VMware ESXi for 64 bit device

Is there any free VMware ESXi 64 bit that I can grab from VMware?

I was thinking of using Virtualbox but I would rather use a free enterprise VMware so I can reinforce my VMware knowledge and load a bunch of GNS3 and Linux, I really don't want to use VMware server, I want shell and manage it via vsphere or vcenter for practing too.

The reason I need a more robust VMware is I want to connect the VMware to my QNAP TS-459 pro ii that I recently purchased, also if anyone is familiar with the product can you please tell me a stable hard drive you've used that is 3 TB.

Thank you very much

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saspro

ESXi is 64bit

cyberguypr

Smart move. I always advocate going for the real thing. Start your search here: https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/evalcenter?p=free-esxi5&lp=default&rct=j&q=free%20vsphere%205%20license&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CFsQFjAA&url=http://www.vmware.com/go/get-free-esxi/&ei=aJIrUMzNE8Ti0QGGu4GICg&usg=AFQjCNH-KlZ25d4593LBiGqk3zIUFE5dbA

BroadcastStorm

Any of you guys used a Micro Server that runs AMD processor? how good are this servers? how many Windoze box are you able to run?

I have a few Dell servers 2600 and 2650 and some old HP that still run scsi HD, I hate how those server gets hot etc., I also have a Dell tower that is missing a core duo processor that might be better as far as energy footprint.

HP ProLiant N40L 1P 2GB-U Emb SATA NHP 250GB LFF 150W PS MicroServer - | Official HP® Business Store=

I thought about getting a VPC certification while I wrap up my final push for CCNP tshoot I've put it on hold for a long time cause of projects, the VMware I am going to use it for my Linux + study and I thought I might as well go enterprise style with this, the CCIE might be too much I'm 1 step from going crazy with CCNP it's the twisting vortez of pain and agony lol, those people that are taking CCIE they are not normal more like a beast with 2 heads and brains like NOC ninja lol :P

Brain_Power

I just tried to install VMware vSphere 5.0 on my server. However the install failed. My processor is not compatible with 5.0. I had to install ESXi 4.1.

If you get an install error, try the ESXi 4.1 version and you will be good to go!

https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/info/slug/datacenter_cloud_infrastructure/vmware_vsphere_hypervisor_esxi/4_1

BroadcastStorm

Brain_Power wrote: »

I just tried to install VMware vSphere 5.0 on my server. However the install failed. My processor is not compatible with 5.0. I had to install ESXi 4.1.

If you get an install error, try the ESXi 4.1 version and you will be good to go!

https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/info/slug/datacenter_cloud_infrastructure/vmware_vsphere_hypervisor_esxi/4_1

Is your server the HP microserver? have you checked for the workaround? the purchase is throwing a ??? cause it's running an AMD processor, if I'm not mistaken I heard alot that VMware likes Intel than AMD.

Brain_Power

IBM eServer x346 Server 2 x Dual Core XEON 2.4Ghz Processors Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise x64

neilperry

BroadcastStorm wrote: »

The reason I need a more robust VMware is I want to connect the VMware to my QNAP TS-459 pro ii that I recently purchased, also if anyone is familiar with the product can you please tell me a stable hard drive you've used that is 3 TB.

Thank you very much

QNAP has a compatibility list on their website that covers all sorts of devices from hard drives of all different sizes of capacities, to webcams, to printers, etc. In addition, the QNAP forums are a great resource. They are technically only 'community supported' but the QNAP guys have a large presence on the forums. IF you don't see a drive you are wanting to get, search the forums for it because more than likely someone else is using it as well.

I forget what forums are hidden if you do not have an account but from what I can remember it is worthwhile to register yourself an account on the forums.

Essendon

Did you enable VT-x in the system's BIOS? More often that not, that's the problem. I had a dual core E6550 that couldnt install ESXi 5, did a BIOS update, the option to enable VT-x showed up, enabled it and shazam - ESXi 5 was good to go.

jibbajabba

BroadcastStorm wrote: »

Any of you guys used a Micro Server that runs AMD processor?

I run a few Microserver using vSphere 5 just fine and the only bottleneck here is RAM, not the CPU:

The only downside is storage ... The onboard raid isn't supported so even if you create a Raid 1 with two disks, vSphere will see both individual disks. The only 100% effective way without huu-haa is using a dedicated Raid Controller.

In the above screenshot you can see how much storage it has and it works fine (using an Adaptec Raid card 3805) and is damn quick ..

Capture.jpg

BroadcastStorm

That CPU utlization looks so AWESOME! not to mention the very small electricity it uses I'm impressed, I just don't know CPU though, I'm sure there's so many variables to consider given it's a homelab there's not much transaction on those VMGuests.

Hey thanks for the post, question I'm still new to VM do you have 8 GB of ram? that utilization looks scary, it looks like those 2 VMguest is hogging your mem but CPU looks fine, I bet it's the windows.

I have a Powerdedge 2850 that doesn't have HD/Mem/CPU it was thrown away at work and I picked them up, not sure what type of CPU goes on this but I might try to pick up a few of this parts from Ebay.

