Workstation vs ESXi (free version)

[Faize]

I'm in an unusual situation. I'm a personal/home user with 10+ VMs (active directory domain, mail  server, file server, various web servers, database servers, and test systems - many are Windows, some are Linux) running on a single laptop on VMware Workstation. I'm now considering moving everything to the free version of ESXi, but I have several questions:

1. What would be the benefits/drawbacks of moving to the free version of ESXi vs sticking to Workstation? In terms of features, performance, and maintenance time/effort.
2. Does ESXi support 3D graphics acceleration?
3. How does vMotion work? Does the free version of ESXi have vMotion?

[continuum]

are you aware that ESXi alone is useless ? - you need a second host to display the VMs
Workstation can run AND display VMs, ESXi can only run them

[Troy_Clavell]

What would be the benefits/drawbacks of moving to the free version of  ESXi vs sticking to Workstation? In terms of features, performance, and  maintenance time/effort

Depends on what you are looking to accomplish.  You can get cheap white boxes ( http://www.vm-help.com//esx40i/esx40_whitebox_HCL.php) to install and run ESXi, but if this is production, you want to ensure your hardware is on the HCL

How does vMotion work? Does the free version of ESXi have vMotion?

vMotion is a feature of vCenter and requires shared storage.  You can dowload a 60 day trial of vSphere4 from https://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/index.php?p=vmware-vsphere&lp=1

ESXi is a bare metal install while Workstation is a hosted install (Installed on top of Windows/Linux)

[lowteck]

ESXi is a bare metal install.(probably wont install on your laptop)

u have to pay for vmotion (and have a SAN)

If you had a donated server you could install ESXi on it and convert your workstation vm's onto it.

Benies would be better performance, stability (It's the native OS, and doesnt require a host os), and you could use your laptop as a laptop.

[FranckRookie]

Hi Faize,

What would be the benefits/drawbacks of moving to the free version of ESXi vs sticking to Workstation? In terms of features, performance, and maintenance time/effort.

As Ulli wrote, you need another machine to access all virtual servers. You can't work directly on the ESXi console. There are many other differences, but this one is very important while working on a home lab: you need a second machine.

Does ESXi support 3D graphics acceleration?

No, see this kb.

How does vMotion work? Does the free version of ESXi have vMotion?

The free ESXi does not support vMotion. You need the licensed version. See here.

Good luck.

Regards

Franck

[Faize]

Thank you all for the replies.

@continuum: I called it a laptop because that's what it actually is, but nowadays it's only used as a VM host. The laptop in question sits a corner of the basement with the screen closed and runs nothing other than run Windows Server 2003 + VMware Workstation 24/7. Nobody ever physically touches it, and all administration is done through Remote Desktop or SSH to either the host or individual guests. Using vSphere Client would actually be more convenient, since starting VMs currently ties up one of the host's terminal services connections.

@Troy Clavell: I didn't know there was a list of unofficially functional hardware, thanks

@lowteck: Before I made this post, I installed ESXi to a USB drive on the laptop. There were no problems connecting using vSphere Client and creating a new VM, so I'm fairly certain that at least the basic functionality should work.

@FranckRookie: Perhaps I'm misinterpreting this, but that kb article confused me even more. The Resolution section first says:

The  3D acceleration feature is not supported in ESX/ESXi 4.x.  There are  currently no plans to support 3D acceleration in a virtual machine on  ESX/ESXi.

Which is fairly clear, but then the next line says:

This option is available for virtual machines created in products that support 3D acceleration, such as VMware Workstation.

Does this mean that 3D acceleration will continue to work on old VMs which were imported from VMware Workstation, but newly-created ESXi VMs won't have it, or what?

[DSTAVERT]

This option is available for virtual machines created in products that support 3D acceleration, such as VMware Workstation.

Does this mean that 3D acceleration will continue to work on old VMs which were imported from VMware Workstation, but newly-created ESXi VMs won't have it, or what?

3D support is not available in ESX(i) regardless of where they were created.

[DSTAVERT]

@lowteck: Before I made this post, I installed ESXi to a USB drive on the laptop. There were no problems connecting using vSphere Client and creating a new VM, so I'm fairly certain that at least the basic functionality should work.

I would report the succesful install to your Laptop to the VM-Help website for inclusion on the whitebox HCL list. It would be helpful to know it is possible. Unusual that it works.

[PRWeb]

Did your conversion of VMs from Workstation to ESXi free work well? If so, are you using any tools besides the vSphere client to manage the VMs? I am considering a similar move and would like to be aware of any problems you had. Thanks.

[Faize]

I actually gave up and went with XenServer instead, which has much more extensive hardware compatibility.