attached storage), vSAN (shared storage from local disks), and vVols (per-VM storage management with arrays). | Azure Local uses Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) to pool local disks across cluster nodes into a single storage fabric. It leverages features like caching, storage tiering, and resiliency to deliver high-performance, scalable, and fault-tolerant storage. S2D supports two and three-way mirroring, as well as rack aware cluster, which provides fault isolation and workload placement across racks. |
| Management | vCenter Server provides centralized management of VMware environments, including vSphere hosts and virtual machines. | Azure Local can be managed using several tools, primarily through the Azure portal and also with familiar tools like Windows Admin Center and PowerShell. Azure portal provides a unified view for monitoring and managing individual Azure Local instances and deployments. It’s web-based and enables oversight of clusters, resource provisioning, and integration with Azure services, while providing a seamless view of connected Azure resources for hybrid management. Windows Admin Center, when used within the Azure portal, enables managing various aspects of your local Azure clusters, including servers, storage, and virtual machines. It’s a locally deployed, browser-based management tool that can be used as a backup if the Azure Portal is unavailable. PowerShell is also available for scripting and more advanced management tasks |
| Monitoring | vSphere can be monitored using vCenter Server and ESXTOP. These tools offer features for monitoring host and virtual machine performance, resource utilization, and overall infrastructure health. vCenter Server provides access to performance charts and the ability to monitor the health and status of connected ESXi hosts and VMs. ESXTOP is a command-line tool for real-time monitoring of resource usage on ESXi hosts, including CPU, memory, disk, and network activity. | Azure Local leverages several tools for monitoring its health and performance. Azure Monitor (with Log Analytics) provides insights into the performance and health of your cloud and on-premises resources. It collects and analyzes data from various sources, including Azure resources, other clouds, and on-premises environments, enabling you to detect, diagnose, and resolve issues proactively. Azure Monitor Insights provides a comprehensive view into the health and performance of your Azure resources and applications. It offers a unified platform for collecting, analyzing, and acting on telemetry data, enabling you to detect, diagnose, and resolve issues effectively. Windows Admin Center and PowerShell for broader management tasks, including managing servers, clusters, and virtual machines, simplifying tasks like monitoring, updating, and troubleshooting. Azure Network Watcher for monitoring network-related aspects. |
| Multi-cloud and edge management and support | SDDC Manager provides a unified view and control over vSphere infrastructure resources. It automates and orchestrates the deployment, configuration, and lifecycle management of various VMware components, including vCenter Server, NSX, ESXi, and VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle. | Azure Arc provides a single pane of glass for managing resources across on-premises, multi-cloud, and edge environments, simplifying operations and reducing complexity. Not only does it help you manage your on-premises servers, Kubernetes clusters, and databases, but it also allows you to connect to and manage resources in other public clouds like AWS or Google Cloud, projecting them into Azure as if they were native resources. |
| VM migration | VMware vMotion allows live migration of VMs between ESXi hosts with no downtime, supporting high availability (HA) and dynamic resource management (DRS). | Hyper-V Live Migration moves running VMs between hosts with no downtime, supporting maintenance or load balancing. Built on Windows Failover Clustering, it ensures high availability and auto-migrates workloads for balance or recovery, using shared storage. |
| Migration from VMware to Azure Local | VMware vCenter Converter can be used to migrate VMs from Hyper-V to VMware but not from VMware to Hyper-V. | Azure Migrate is a free tool that can be used to migrate on-premises VMware VMs to Azure Local. It can be also used to migrate on-premises servers, apps, and data to Azure cloud. Veeam Backup & Replication (using the Instant VM Recovery feature) and Commvault Backup & Recovery can also be used to migrate from VMware to Azure Local. |
| Software & hardware updating | Software updates are performed via VMware SDDC Manager. It can update firmware, BIOS, and drivers for hardware, but only when the hardware is part of the VMware vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) framework and is certified via a Hardware Support Manager (HSM) plugin. | Azure Lifecycle Manager provides a single dashboard to update Azure Local. It leverages Azure Update Manager to manage and apply updates, including solution builder extension (SBE) updates, to Azure Local instances. Azure Update Manager is the primary tool for managing updates on Azure Local. It provides a centralized view of all Azure Local instances across your infrastructure, allowing you to monitor, manage, and apply updates. Combined with SBE, it can provide 1-click updates for your entire environment. Solution Builder Extension (SBE) integrates with Azure Update Manager to manage hardware updates, including software, drivers, firmware and BIOS updates. These updates, validated by Microsoft and DataON, can be discovered and applied through Azure Lifecycle Manager. They can be part of a combined solution update or installed as standalone updates. You can also perform some software updates using PowerShell. |
