HPE has released new version of their virtualization stack – Morpheus VM Entreprise and Morpheus VM Essentials. While all the features that are present in the “Essentials” are also in the “Entreprise”, not everything (obviously) can be found in the “Essentials”. That's the game, right? As you already know as I already reported earlier, that HPE and Veeam are working together, to bring a viable alternative for VMware admins and users, by providing a solid virtualization platform with solid backup software.
HPE Morpheus VM Essentials (a KVM-based virtualization platform) and the broader Morpheus Enterprise Software are indeed supported by Veeam Backup & Replication. This integration, deepened through a strategic partnership announced in June 2025, enables image-based, agentless backups for VMs on Morpheus VM Essentials, alongside guest-level protection via Veeam Agents for Windows and Linux.
Fo Morpheus Enterprise, Veeam extends this to unified protection across bare-metal, virtualized, and containerized workloads, including Kubernetes via Veeam Kasten.
What's New in HPE Morpheus v8.0.11
Morpheus v8.0.11 for both VM Essentials and Enterprise arrives just in time for admins thinking to migrate from VMware. Released on November 25, 2025, this update polishes the platform's edges, focusing on stability, integrations, and hardware synergies that make it a possible way from Broadcom's licensing labyrinth.
For VMware veterans like me, the per-core pricing hikes was like just another price increase too much. We use to have platform that was pricey, but now we have a private cloud which is out of reach… (stop b*tchin Vladan…., this won't help)..
Two versions:
Morpheus VM Essentials – entry point for customers seeking to reduce virtualization licensing costs, offering a per-socket licensing model with a suggested US list price of $600 per CPU socket per year, which is significantly lower than VMware's per-core pricing. The modular approach allows customers to start with VM Essentials and scale to Enterprise as their needs evolve.
Morpheus Enterprise – advanced solution that provides unified cloud management across diverse environments, including on-premises, public clouds, and bare metal infrastructure. It supports multi-runtime provisioning for virtual machines, containers, and third-party runtimes, and offers end-to-end orchestration via GUI, API, Infrastructure as Code, and ITSM integrations. It includes built-in cost controls and governance aligned with FinOps principles, enabling proactive IT operations and greater flexibility. The Enterprise version is priced at approximately $2,500 per socket, reflecting its expanded feature set and capabilities.
Key Highlights in v8.0.11
Plugin API Evolution: version 1.2.13, enabling deeper custom integrations for third-party tools. Developers can now build more robust extensions, streamlining workflows like automation scripting.
Agent Cleanup: Dropped support for legacy Ubuntu versions (14.04, 16.04, 18.04) to prioritize security and performance on contemporary distros. This forces a healthy upgrade cycle but ensures leaner, more secure deployments.
Storage and Networking : Updates to the Alletra MP plugin enhance HPE's all-flash array management, while Aruba networking plugins get tweaks for better VLAN and switch orchestration—critical for hybrid setups blending VMware holdouts with new KVM clusters.
Hardware Lifecycles: A standout for HPE ProLiant users: The new “Parts” card in the workspace lets you request replacement components (like HDDs) on-demand, with automated, faster fulfillment.
Resolved issues? Expect fixes for minor VM provisioning glitches and improved API querying for datastores, making daily ops feel snappier.
Why VMware Admins Should Eye Morpheus for Migration
If you're a vSphere admin staring down 5-10x licensing savings (real-world examples show a 32-server estate dropping from $461K to $38K annually), then yes, this is worth it. Built on open-source KVM, it mirrors VMware's enterprise polish—think HA, load balancing, and vCenter-like central management—but at per-socket pricing (~$600 vs. VMware's $350/core).
Migration Perks on the Horizon
Workload Porting (V2V) – Native VMDK-to-QCOW2 conversion tools let you bulk-migrate VMs without reconfiguration headaches. Could be possibly paired it with agent-based lifts (via partners like RiverMeadow) for zero-downtime shifts of critical apps.
Unified Ops Console: Manage VMware clusters alongside Morpheus KVM from one pane—no more tool-hopping.
By Q2 2026, we could see enhanced Veeam orchestration that would make restores as effortless as vSphere snapshots.
In short, v8.0.11 isn't flashy, but it's the reliability upgrade that could start making “VMware exit strategy” into some real sense.
Links:
link to the HPE Release Notes.
Final Words
VMware has done few things bad, back in a day. Remember vRAM tax? They rolled it back. Now with Broadcom things looks different as they bought VMware and as new owners they do what they want, right? VMware admins become hostages of their infrastructure because of the prohibitif pricing that Broadcom applies on every new contract. And old support contracts will expire one day…. right? So be ready, and be prepared as the renewal time will come and they'll ask you (your company) for probbably an amounts of money you will not be able to (or not willing to) pay.
Be ready and think of the near fugure where you run old VMware infra side-by-side with new infra (under an alternative), and slowly transition all your workloads to the new alternative platform, whatever it would be HPE VM Essentials, XCP-NG or Proxmox.
HPE is a major actor in the Hardware so having a hypervisor platform on the top sounds logical, but some admins prefer not to put all the eggs in the same basket and I understand. But hey, Veeam is already supporting this new VMware alternative so what could go wrong?
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