VMware ESXi 5 Free - Memory limitation - boot up

[kungpow]

I'm looking at the Dell R320 server and the recommended memory install is to install the memory in groups of 3. If I have 48GB of memory (3 x 16GB), will the esxi 5 free work or will it complain and won't work at all?

I saw some posts online saying that the esxi 5 free won't start up if you have more than 32GB of memory. Is that right?

Thanks

[DavoudTeimouri]

It's depended to your license, you can work with 32GB of your memory with free license and also it has some other limitations.

Buy a license for your host.

[a_p_]

With the latest version of ESXi the 32GB physical memory limit is indeed enforced. Depending on your needs you either have to remove the additional memory or purchase e.g. an Essentials Kit (~500$) which not only removes the memory limit, but also unlocks the API to be able to use e.g. image based backup applications.

André

[kungpow]

a.p. wrote:

With the latest version of ESXi the 32GB physical memory limit is indeed enforced. Depending on your needs you either have to remove the additional memory or purchase e.g. an Essentials Kit (~500$) which not only removes the memory limit, but also unlocks the API to be able to use e.g. image based backup applications.

André

For the Dell R320 server, for best performance, Dell recommends installing the memory in groups of 3. If I want to have 32GB of memory, I will need to install 16GB x 3. This puts the dell server at 48GB of memory. I don't care if I can only used 32GB out of the 48GB but will the esxi free version boot up and run my VMs with 48GB installed?

[a_p_]

As mentioned before, the physical memory limit is enforced. You won't be able to assign a free Hypervisor license to a host with more than 32GB RAM and it will also stop working (displaying the license as expired) if you increase the memory after applying the license key.

André