Limits of different versions

[Larryb201110141]

Hi all

I am doing an eval for a customer and am struggling to understand the limits of the free licenced version of ESXi 4.1 and 5.0.

I have a 72Gb RAM with 2x 6 core CPUs (Dell) server and have installed the version on it.

Using the client it look like the server can 'see' all the RAM and allows me to create two 24Gb VM's but looking at the licencing page the limits are 'Up to 32 GB of memory and Up to 8-way virtual SMP'.

When does the limit kick in? or is the limit on a single VM not being able to have more than 32Gb RAM?

As the licence limits for either version don't seem to be in plain english I am struggling.

Can anyone explain this in simple terms for a simple person?

Thanks

Larry

[Troy_Clavell]

the limit is 32GB of vRAM.

The below may help a bit

http://blogs.vmware.com/rethinkit/2011/07/understanding-the-vsphere-5-vram-licensing-model.html

[Larryb201110141]

So if I understand it correctly, this is now based on total allocated RAM to VMs? IE I shouldn't be able to allocate for more than 32Gb of RAM to all the VM's on the server?

The odd thing is I created two VMs with 24Gb RAM each and had them both running at the same time - I didn't see any warning or limit.

[Troy_Clavell]

So if I understand it correctly, this is now based on total allocated  RAM to VMs? IE I shouldn't be able to allocate for more than 32Gb of RAM  to all the VM's on the server?

That is correct.  However the 32GB of vRAM is a soft limit.  But, if you oversubscribe vRAM you may not be able to power on some guests.

Just remember, when you accept the EULA, you also agree to go beyond the 32GB of allocated vRAM

[Larryb201110141]

OK, would I be better off running this under V4.1 – would I get the use of all the RAM but lose on CPUs?

Thanks

Larry

[Troy_Clavell · Accepted solution]

Laurence Bartrum wrote:

OK, would I be better off running this under V4.1 – would I get the use of all the RAM but lose on CPUs?

Thanks

Larry

Correct.  You don't have the vRAM limitations in 4.1, but you can only present 4vCPU's max to a guest. (which in my opinion is more than any quest will ever need)

[Larryb201110141]

Thats excellant - thanks for your help and advice.

I would think that vmware and going to lose a lot of clients due to this change..talk about shoot yourself in the foot..

Thanks again.

L.

[scottyyyc]

You can always eval 4.1 (if RAM limitations are an issue), and then easily convert/upgrade to 5.0 in production. Only real limitation is max 4 vCPUs in v4, but in reality, that's more than enough for most VMs.

And yes, VMware shot themselves in the foot a bit with this whole 32MB vRAM limit in ESXi thing. That really hurts people who are trying to demo/test beefier boxes. My company used ESXi in production for a while (on Dell R910's with 128GB RAM) until purchasing vSphere. Mind you, there seems to be a bit of snobbery out there regarding people who use ESXi (free) in production. A lot of people on these very discussion boards always seem SHOCKED when they hear somebody is using ESXi-free in ...**GASP**... PRODUCTION. VMware's attitude is probably along the lines of 'if you're running that big a host, you should be running paid vSphere'.

[Larryb201110141]

OK, thanks for help.

L.