Use caution when experimenting with the SCVMM and VMware, here are five reasons why you don’t’ want to use Microsoft’s SCVMM (System Center Virtual Machine Manager) for managing VMware Infrastructure.
SCVMM Displays Very Little VM and Guest OS Information
The VI Client presents useful information to VMware Infrastructure 3 administrators, such as guest OS IP address, hostname, and performance history. The SCVMM console does not offer any of this information, instead relying on integration with additional complex systems.
SCVMM Creates Unnecessary Port Groups on ESX vSwitches
When managing VMware ESX virtual machine networks, SCVMM exposes only vSwitches and not port groups. SCVMM then creates new port groups on every ESX vSwitch in the environment—duplicating existing functionality and increasing management costs and complexity.
SCVMM Imposes Artificial Constraints on VMware Infrastructure 3 Resources
SCVMM prevents migration and cloning of virtual machines that vCenter would otherwise allow. Managing VMware Infrastructure 3 with SCVMM compromises powerful features that make VMware ESX the more efficient virtualization platform.
SCVMM Provisioning Defaults Unsuitable for VMware ESX Virtual Machines
Microsoft advertises the ability to provision new VMware ESX virtual machines with SCVMM. In reality, SCVMM ignores advanced ESX capabilities and hypervisor platform differences, so the VMs it creates require numerous manual configuration adjustments to make them compatible with ESX.
SCVMM Destroys VMware Infrastructure 3 Templates During Import
Use caution when experimenting with the SCVMM capability to import VMware Infrastructure 3 templates. SCVMM will try to establish a foothold in your management environment by deleting the original templates from ESX datastores without any advance warning.
