Minimal ESXi install, licensing questions

[evotsi]

I am currently evaluating VMware Infastructure and would like to purchase a license however the Infastructure Edition, even the Foundation(Starter), seems to be more than we need. We have one server and would like to use VMWare ESX or ESXi for testing/development purposes. Would the ESXi version for $495.00 satisfy this? With this version would we still be able to use the VMware Infrastructure client and web access, or are these only included it the other editions?

Paul

[Dave_Mishchenko]

In a single server environment, ESXi would be sufficient for your needs. You can always upgrade the license down the road if you were to add more hosts and wanted to use features like High Availability or Vmotion.

With the $495 edition, you will only be able to run ESXi. You would have to get the Foundation edition to be able to install ESX 3.5.

With the ESXi edition, you'll still use the VI client and / web access. You'll use the VI client for most of your configuration. The web client is good for starting/stopping VMs and accessing the remote console for VM. Would you need to assign permissions to specific user to be able to manage individual VMs? ESXi/3.5 is a bit defficient for this and you need VirtualCenter if you need granular permissions.

With 3i I would also consider the following

- lack of the service console so you can't install hardware management agents (IBM Director, Dell OpenManage, etc)

- lack of 3rd party backup apps like esxPress or vRangerPro (support for ESXi is coming from these vendors)

This thread has some links discussing more of the differences - http://communities.vmware.com/click.jspa?searchID=2246839&objectType=2&objectID=918458

In your situation, a stand alone host running ESXi or ESX 3.5 would be fine. VirtualCenter wouldn't be need. However, you can get a VC bundle with 3 host licenses (foundation edition) and VirtualCenter starter (limited to 3 hosts ) for around $3,000. Something to consider if you plan to add hosts in the future.

[Dave_Mishchenko]

Sorry - one correction - with ESXi you don't have the web interface you do with ESX 3.5 (i.e. to manage individual VMs).

[cforger]

This brings up a point that I was just running into today;

Really, all Basic Foundation (Starter) gives you over the ESX 3i stand-alone is the ability to run ESX instead of just ESXi.

You get a VCB license, an VC agent, and Update Manager, but all of these are useless without a Virtual Center Server, so in turn these licenses are useless.

Why does VMWare offer this package? It's hardly a starter when you can't run most of the included applications, or is there a way to trick to run the other applications without VCS? I know my VI client download works for running Update Manager without me having VCS.

Any light that could be shed on this would be useful, as I'm looking to move on a purchase of ESX 3i shortly, and I'm not sure which package to select. VM's pre-sales telephone support was pretty bad - First rep didn't know anything about it, second rep lost me in multiple transfers to find someone who knew something, and third rep just agreed that Foundation Starter wasn't worth buying.

Thanks.

[Dave_Mishchenko]

You are able to run VCB without VirtualCenter (page 31 - http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_vm_backup.pdf) but theVC agent and UM license have no value without VC as you mention. I'm not sure why the how to buy guide lists it as required - http://www.vmware.com/products/vi/esx/esx_buy.html On the other hand you can license VI Enterprise and then choose to run ESXi instead of ESX. There are still some functionaly gaps, but for the most part they are the same product.

The Update Manager client that you can run only works for patching ESXi from what I know.

The Foundation edition was originally named Starter as you know and it was more limited than it is today (i.e. only local storage / 8 GB memory limit). The changes you see I think reflect pricing pressures from the competition. I'm not sure why there isn't an ESX starter without the VirtualCenter addins, but with ESXi I think in part the pricing reflects that the hypervisor level is headed towards being a commodity. Dell is apparently selling ESXi for $99 and the revenue for VMware, Citrix, MS, etc is going to come from the management products.

If you're comfortable with the lack of service console (and for today lack of backup software), then you'll probably be fine with 3i. I believe esXpress and others should have backup software in beta this summer. If this will be a standalone host for the next while then again ESXi will be Ok for the good. You should ideally stick with supported hardware for it (and ESXi is supported on a more limited hardware set than ESX right now). Also keep in mind that is some ways ESXi is version 1.0 and not 3.5. If you need to be able to set permissions on individual VMs, then you might need to look at the VirtualCenter Foundation bundle (VC Foundation and 3 ESX Foundation licenses - VC Foundation is limited to managing 3 host). You can always upgrade your license down the road should you want to switch to ESX standard for example, or if you need to go with the Standard level of functionality but want to stick with running ESXi.

[cforger]

Ah, thanks Dave, that's right on the money and very helpful.

I'm installing basic ESXi setups for clients who can use two to four servers on one platform (finally, we have have a terminal server, AD server, and exchange server on one box, without the hassles and slowdowns of MS SBS).

I've been using VI client to manage the ESXi's, as you mentioned, it works fine with ESXi - But not having any VM backup ability made me a bit nervous. I'm still backing up from within the client, but I wanted to try VCB to make some images of the VM's. The ability to copy files to the local drive with the VI was nice, but really, really slow. I'm hoping VCB is faster, and can make a copy of a running system - or at least schedule the server to down ot suspend to make the copy.

Or am I missing another way of making backups, say with Snapshots?

I like the simplicity the ESXi gives me - Less frigging with the console. I've already played around with reinstalling ESXi on running servers, and find it to play nice and not destroy things. With some basic management from VI client and some sort of VM backup with VCB I think I should be okay for small installations.

I'll have to check out the ESXi from Dell - We're probably going to use PowerEdge 2900's, and it would be handy if they had some hooks to manage/monitor the hardware. It's the one thing I miss with my ASUS whitebox server running ESXi.

[Dave_Mishchenko]

VCB will provide the snapshot backup that you're looking for and is supported with ESXi. VCB really shines with SANs in that you can perform a LAN free backup, but VCB also now supported backup of non-SAN storage as well. In that case the traffic is going throught the management (service) console.

Is it just a single domain controller? You would want to avoid using snapshots if you have 2 or more DCs in the domain so a snapshot restore doesn't properly set the AD database for restore mode and your DCs can get out of sync. With Exchange or any other database server you'll want to quiesce the file system before taking the snapshot. That helps to ensure a crash consistant copy of the VM. See page 45 here for more details - http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_vm_backup.pdf. You will also require 3rd party backup software with VCB as it only presents an image of the VM's disk file to the VCB proxy server.

[cforger]

Thanks Dave, that's very helpful.