| Backup & recovery | VMware does not offer a native backup solution. Some VMware customers use third party solutions from Veeam, Commvault, and Rubrik. | Microsoft offers native backup solutions with Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery. Azure Backup is designed to protect against data loss from accidental deletion or corruption. Azure Site Recovery focuses on disaster recovery, enabling replication and failover to minimize downtime during outages. Third party solutions are available from Veeam, Commvault, and Rubrik. |
| Virtual desktop infrastructure | VMware does not have a native VDI solution but two third party solutions are commonly used with vSphere. Omnissa Horizon Universal runs on vSphere and Hyper-V. It was previously a VMware solution but was sold to Omnissa in November 2023. Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktop can be deployed on-premises with VMware vSphere, Azure Local, and Windows Server. | Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) on Azure Local is a VDI solution that is natively integrated with Azure Local. It allows you to run AVD session hosts on-premises, combining the benefits of AVD with the control of on-premises deployments. While the management plane (including web access, gateway, and REST API) is hosted in Azure (connectivity to Azure is required), the session hosts, Active Directory, and other infrastructure elements reside on your local hardware. This hybrid approach provides a way to address latency-sensitive workloads and data sovereignty concerns. Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktop can also be deployed on-premises on Azure Local. |
| Software-defined networking | NSX-T Data Center is VMware’s network virtualization platform, and is the successor to NSX for vSphere (NSX-V). It’s designed to be more scalable and support multiple hypervisors, bare-metal servers, and container environments, unlike NSX-V which was tightly integrated with vSphere. | Included with Azure Local is Software Defined Networking (SDN) enabled by Azure Arc. It supports virtual switches, network security groups, load balancing, and gateways. It can be managed in two ways: with Azure Arc or on-premises tools. With SDN enabled by Azure Arc, the networking controller integrates with the Azure Arc control plane, so you can manage both existing and new logical networks. SDN can also be managed with on-premises tools like Windows Admin Center or SDN Express scripts. |
| Kubernetes | VMware vSphere leverages Kubernetes through vSphere with Tanzu, which integrates Kubernetes as a core component of the vSphere platform. It’s managed by vSphere Supervisor. | Azure Kubernettes Service (AKS) for Azure Local is a hybrid deployment model included with Azure Local at no additional cost. It enables organizations to run Kubernetes clusters on-premises, while managing them through the Azure portal via Azure Arc. It provides a consistent experience with AKS in the public cloud, allowing developers and IT admins to use familiar tools such as Azure CLI, ARM templates, and Microsoft Entra ID for secure access and policy enforcement. By integrating components like the Arc Resource Bridge, Custom Locations, and Kubernetes Extensions, AKS for Azure Local delivers a unified, secure, and scalable Kubernetes environment tailored for data locality, compliance, and edge computing requirements. |
| Automation and orchestration | VMware Aria Operations (formerly vRealize Operations) and VMware Aria Automation Orchestrator (formerly vRealize Orchestrator) are key components of the VMware Aria Suite used for vSphere automation and orchestration. Aria Automation Orchestrator focuses on automating tasks and workflows, while Aria Operations focuses on monitoring, performance management, and troubleshooting. Some customers use Terraform for vSphere automation and orchestration. | Azure Local leverages Azure services and features such as Azure Automation, Azure Logic Apps, and Power Automate to automate and manage tasks across on-premises and hybrid environments. Azure Arc plays a crucial role in extending Azure management capabilities to local deployments. Azure Automation automates tasks and manages resources both within Azure and on-premises or in other environments through Hybrid Runbook Workers and Azure Arc, which extend Azure’s management capabilities beyond the traditional cloud environment. Azure Logic Apps and Power Automate are workflow automation services that allow users to integrate applications, data, and systems. They both offer visual designers and a wide array of connectors to build workflows without extensive coding. Logic Apps is designed for complex integration scenarios, targeting IT professionals and developers, while Power Automate is geared towards business users and makers within Office 365 for automating simpler tasks. Terraform can also be used for Azure Local automation and orchestration. |