Esxi

itdaddy

we only have like 7 to 8 vms on our esxi lic. version
what is the big differences between the paid?

1. is there a limit on the free how many vms you make?

2. and I can convert Esxi lic version 3.5 vms to the free esxi edition
is that possible to convert. I think i asked this question before but just making sure i can convert lic vers esxi 3.5 vms to the free esxi vms?
clones that is. can I get an Amen? haha

thanks

I am only going to use it for a backup of the vms. we dont have 100s of thousands of bucks to spend on a fancy SAN system but just want to make a server with the free esxi and clone the servers and put them on there and fire it up if our vm node goes down..

dynamik

ESXi itself is free. You license the more advanced features of the software. Contact your rep and see what your license is for.

itdaddy

I see thanks will do

darkerosxx

You do still have to license the free version. They send you the link to activate and download in the same email. I'd suggest you make sure you use the 3.5 version and not 4.0 or 4.1. I don't know if there may be any issues loading them up on a diff version, but I wouldn't go loading a diff version as using it as a backup, you'd want to be able to pull your license over if you need to and 3.5 licenses don't work with 4.0 or 4.1.

Zaits

Just as Dynamik said, ESXi is free its the extra add on features you pay for. For instance if you have multiple ESXi hosts and did not pay for the extra features you would have to manually connect to each host to configure it. Instead you can pay for VCenter and cluster each of the hosts and manage them from a central location. With VCenter you would have features like Vmotion, HA, DRS etc.. those are the extra features you would pay for. ESXi is also more light weight than ESX and it seems like the future VMware is taking the hypervisor.

ssampier

ESXi is awesome. At my last job I managed to do quite a bit with practically nothing. I was hampered by having to use local storage, though.

For VM backup ESXi free version would be just fine. Just remember don't try to login to your ESXi server locally from the console. You'll be staring at a whole lot of (practically) nothing.