ESXi has done wonders for me over the past couple of years, but I forsee the 32 GB memory and 6 core limitation of ESXi 5 being a problem for me real soon. What's the next step up from ESXi 5? I'm willing to pay (hopefully its not too much). What features does it offer over ESXi?
Thanks in advance
P.S. - In case this is helpful, my main use of ESXi is running VMs as production servers for my IT support business, dev servers for web apps/services and sandboxes for new and beta OSes, software and technologies.
Am I mistaken?
Kind of. ![]()
VMware offers the same binaries (ESXi) with a free license as well as paid licenses which unlock additional features. So switching from the free edition to a paid edition is just a matter of replacing the license key, no need to reinstall or downtime for the VMs. Licensing has changed a couple of times in the past, so what I'm going to tell you is about the latest version (5.1). With version 5.1 things changed significantly. Only the free license (Hypervisor) is limited to 32GB physical memory, no other physical limits like # of processors, cores, ... apply (except for the supported maximum of course). The paid editions don't have a limitation about memory and have to be licensed per socket/processor. The least expensive edition - which may be sufficient for you - is an Essentials Kit, which contains licenses for one instance of vCenter Server and 6 CPU licenses for up to 3 hosts with 2 processors each.
see http://www.vmware.com/products/datacenter-virtualization/vsphere/small-business.html for details
André
Hi,
ESXi scales way beyond the limitations you mention, I believe you are asking about "ESXi Free".
Next product up would be "ESXi Standard".
I suggest reviewing the following:
http://www.vmware.com/products/datacenter-virtualization/vsphere/compare-editions.html
Note: the free product you use isn't listed.
I'm confused now. From my understanding "ESXi" has been VMware's free version of ESX or vSphere Standard (or whatever its called now) for the past couple of years. I also thought the license for ESX 5.x is limited to 1 CPU per host/physical, up to 6 cores on that 1 CPU and now 32 GB of host memory (use to be 256 GB of host memory in ESXi 4.x... I think). Am I mistaken?
Am I mistaken?
Kind of. ![]()
VMware offers the same binaries (ESXi) with a free license as well as paid licenses which unlock additional features. So switching from the free edition to a paid edition is just a matter of replacing the license key, no need to reinstall or downtime for the VMs. Licensing has changed a couple of times in the past, so what I'm going to tell you is about the latest version (5.1). With version 5.1 things changed significantly. Only the free license (Hypervisor) is limited to 32GB physical memory, no other physical limits like # of processors, cores, ... apply (except for the supported maximum of course). The paid editions don't have a limitation about memory and have to be licensed per socket/processor. The least expensive edition - which may be sufficient for you - is an Essentials Kit, which contains licenses for one instance of vCenter Server and 6 CPU licenses for up to 3 hosts with 2 processors each.
see http://www.vmware.com/products/datacenter-virtualization/vsphere/small-business.html for details
André
Got it! $560 + $65 for Essentials Kit isn't bad at all and is a killer deal for all that's included. Though it is overkill for me as I probably just need 1 vSphere with the 32 GB memory limitation lifted. Does VMware offer custom licensing like that? If not, is it possible to use the other two vSpheres (included with Essentials Kit) at my clients (i.e., different phyical networks/locations)? Can I manage them with the included vCenter Server for Essentials even though the vSpheres are on 3 different networks?
... I probably just need 1 vSphere with the 32 GB memory limitation lifted. Does VMware offer custom licensing like that?
I'm not aware of any custom "free" licenses.
If not, is it possible to use the other two vSpheres (included with Essentials Kit) at my clients (i.e., different phyical networks/locations)?
The licenses in the Kit cannot be split and I'm pretty sure VMware's license agreement would not allow to use these licenses for different end users.
Can I manage them with the included vCenter Server for Essentials even though the vSpheres are on 3 different networks?
Technically you can manage hosts on different networks. However depending on the features you use you may be limited.
André
Oh, I see. Thanks again!
lasinl wrote:
I'm confused now. From my understanding "ESXi" has been VMware's free version of ESX
ESX is a legacy product that was replaced by ESXi.
