Broadcom did not respond to Ars Technica's request to comment for this article.
Compatibility problems
Migrating VMware has not only resulted in delayed projects for the Indiana School District; It also brought complications for his HCI hardware. The IT director of the district told Ars that Dell will not offer long-term support for the hardware if it does not perform VMware. This despite the fact that Dell reportedly praised a “10-year lifetime” on the devices when the district bought for the first time in 2019, according to the IT professional.
“In fact, they keep our service contract hostage if we don't buy VMware,” the IT director told Ars.
The IT team tries to reuse the hardware without Dell support, and noted that the district had invested $ 250,000 in the system for more than six years.
“It has had to go back to the drawing table for the next three to four years, in essence,” said the IT leader.
The IT director of Indiana said that Dell suggested that the district could buy a completely new stack of serverheardware with new support, but budget limits, especially in the coming years, make this unreasonable.
“New IT balloons very quickly, and [Dell workers] Doesn't really seem to understand that I can't only spend that amount randomly, “said the director.
The Indiana district now also uses the non -supported hardware.
“We are currently flying blindly,” said the IT director.
Ars started contact with Dell Technologies about the situation of the school district and the impact that higher VMware prices have on organizations that have familiarized Dell technology that is linked to VMware. A spokesperson shared the following statement:
Dell Technologies continues to support all VXRail customers with active support agreements. VxRail continues to deliver value worldwide for thousands of organizations and we work closely with customers to ensure that they can maximize their investment. Dell has a long history of offering a choice via a wide portfolio of technology partners and solutions, so that organizations can select the path that best fits their strategy, infrastructure needs and IT goals in the long term.
In Idaho, VMware was part of Itaho Falls School District 91's IT Setup since at least 2008. The school district operated around 80 VMs that work on four ESXI -Gastheren, all centrally managed via VCenter. The VMs organized mission-critical systems, including the student information system, important databases and other applications that directly support education and learning, to Donovan Gregory, the IT SYNET manager of the district, Ars said.