I still want to purchase a N40L micro server and connect it to my QNAP NAS, at most I would like to run at least 5 VM's on the microserver.

CENTOS
Windows AD
ACS

BroadcastStorm

Correction it's a 1850 Dell, the CPU is - PROCESSOR..., 80546K, 2.8G, 1M, XEON NOCONA..., 800, E0

Not sure if that's a 64 Bit or 32 Bit and how many cores.

jibbajabba

BroadcastStorm wrote: »

do you have 8 GB of ram? that utilization looks scary

Yes, 8GB of RAM (Maximum supported) - I know it looks scary but I don't mind .. Both VMs run just fine. The CentOS VM is just a LAMP server with 1024MB of RAM (just a dev platform) and the Windows 2012 VM 6GB of RAM ... The 2012 Server has even Hyper-V enabled and runs yet another VM for testing so it really is performing nicely.

And to be fair - I prefer using all the resources I got over having most of it on idle - I always make sure on systems like that, that I don't overcommit to avoid performance degration .. This however runs perfectly smooth and this is a server, although cheap one - as a result the RAM is designed to be used 24/7 so I am not worried at all.

And no, the CPU in the 1850 does not support VT - which is basically the virtualization feature of the CPU - so you might be able to install he hypervisor, but you won't be able to use 64Bit VMs - don't quote me on that though as this is just what google just told me - most infos are quite old regarding this system so it might have changed.

http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/solutions/vmotion_compatibility_matix.pdf

Do be fair though - the Microserver is really the best value for money - if you need somehing cheap and cheerful (and don't require massive amounts of resources). The VMware management server, called VMware vCenter, is even running on my laptop (no need for it unless you need this to study for vmware exams) to save resources ... so you can always get away with stuff ...

BroadcastStorm

Thanks for the info.

I already bid on a N40L hopefuly I don't forget to check it, I want to run alot of Linux distro to play around using VMware ESXi, how did you get a licensed ESXi 5?

must be sweet, I plan on just doing the 60 day eval.

I have another box that is running 32 bit esxi 3.5 I can't go past that cause the box is 32 bit CPU.

jibbajabba

BroadcastStorm wrote: »

How did you get a licensed ESXi 5?

Sorry, I'd have to dead you if I'd tell you

Seriously though, has advantaged to be premium VMware partner

BroadcastStorm

Pass that license laying around the table

I might just get two N40L I just hope this server doesn't become obsolete in 2 or 3 years.

jibbajabba

BroadcastStorm wrote: »

Pass that license laying around the table

Let me think about that for a second or 5

But I don't mind teasing

BroadcastStorm wrote: »

I just hope this server doesn't become obsolete in 2 or 3 years

Everything computer related becomes obsolete within days of buying - so don't worry about it

I got another 4 on order - really love the small sucker

BroadcastStorm

Just tell me the hack, and I'll be fine :P

What kind of **** site are you running that you need 4 of those little puppies? j/k :P

I was tinkering of Virtualbox too but not sure if this is even used by companies I still want to learn everything so I can become d architect someday, I want to bug alot of people around here for them to have me host their site.

jibbajabba

Not a hack .. "all" you need to do is becoming a Service Provider - make no mistake - you still have to pay for them - just not retail price. Having said that - the are just the NFR licenses and not our production ones

Anyway - I don't run a $%& site on the Microserver but these are lab machines to study for virtualization exams.
I currently have a set of 4 running in an ESX Cluster (1 being a 2008R2 server running vCenter, ISCIS target etc. and 3 are in a cluster).

4 on order are for a Citrix lab .. Bear in mind - here in the UK we just pay £178 or $278 each including tax (HP offers cashback here) - so these server are a no-brainer and I personally don't have to add any more money to them as I have access to raid cards / memory and disks anyway ...

networkjutsu

If you ever decide to build a beefier box then check this build. I recently bought mine. I'll be setting up my Openfiler box this weekend. Had to transfer a lot of files.

If someone does end up building the same one, I just want to warn you that you might need an older CPU just to flash the BIOS so it'll work with Ivy Bridge. The motherboard that I received was already flashed to 2.xx so E3-1230 V2 was not a problem.

Lian Li PC-V351B
Supermicro MBD-X9SCL+-F
Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D
Kingston 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered
Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2 Ivy Bridge

BroadcastStorm

networkjutsu wrote: »

If you ever decide to build a beefier box then check this build. I recently bought mine. I'll be setting up my Openfiler box this weekend. Had to transfer a lot of files.

If someone does end up building the same one, I just want to warn you that you might need an older CPU just to flash the BIOS so it'll work with Ivy Bridge. The motherboard that I received was already flashed to 2.xx so E3-1230 V2 was not a problem.

Lian Li PC-V351B
Supermicro MBD-X9SCL+-F
Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D
Kingston 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered
Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2 Ivy Bridge

Thanks for the post, that looks powerful, for now I am happy with the microserver, I don't see a need for a muscle server at the moment.

networkjutsu

BroadcastStorm wrote: »

Thanks for the post, that looks powerful, for now I am happy with the microserver, I don't see a need for a muscle server at the moment.

