XorMon is an open-source, on-premises alternative or complement to VMware Aria Operations, now VCF Operations, for vSphere monitoring. It reads vCenter next to storage, SAN switches, servers and IBM Power in one platform. Broadcom documents VCF Operations as part of VCF and vSphere Foundation. This page shows when to use each, or both.
XorMon and VMware Aria Operations often complement each other. Broadcom documents the product as VMware Cloud Foundation Operations, formerly VMware Aria Operations, and states that the product is no longer available standalone: the functionality is now a part of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0 and VMware vSphere Foundation 9.0 (broadcom.com, checked 2026-11-03). XorMon runs on-premises and monitors vSphere with the rest of your infrastructure. The sections below show which tool does which job.
Last updated: November 3, 2026. We review this comparison at least once a year, and whenever Broadcom or XorMon changes its core positioning.
The table splits eight monitoring jobs between XorMon and VMware Aria Operations, now VCF Operations. Each VMware cell comes from an official Broadcom page or document, checked on 2026-11-03.
| Job | XorMon | VMware Aria Operations, now VCF Operations |
|---|---|---|
| Systems covered | XorMon: VMware: vCenter; Cluster; Resource Pool; Datastore; ESXi; Virtual Machine (VM); Topology; vSAN; Snapshot | VMware Aria Operations, now VCF Operations: The vSphere solution connects VMware Aria Operations to one or more vCenter Server instances. Other data sources through integrations, also referenced as Management Packs or as Solutions, and the Management Pack Builder. For container-based applications, VCF Operations provides native integration with vSphere Supervisor [1] [3] |
| Where it runs | XorMon: On-premises, with no SaaS dependency. Virtual appliance (Debian 13) for VMware, Nutanix, Proxmox and Microsoft Hyper-V, or Docker and Podman | VMware Aria Operations, now VCF Operations: Part of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0 and VMware vSphere Foundation 9.0. You deploy the VCF Operations nodes from the vSphere Client by using an OVA file [2] [7] |
| How data is collected | XorMon: vCenter REST API with a read-only user over HTTPS (TCP port 443), with the read-only role and "Propagate to children" checked. VMware data is sampled every minute and collected every 60 minutes | VMware Aria Operations, now VCF Operations: The vSphere solution connects VMware Aria Operations to one or more vCenter Server instances; other data sources through integrations, also referenced as Management Packs or as Solutions [3] |
| Health and performance | XorMon: CPU usage in cores, in % and in GHz; CPU Ready and CPU Co-Stop; memory usage; LAN throughput in MB/sec; disk performance in MB/sec, IOPS and latency in ms; disk usage in GB. Server data retention: 1-minute averages for 1 month, 5-minute for 3 months, hourly for 6 months, 6-hour for 1 year, daily for 3 years | VMware Aria Operations, now VCF Operations: Provides monitoring and optimization of performance, cost and capacity, and faster troubleshooting [1] |
| Capacity | XorMon: Disk usage in GB; vSAN MD and SSD capacity in TiB and in %; snapshot usage; trends; Resource Configuration Advisor | VMware Aria Operations, now VCF Operations: Helps you analyze your infrastructure expenses and optimize capacity usage [1] |
| Alerts | XorMon: Alerts on any metric the tool collects; an event alert when a device turns red in the global health status dashboard | VMware Aria Operations, now VCF Operations: Alert definitions are a combination of symptoms and recommendations that you combine to identify problem areas. Alerts are classified as Health, Risk, or Efficiency [5] [6] |
| Scope | XorMon: IBM Power Systems (AIX, IBM i, VIOS, Linux on Power, HMC), VMware, Nutanix, Kubernetes, SAN, storage, LAN, databases, backup, tape, cloud and mainframe | VMware Aria Operations, now VCF Operations: Build, manage, operate and secure your private cloud infrastructure; monitoring and optimization of performance, cost and capacity; helps organizations stay compliant with regulatory standards and organizational guidelines; provides security management to ensure that your VCF private cloud is operationally secure; native integration with vSphere Supervisor for container-based applications [1] |
| Price and license | XorMon: Open source, GNU GPL v3, free to download and run in production, with per-device limits in the free edition. Enterprise support contract: typically 7,000 to 11,000 USD per year for a medium-sized environment, depending on the number of monitored devices | VMware Aria Operations, now VCF Operations: Not sold standalone; part of VCF 9.0 and vSphere Foundation 9.0. VCF is subscription software licensed on a per Core license metric with a minimum licensing requirement of 16 Cores per Processor (Broadcom, VMware Cloud Foundation Specific Program Documentation, June 2026, checked 2026-11-03) [2] [4] |
VMware Aria Operations column. Source: Broadcom (techdocs.broadcom.com, ftpdocs.broadcom.com), checked 2026-11-03:
XorMon column: VMware monitoring, VMware CPU monitoring, VMware vSAN monitoring, VMware Topology, VMware snapshots, Hypervisor monitoring, Data frequency, Data retention, Alerting, XorMon appliance, Docker, About Xorux, Pricing.
