Which version of ESXi should i use?

pinkydapimppinkydapimp Member Posts: 732 ■■■■■□□□□□
So i am working on building my lab and plan on using ESXi. I was curious as to which version i should use? Any pros/cons regarding any of the versions?

Comments

  • blargoeblargoe Member Posts: 4,174 ■■■■■■■■■□
    I don't think you'll have much of a choice on which version if you're getting an evaluation copy, you're probably getting the latest version (5.1).
    IT guy since 12/00

    Recent: 11/2019 - RHCSA (RHEL 7); 2/2019 - Updated VCP to 6.5 (just a few days before VMware discontinued the re-cert policy...)
    Working on: RHCE/Ansible
    Future: Probably continued Red Hat Immersion, Possibly VCAP Design, or maybe a completely different path. Depends on job demands...
  • aaron0011aaron0011 Member Posts: 330
    5.1 gives you the latest features and is plenty stable. I've had it in production for 3 months now running a variety of the advanced features with no problems.
  • EV42TMANEV42TMAN Member Posts: 256
    if you're using a dell r720 server don't run updates for 5.1 on it. it will knock out your network adapters. I found that out the hard way....
    Current Certification Exam: ???
    Future Certifications: CCNP Route Switch, CCNA Datacenter, random vendor training.
  • slinuxuzerslinuxuzer Member Posts: 665 ■■■■□□□□□□
    5.1 enterprise plus for sure, unless you have a need to test something specific in a lower revision.
  • pinkydapimppinkydapimp Member Posts: 732 ■■■■■□□□□□
    Well, i plan to run the free version. Does that limit my options? I believe certain versions only give you an evaluation correct?

    Also, are there major differences in version 4 and 5? Is it worth running 4 to learn it, then upgrading to learn how to do that as well?
  • dave330idave330i Member Posts: 2,091 ■■■■■■■■■■
    If you're using eval version, you're limited to 5.1.
    2018 Certification Goals: Maybe VMware Sales Cert
    "Simplify, then add lightness" -Colin Chapman
  • pinkydapimppinkydapimp Member Posts: 732 ■■■■■□□□□□
    dave330i wrote: »
    If you're using eval version, you're limited to 5.1.

    ok thanks. that eval version doesnt expire correct?
  • dave330idave330i Member Posts: 2,091 ■■■■■■■■■■
    ok thanks. that eval version doesnt expire correct?

    Eval is good for 60 days.
    2018 Certification Goals: Maybe VMware Sales Cert
    "Simplify, then add lightness" -Colin Chapman
  • pinkydapimppinkydapimp Member Posts: 732 ■■■■■□□□□□
    dave330i wrote: »
    Eval is good for 60 days.

    isnt there a completely free version?
  • aaron0011aaron0011 Member Posts: 330
    isnt there a completely free version?

    As a basic standalone hypervisor the eval will continue to run after 60 days. No advanced features though.
  • EV42TMANEV42TMAN Member Posts: 256
    the free version of esxi 5.1 limits the host to 1 cpu and 32 gigs of ram and is only good for one host. you won't get any of the advanced features but if you only have one host you can use the advanced features anyways. if you're going to run more then 1 cpu or want the advanced features then you'll need VMware Online Store - Product Information
    Current Certification Exam: ???
    Future Certifications: CCNP Route Switch, CCNA Datacenter, random vendor training.
  • scott28ttscott28tt Member Posts: 686 ■■■■■□□□□□
    What are you planning on using your lab for?
    VCP2 / VCP3 / VCP4 / VCP5 / VCAP4-DCA / VCI / vExpert 2010-2012
    Blog - http://vmwaretraining.blogspot.com
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  • blargoeblargoe Member Posts: 4,174 ■■■■■■■■■□
    I was wrong about not being able to get the 4.1 free version, you can register for a free license key for that version. The only reason I could think of going with 4.1 over 5.x would be the memory limitation that was imposed in 5.x free edition, (32GB, I think). If that isn't a problem for you, I would just go with 5.1.
    IT guy since 12/00

