Upgrade informations about vSphere Essentials Kit

[Murasame]

Hi all, I've got some questions about upgrading an ESXi host (and shortly two) from a free license to a paid vSphere 4.1 essentials kit one.

First question: do I need to reformat the machine(s) to upgrade or simply I can change the license key with the vSphere client ?

Second question: the statement ".. solution for small offices to virtualize three physical servers ..." means that with the essentials kit I can use the same license with up to three physical hosts without any restrictions on how many VMs I put on them ?

I'm asking because my plan is to split my servers on two physical hosts and use a third one as a backup and emergency machine in case of hardware failures so a single essentials kit license will fit perfectly but only if the included storage APIs let me do backups while VMs are running and there aren't restrictions on physical host number.

Thanks in advance for any kind answer.

[alefestaedist]

Hi there,

first of all I would say that before upgrade you may simply add the correct license to the esxi host, it will simply disable the feature not available through the paid one...in case you may always revert to the "free" license and correct the "issues" you may discover.

About the 3host..it depends on the number of processor, it manage up to 6 processors that means (on a standard enviorment), 3 host with 2 phisical cpu per host.

About the VM you dont'have a  limit from a licensing perspective...

Alex

[Murasame]

Thanks alefestaedist for your quick reply, so the essential kit is basically an ESXi license with more modules activated than the free one right ?

Also the 3 host/6 cpu limit fits perfectly on my plan since the physical hardware is based on machines with at max 2 cpu sockets so problem number 2 solved

[bulletprooffool · Accepted solution]

The OS underlying is identical - the licesnse simply enables different features.

No need to refpormat or re-install, you simply apply your new license and that's it, job done.

Good luck

[Murasame]

Great bulletprooffo… you resolved my last problem

Now I have to submit the buying proposal to my boss and let him pay :smileylaugh:

Thanks all guys