VMware, a popular virtualization software, has made a significant impact on Michigan Tech students, the MTU IT department, and the College of Computing. VMware allows a computer to be emulated within another. This ‘virtual machine’ is allocated amounts of its host computer’s storage, memory, and CPU power, allowing for a contained environment for students to experiment in. A little less than two years ago, VMware was bought out by Broadcom, which resulted in a drastic rise in price of the previously free VMware systems, putting a strain on Michigan Tech’s budget.
Tim Van Wagner, an associate teaching professor for MTU’s College of Computing, said, “One year of licensing for our college computing cluster costs $50,000.” MTU covers this cost so that students don’t have to pay for it, but if prices continue to increase, the university may be forced to seek out other resources to use.
Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware has also had a negative impact on Michigan Tech’s IT department. “The IT department uses VMware to run servers with high flexibility, allowing them to spin up new servers alongside old ones,” said Van Wagner.
Given how entrenched VMware is within MTU, seeking different options to ultimately avoid steep licensing costs could prove to be a challenge. Despite its high cost, VMware remains a strong piece of technology, and switching over would create an additional learning curve for faculty and students alike. Alternative software may simply not be worth the effort a changeover would require.
With the loss of this powerful and free technology, there is a lot of innovation happening within the virtualization community. With time, another alternative to VMware might emerge, but until then, the issue persists.
