Sheetz, a prominent convenience store and gas station chain, is undergoing a substantial transition by replacing VMware with StorMagic’s SvHCI hyperconverged infrastructure across its network of over 830 locations. This move marks one of the larger migrations away from VMware within the industry.
The migration process has already seen significant progress, with over 600 store conversions completed and approximately 200 conversions occurring each month. At the current pace, Sheetz is on track to finalize the complete rollout within four months. The entire operation is conducted remotely, eliminating the need for hardware upgrades or on-site IT interventions, thus allowing the company to retain its existing Dell PowerEdge R440 and R450 servers.
Sheetz’s partnership with StorMagic dates back to 2020 when it first implemented StorMagic’s SvSAN software alongside VMware to virtualize critical applications such as payment processing, loyalty programs, kitchen management, and store operations.
The current deployment entirely removes VMware in favor of StorMagic’s integrated SvHCI virtualization stack. This shift simplifies the infrastructure and reduces both software complexity and operational costs. Sheetz aims to minimize disruptions while standardizing its virtualization across the nation. The completed platform is expected to support essential in-store applications while extending the lifespan of existing server hardware.
Gary Sliver, Sheetz’s director of platform engineering, emphasized the successful initial rollout, which demonstrated StorMagic’s ability to provide resilience and centralized management across a large retail network. He praised the collaboration with StorMagic to meet their operational needs in a demanding 24/7 environment, allowing hundreds of locations to transition from VMware efficiently and with minimal downtime. This project exemplifies how large-scale migrations at the edge can be executed seamlessly and without significant complications.
