VMware vSphere / ESXi
Enterprise virtualization on the ESXi hypervisor with vCenter management.
paid desktop download
What it is
VMware vSphere is enterprise-grade virtualization on the ESXi hypervisor plus vCenter. It consolidates workloads into VMs and manages clusters with vMotion, HA and DRS for resilient data-centre infrastructure.
Problems it solves
- Critical workloads need a proven, type-1 hypervisor with broad vendor support.
- Virtual machines must move between hosts and balance load with no downtime.
- Many hosts and clusters need central management.
How administrators use it
- Run ESXi on hosts and manage them centrally through vCenter.
- Use vMotion, HA and DRS for live migration, failover and load balancing.
- Integrate with enterprise backup such as Veeam.
Strengths & trade-offs
Strengths
- Mature, widely supported and feature-rich.
- vMotion, HA and DRS.
- Large partner and tooling ecosystem.
Trade-offs
- Proprietary; Broadcom moved to core-based subscriptions.
- The free ESXi tier has been discontinued.
Questions
Is there still a free ESXi?
No — the standalone free ESXi edition has been discontinued.
What is vCenter?
The central management server that administers multiple ESXi hosts and unlocks vMotion, HA and DRS.
Alternatives
Proxmox VE
Open-source server virtualization: KVM virtual machines and LXC containers.
open source desktop download
Veeam Backup & Replication Enterprise backup and replication for virtual, physical and cloud workloads.
freemium desktop download
ManageEngine Endpoint Central Unified endpoint management: patching, deployment, MDM, on-prem or cloud.
freemium hybrid