Yes, for vSphere monitoring. Keep both for expense analysis and security management.
XorMon can be enough when you want to monitor vSphere performance and capacity on-premises, together with the rest of your infrastructure. Keep both when you use VCF Operations capabilities such as helping you analyze your infrastructure expenses and providing security management (broadcom.com, checked 2026-11-03).
Sources: VCF Operations overview [1], checked 2026-11-03; XorMon page VMware Monitoring: vCenter, ESXi and Datastore | XorMon (https://xormon.com/server/monitoring/VMware/VMware-monitoring.php).
VMware Aria Operations, now VCF Operations, fits when you run VMware Cloud Foundation or vSphere Foundation 9.0 and want operations beyond monitoring.
Sources: Broadcom documentation [1], [2] and [3] above, checked 2026-11-03.
XorMon fits when you want vSphere next to other hypervisors, storage, SAN and IBM Power in one open-source platform that runs on-premises.
Sources: XorMon documentation and pricing pages listed under the table above.
Use both when you rely on VCF Operations beyond monitoring and want one view of your whole infrastructure.
VMware Cloud Foundation Operations, formerly VMware Aria Operations, helps your organization build, manage, operate and secure your private cloud infrastructure. It provides monitoring and optimization of performance, cost and capacity, and faster troubleshooting. The product is no longer available standalone: the functionality is now a part of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0 and VMware vSphere Foundation 9.0 (broadcom.com, checked 2026-11-03).
No. Broadcom states: "The product is no longer available standalone." The functionality is now a part of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0 and VMware vSphere Foundation 9.0, where it is documented as VMware Cloud Foundation Operations, formerly VMware Aria Operations (broadcom.com, VMware Aria Operations 8.18 documentation, last updated June 12, 2026, checked 2026-11-03).
Yes. Broadcom documents that the vSphere solution connects VMware Aria Operations to one or more vCenter Server instances, and that VCF Operations provides monitoring and optimization of performance, cost and capacity (broadcom.com, checked 2026-11-03). XorMon reads vCenter through its REST API with a read-only user and monitors vCenter, clusters, resource pools, datastores, ESXi hosts and virtual machines, with vSAN and snapshots.
XorMon monitors vCenter, clusters, resource pools, datastores, ESXi hosts and virtual machines, and adds vSAN, snapshots and a topology map of VMs, datastores and storage volumes. It graphs CPU usage, CPU Ready and CPU Co-Stop, memory, LAN and disk performance with latency, and disk usage, from the vCenter REST API with a read-only user, sampled every minute and collected every 60 minutes.
XorMon is open source under the GNU GPL v3 and free in production, with per-device limits; Enterprise support removes them and typically costs 7,000 to 11,000 USD per year for a medium-sized environment. VMware Aria Operations is no longer available standalone; it is part of VCF 9.0 and vSphere Foundation 9.0. VCF is subscription software licensed on a per Core license metric with a minimum licensing requirement of 16 Cores per Processor (Broadcom, June 2026, checked 2026-11-03).
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