This is an important announcement for all existing customers using our VMware cloud platform. This includes our VMware Cloud Servers (VCS) and Virtual Data Centre (VDC) solutions. As you may be aware from previous newsletters or from updates on our website, Micron21 built a new virtual cloud platform called mCloud.
Previously, we’ve relied on VMware as a key part of our services. But as licensing costs skyrocketed post-acquisition and customer satisfaction decreased globally (56% of organisations plan to reduce VMware use), we knew continuing down this road wasn’t sustainable.
VMware, especially with hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI), is a world leader. After evaluating many alternate hypervisors, both open source and commercial, we found that OpenStack and Ceph provided the greatest flexibility, control, cost effective infrastructure and the most resilience. I
Micron21 has been carrying the increased costs of VMware as we have developed our mCloud platform, performed rigorous testing, converted VMware virtual machines to mCloud, and deployed mCloud into production for new customers or new environments. In anticipation of further VMware price increases, Micron21 is now in a position to commence migrations of existing customers to mCloud.
With mCloud, you’ll enjoy the same exceptional functionality without any surprise price hikes. By moving away from expensive VMware licenses, we’ve significantly reduced future operating costs - ensuring our platform remains both competitive and affordable. As noted, Micron21 has absorbed substantial price increases from our customers. This means that we are able to maintain customers current pricing or thereabouts. Due to the nature of the mCloud solution, customers are moved to the closest plan of equivalence. In many cases, this results in extra resources (CPU, RAM, Disk) becoming available for customer use.
mCloud utilises high-speed Intel Xeon Gold compute, NVMe SSD storage, and 100Gbps networking.
mCloud introduces a fully self-service portal to give you direct control. From resource scaling to managing backend settings, you’ll have the power to make changes in real time when you need to.
You can configure your software defined network and fine-tune firewall rules directly from the dashboard, so you no longer have to rely on third-party interface. However, if you still prefer a managed firewall, we’ve got that option too.
mCloud supports multiple cloud formats (public, private, and hybrid) allowing you to align resources with your specific operational needs. You even bring your own hardware and gain the power of a cluster, a unique model to Micron21. The platform comes packed with features like high-speed NVMe storage tiers, software defined networking, multiple availability zones. In fact, we’ve built Australia’s first operational stretch cluster spanning three data centres and the first public cloud capable of doing so.
Security is baked into mCloud at every level. The platform operates under strict ISO certifications (27001/27002/27017/27018 standards), is IRAP-assessed, and provides data sovereignty assurances. Plus, we’ve integrated our world-class DDoS protection, so you’re safeguarded from cyberthreats (base level protection).
Micron21 will be utilising a commercial conversion tool to migrate customers from VMware to mCloud. This has been extensively tested and many virtual machines have already been converted with various Windows and Linux configurations. The conversion is relatively straightforward and involves minimal downtime. In essence, the process is as follows:
Micron21 plan to commence migrations from the Christmas break starting 22nd December. All customers will be notified at least one week prior to migration for smaller VMs, while larger, more complex migrations can be booked up to one month in advance. All customers will receive direct correspondence from the support team as to their individual environments and migration process with dates. Please treat these initial dates as indicative, as this is a lengthy process to migrate our entire VMware fleet and rescheduling of customers may be likely depending on the circumstances. Micron21 will be in constant communication regarding any changes and planned dates.
If you have any questions on the contents of this announcement, your migration to mCloud or the platform in general, please do not hesitate to contact our support team on support@micron21.com.
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