Yea, I've considered N40L for my VM needs but the 8GB limitation (IIRC) is not gonna work out for me. My current home server (6 core) has 16GB RAM already and I use Workstation to run VMs for different purposes - AD, proxy, Linux desktop, FTP server, and etc. Do I reach the 50% CPU utilization? Nope. But, I knew back then that once I find a better box to run ESXi it'll be my main desktop. Truthfully, that build can run ESXi but decided against it. It wasn't really a "true" whitebox since it'll only work with ESXi using a specific BIOS version. This new home server will also serve as my hardware to run ESXi within ESXi if I ever need to do it. I am hoping my VCP class that will start in ~2 weeks will cover all of the lab work for me to pass the VCP exam.

BroadcastStorm

Oh nice are you doing it online or are you going to a local class?

networkjutsu

BroadcastStorm wrote: »

Oh nice are you doing it online or are you going to a local class?

Online. It's going to be 40 miles from work if I choose to go to local class. Didn't really want to drive that long and be stuck in traffic as well.

BroadcastStorm

I didn't know Virtualbox runs on top of OS.

I was thinking it was baremetal something similar to Windows and ESXi.

Oracle was not thinking outside the box, VM player is a free solution, I wish there's an open source ESXi type Virtualization platform tsk.

jibbajabba

Citrix XenServer, Microsoft Hyper-V Server, CentOS / RedHat KVM ... all free, and I am sure there are more to choose from (Hyper-V is free only as hyper visor and not as a role, the former being Server Corr only.)

BroadcastStorm

jibbajabba wrote: »

Citrix XenServer, Microsoft Hyper-V Server, CentOS / RedHat KVM ... all free, and I am sure there are more to choose from (Hyper-V is free only as hyper visor and not as a role, the former being Server Corr only.)

Which one is the most used by companies?

jibbajabba

Likely neither - don't think companies using the free version unless it is in a lab - and then it is a "how long is a string" question - likely depends on the mood / experience of the admin who is implementing it .. As for the premium product : again, it depends.

Based on my experience with Service Provider / Hoster / Corporates

Service Provider offering high performance virtual machines / private / public clouds : VMware
Service Provider offering Cheap-as-s** virtual machines : KVM or Xen (CentOS Xen, not Citrix)
Corporates : Depending on license cost .. I have seen corporates with 500+ hosts running VMware and 500+ hosts Citrix
VDI implementation : Big scenarios including application streaming / stateless desktop : Likely Citrix, small VDI deployments with existing VMware infrastructure : VMware View
Pure Corporate running solely on Windows : Server : Hyper-V, VDI : Who kows.

All "Swings and roundabouts / between a rock and a hard place / how long is a string" scenarios .. And that doesn't even cover the discussion whether these companies use FC or ISCSI ...

Bottom line is .. if you intention is to do this for the purpose of certifications - then there is only one solution : YOU decide .. to be good / great in the job you are doing, you have to enjoy it .. if Windows is your passion and you love all pieces of Software Redmond produces, try Hyper-V first.

But personally I'd just try any product, see how you get on and see if you enjoy working with it .. Once you find a piece which you like / love - stick with it and become a professional ..

Jobs in virtualization are available for either technology - so YOU have to make sure YOU love it

MentholMoose

jibbajabba wrote: »

Not a hack .. "all" you need to do is becoming a Service Provider - make no mistake - you still have to pay for them - just not retail price.

There are different partner levels with varying prices, and last I checked the prices vary by region. The NFR licenses you get vary by the level. My employer is "TAP Elite" level, which seems worse than SP as I get a 40 CPU Enterprise Plus license versus your 800 CPUs!

Anyway, here's a screen shot from my latest build. I normally try to run as many VMs as possible:

It's running pretty good but CPU-intensive stuff can bog it down (the C-60 CPU is usually used in netbooks, and it doesn't go a long way, even overclocked to 1.1 GHz). Still, for an $80 CPU/mobo combo + $70 RAM I can't complain.

jibbajabba

MentholMoose wrote: »

There are different partner levels with varying prices <snip>

To be fair - I am not even sure which keys they were - once you get into the partner portal you got them all - NFR / "SPLA" and sorts - on the same page - the only difference being the CPU count and contract number - and to check which contract number relates to what is a nightmare - especially once you work in a big shop. It doesn't make it easier that you can combine all licenses into one key ..

We even got "VMware Standard for Cloud Provider" - which essentially adds features such as DRS / VDS / vCloud Director and even VMware gets confused when asking license specific questions

qwertyiop

BroadcastStorm wrote: »

I didn't know Virtualbox runs on top of OS.

I was thinking it was baremetal something similar to Windows and ESXi.

Oracle was not thinking outside the box, VM player is a free solution, I wish there's an open source ESXi type Virtualization platform tsk.

If your looking for a Open Source hypervisor id look into Proxmox - Proxmox VE

http://www.proxmox.com/products/proxmox-ve/comparison