    Recent: 11/2019 - RHCSA (RHEL 7); 2/2019 - Updated VCP to 6.5 (just a few days before VMware discontinued the re-cert policy...)
    Working on: RHCE/Ansible
    Future: Probably continued Red Hat Immersion, Possibly VCAP Design, or maybe a completely different path. Depends on job demands...
  • pinkydapimppinkydapimp Member Posts: 732 ■■■■■□□□□□
    scott28tt wrote: »
    What are you planning on using your lab for?

    Im going to be using it to host a bunch of VMs(2008 server, exchange, sharepoint, unix....) and play with them.
  • pinkydapimppinkydapimp Member Posts: 732 ■■■■■□□□□□
    blargoe wrote: »
    I was wrong about not being able to get the 4.1 free version, you can register for a free license key for that version. The only reason I could think of going with 4.1 over 5.x would be the memory limitation that was imposed in 5.x free edition, (32GB, I think). If that isn't a problem for you, I would just go with 5.1.

    I read somewhere that you cant clone VMs in 5.1, is that a limitation in 4.1? Any way around the cloning limitation?
  • sratakhinsratakhin Member Posts: 818
    You can clone VMs in 5.1.
  • blargoeblargoe Member Posts: 4,174 ■■■■■■■■■□
    You can't clone anything unless you're using vCenter Server to manage everything (which you won't be, unless you're paying for a license or are using a 60-day vSphere evaluation). There are ways to manually copy the VM files to another folder and edit them to create a copy of your VM, though, but it's kind of a pain if you have to do it very much.
    IT guy since 12/00

    Recent: 11/2019 - RHCSA (RHEL 7); 2/2019 - Updated VCP to 6.5 (just a few days before VMware discontinued the re-cert policy...)
    Working on: RHCE/Ansible
    Future: Probably continued Red Hat Immersion, Possibly VCAP Design, or maybe a completely different path. Depends on job demands...
  • dave330idave330i Member Posts: 2,091 ■■■■■■■■■■
    Needed to grab a fresh copy of vCenter for VCAP-CID prep and it seems vCenter eval isn't available for download at this time. Best I can tell, it'll be part of the VMware vSphere with Operation Management which isn't ready.
    2018 Certification Goals: Maybe VMware Sales Cert
    "Simplify, then add lightness" -Colin Chapman
  • jibbajabbajibbajabba Member Posts: 4,317 ■■■■■■■■□□
    dave330i wrote: »
    Needed to grab a fresh copy of vCenter for VCAP-CID prep and it seems vCenter eval isn't available for download at this time. Best I can tell, it'll be part of the VMware vSphere with Operation Management which isn't ready.

    It sure is available on its own

    https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/evalcenter?p=vmware-vsphere-ops&lp=1

    And once signed up / logged in



    Just noticed one thing when looking at those screens myself - I remember the vSphere client being less than 80MB in size .. now its 300+ ... impressive.
    My own knowledge base made public: http://open902.com :p
  • dave330idave330i Member Posts: 2,091 ■■■■■■■■■■
    jibbajabba wrote: »
    It sure is available on its own

    https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/evalcenter?p=vmware-vsphere-ops&lp=1

    And once signed up / logged in



    Just noticed one thing when looking at those screens myself - I remember the vSphere client being less than 80MB in size .. now its 300+ ... impressive.

    My bad. It was vCenter eval license key I couldn't find. Not sure why I thought vCenter server itself wasn't available.
    2018 Certification Goals: Maybe VMware Sales Cert
    "Simplify, then add lightness" -Colin Chapman
  • jibbajabbajibbajabba Member Posts: 4,317 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Ah :) vCenter and full ESXi doesn't need a key - 60 days eval without any keys :)
    My own knowledge base made public: http://open902.com :p
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