vSAN 6.7 Witness - Which license do I need?

[Cymraes]

Which license do I need?

Planning to install stretched clustering across 2 sites for active/active workloads.   Need to install a witness on a 3rd that currently does not have a VMware Environment so have purchased a server for this site.  The witness virtual appliance comes with its own license, free of charge, from VMware but for this configuration I will need to install ESXi on the new server, so here is where I'm confused.  

Current environment incorporates a Dell/EMC VxRail in both datacentres having Enterprise+ licenses, so which license do I need for the Witness ESXi that will host the virtual Witness appliance?

Really do not want to pay for the most expensive license if it is not a requirement.

Have trawled VMware and other sites, still can't find a clear answer.

Thanks in advance

[TheBobkin]

Hello Cymraes,

If you are just using it as a standard ESXi with VMs running on it (including the Witness Appliance VM) then it is not part of the vSAN cluster and thus you can use whatever licensing you want.

If you are using it as a Physical witness:

"Licensing If using a physical host as a vSAN Witness Host, it must be licensed with a valid vSphere license. This does not require the same licensed edition as the vSAN Cluster it is supporting."

Witness Host Sizing | vSAN Stretched Cluster Guide | VMware

Bob

[Cymraes]

Thank you for the clarification, saves us a few pennies.

keep safe