Key Takeaways:
- Broadcom cut public access to the Virtual Disk Development Kit (VDDK) in late August 2026, limiting VMware migration options and prompting industry-wide concern about vendor lock-in.
- Sardina Systems maintains Move It — a VDDK-independent VMware migration path to FishOS and OpenStack, already validated in production.
While Broadcom’s VDDK decision limits migration paths for much of the industry, the FishOS Move It migration appliance supports migration methods that are not limited to VDDK-based transfers. For VMware users, VDDK has always been an optional method within the Move It workflow — never a requirement.
What Broadcom’s Move Changed
In the statement to TechTarget, Broadcom said that VDDK “is not a customer entitlement” and that its licensed use case has been backup and recovery, rather than migration.
VMware’s position is technically consistent with its licensing terms. It doesn’t change the practical reality: a wide range of migration and backup tools — including ones built by VMware’s own competitors — had come to depend on VDDK regardless.
Sardina Systems’ Position
Since our team has built FishOS Move It migration appliance, we have successfully conducted migrations from VMware to FishOS, Sardina Systems’ open-source-based platform.
Most importantly, a few of them were done without relying on VDDK. For instance, a major Asian services provider’s production VMware migration was executed without VDDK. The full cluster was migrated in four days, at the customer’s request.
Following the change in VDDK availability, Sardina Systems also revalidated its VDDK-independent migration path through a series of tests in an ongoing project.
Alternative methods can have different practical characteristics. Depending on the environment and method used, they may affect migration speed and the downtime required for a cutover. They do not, however, make VMware migration impossible.
VMware’s statement that VDDK is not a ‘customer entitlement’ is a useful reminder: an exit plan cannot rest on a single vendor-controlled path. VDDK has never been a requirement for our Move It workflow. We have already used a VDDK-independent path in production, and we have revalidated it after this change.
Dr. Kenneth Tan, Executive Director, Sardina Systems
What You Should Do Now
If you’re a VMware user considering migration, now is the time to review your options — not because migration is blocked, but because assumptions about available tooling are worth re-checking. Specifically:
- Identify whether the current migration plan depends on VDDK or another VMware-controlled component.
- Assess the available alternatives for the environment, including their expected cutover time and downtime.
- Confirm the migration and validation plan before committing to a production cutover window.
Planning a VMware Exit
The VDDK change is a reason to assess a migration path early, not a reason to assume that migration is blocked. Sardina Systems can review your VMware environment, discuss practical options for moving to FishOS and OpenStack, and help your team prepare a validated migration plan.
Planning a VMware migration? Contact Sardina Systems at info@sardinasystems.com to discuss a migration assessment, or join our upcoming technical webinar with Storware.
