What do I need to start?

[2Charlie]

Please forgive me, I'm quite new to this virtualization thing. Is VMware ESXi really free? Is there any catch to this? What do I need to have for a fully functional virtualized server? I'm thinking about having three to five virtual servers inside one physical server. Some of the applications I will be running are: SQL Server, Oracle Server, print server, file server, and domain controller. What are the hardware recommendations for running something like that with ESXi?

[weinstein5]

Welcome to the Forums - Yes it is truly free - once you register your ESXi server you will get a non expiring license - the ESXi server you stand up will be like any other ESXi server - you can stand up as many as you want but you will have to manage each individually. but if you want manage centrally that is when you will need to start paying for license for vcenter and if you want features like vmotion, HA or DRS -

The two areas where people cut short are memory and Disk - so make sure your host has enough memory and tthe storage is configuured apporirately

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[2Charlie]

Is the VMWare Infrasture free too? If we only have one physical server, there is no need for a central management software, correct? Again, if we have only one physical server, can I do everything with the VMware Infrausture or do I need to pay for license or other software? Last resort, I can walk right up to the physical server and manage it that way too, correct?

[ThompsG]

Afternoon,

Just to clarify the VI client is free with ESXi so you can use this to manange the ESX host directly. VMware Infrastructure is normally referred to when you are using Virtual Center which is NOT free.

Unfortunately with ESXi you cannot just walk up and manage it from the console. There is a limited amount that can be done from the console. Management is mainly done with the VI client and remotecli if needed for anything else.

Kind regards,

Glen

[weinstein5 · Accepted solution]

If you are referring to the client yes it is free and included with the ESXi server - just point a browser at your new server and you will have a link to download the application - as the other poster pointed this clien in the ESX 3.5 days was referred to as the VI Client - virtual insfrastructure is a marketing used to refer to the components of the previous version of ESX (3.5) and Virtual Center (2.5) - just like vSphere refers to the current release all being branded with the 4.0 version level - and th client in vSphere is called the vSphere Client - and the vSphere client is also included at no charge in all versions of ESX/ESXi 4.0 -

As the other poster also pointed out very little is done form the ESXi console other than the server set up - every thing eelse is done through the client -

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[2Charlie]

Okay, just to make sure I understand this correctly. I can use the free included client to install my virtual OS and manage them, correct? Another word, I can do manage everything with the free included client VI, right?

[weinstein5]

Yes - the client is used not only to manage the ESXi server but manage and build your VMs -

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[2Charlie]

Perfect! I'm sure I will have plenty of questions once I start my test project to see how everything works. Again, many thanks for those who contribute to this thread.

[ongnoi]

Hi,

I would like to know how this free licence work ? We are an hosting provider, can we also use free ESXi to offer VM/VPS to our customer ?

Thanks,