Another inspiring AWS re:Invent is in the books, and there’s a lot to be optimistic about for the VMware Public Cloud space in 2025—specifically Amazon Elastic VMware Service (EVS).
Currently in preview, EVS allows users to run VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) on EC2 bare metal dedicated hosts. EVS will run directly from within your AWS account. This means more flexibility and control, as EVS can be deployed in any new or existing VPC within your account.
What You Can Expect with Amazon EVS
- Instance Availability: At launch, the i4i.metal instance will be the first instance available at General Availability (GA). Additional instances will follow soon, with the goal of eventually having all x86 metal instances that support VMware available to use with EVS, providing flexibility for different workload requirements. Initial availability will be limited to select AWS regions, but expansion to most, if not all, AWS regions is a priority. AWS is looking for input on key region preferences, so share feedback with Converge or AWS directly. Pricing and the official GA date are yet to be announced.
- Consolidated Architecture: EVS will leverage VCF’s consolidated architecture initially where management and user workload domains run together in the same cluster. VCF requires a minimum of four nodes in the management domain so this will be the entry point for EVS as well.
- Administrative Control: After EVS has finished deploying, you’ll have a fully functional VCF (5.2.1 at GA) environment at your fingertips with a lot of flexibility and control over what you install (think VIBs) or how you want to manage the environment, similar to the level of control and choice with your on-prem VMware environments.
- Flexible Licensing Options: AWS will have on-demand, one-year, and three-year consumption models. At GA, EVS will launch with Bring Your Own License (BYOL) for VCF subscriptions only, with future plans for a VCF license included option providing you with greater flexibility.
- Connectivity with On-Premises Environments: AWS will leverage the Transit Gateway (TGW) to connect EVS to your on-premises environment via VPN or Direct Connect.
- Storage Options: EVS will leverage vSAN for the Principal storage, but AWS plans to support external supplemental storage options, further widening its capabilities.
How Converge Managed Services Can Help
EVS’s operational model falls on the operational scale somewhere between a self-managed, on-prem VMware environment and the VMC on AWS fully managed service. AWS will still manage the physical infrastructure of EVS and will also come with automated provision capabilities for the VCF bring-up process with full administrative access. AWS will be providing overall support of the EVS services, similar to the support model of other VMware Cloud providers such as AVS or GCVE. However, unlike VMC on AWS, EVS will require you to update and patch the environment, as well as replace failed hosts in the VCF cluster initially. That’s where Converge’s Managed Services team can offload the day 2 operational tasks from you, ensuring you maximize EVS’s potential.
Use Cases for EVS
- Data Center Expansion: Extend your on-prem data center environment.
- Data Center Evacuation: Rapidly migrate on-prem workloads to AWS.
- Disaster Recovery: Leverage EVS as a DR target using familiar VMware tools.
- Modernization: Transitioning legacy infrastructure to a modern, cloud-first approach.
What about VMC on AWS?
If you’re an existing VMC on AWS customer, Broadcom will continue to support the service with one-year renewals only. Recent end-of-life announcements for VMC on AWS Gov Cloud have caused further uncertainty about the future of the service. If you are currently a VMC on AWS customer, we can help you evaluate if EVS is a better long-term solution for your workloads and business.
Final Thoughts
The new Amazon Elastic VMware Service offers businesses like yours another path to cloud adoption, leveraging VMware’s familiar tools with the flexibility and scalability of AWS. If you’re ready to explore how EVS can fit into your cloud strategy, contact the Cloud Platforms team for personalized guidance. Want to learn more? Check out Steven Jones’s blog and the EVS landing page.
