Techworld published a brief review of VirtualCenter 1.4, last version of 1.x branch VMware is offering as management solution for its free vitualization platform, providing following conclusion:
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Indeed it’s worth pointing out that, apart from centralised management, VirtualCenter adds very little in the way of extra functionality on top of what comes as standard in VMware Server itself. The only exception is the ability to monitor virtual machine activity and set alarms when, for example, a VM hangs or CPU/memory usage exceeds pre-set limits. There are also tasks you can’t perform from the VirtualCenter, such as take VM snapshots, which mean you can’t throw away the individual server console altogether.
Given its limitations and cost, VirtualCenter for VMware Server is far from an obvious purchase. Its main advantage is clearly the convenience of being able to manage a distributed virtual infrastructure from a single console, but you do need a critical mass of servers to make that worth having….
Read the whole review at source.