ESXi vs. VMWare Server (Is ESXi right for me?)

[peterlorimer]

Hi

I used ESX 3.5 for a long time then upgraded to ESXi V4 and wow no Web interface and no way of copying ISOs or backing up VMs off site. However after Googling for a while I found out you can type the word 'unsupported' on the main ESX screen. This opens up an Ash shell, or Busybox which allowed me to go in and activate the ssh server, it is already there but disabled. Of course doing this means I get no support whatsoever from VMWARE but hey, I was never one for calling support anyway, all i need is IRC.

Next up I could set up the Vswitches e.t.c old style using the shell but what I did was this.

Downloaded the 30 day trial of VMware Workstation for linux, created an XP PRO VM, then played it in the free vmplayer, used the XP VM to download Vsphere Client and used it to connect to ESX. After my 30 day trial I was forced to buy it for $900 which I was not happy about but it is a reasonably good app.

However I got a second server and realized my licence was for 2 servers 2 processors and 6 cores. My first server had 2 quad cores so my licence was invalid.

Now I've put Ubuntu on the second server and Vmware Workstation. I'm going to create all my VMs in advance and play them on VMplayer before my licence expires. Either that or pay $180 for a workstation licence.

I've noticed no performance issues in fact workstation/server is better because if i run out of space I simply add a USB drive and mount it. That is not possible with ESXi

I'm happy with that

[PilotJLR]

What did you buy for $900? The vSphere Client is free. ESXi is free as well.

[peterlorimer]

VSphere Client. It was free but disabled itself after 60 days. Then you have to buy a licence from Vmware. That was 2 months ago.
Here is the Vmware page

https://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/ind...p=vsphere&lp=1

[PilotJLR]

VSphere Client. It was free but disabled itself after 60 days. Then you have to buy a licence from Vmware. That was 2 months ago.
Here is the Vmware page

https://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/ind...p=vsphere&lp=1

No, that's not true. I sell and design VMware at my job. You probably bought a couple sockets of vSphere, which would including licensing for additional features and a vCenter Agent.

vSphere Client itself is free. With standalone ESXi hosts (no vMotion, no DRS, no HA, no vCenter), your total cost would be zero.

[PilotJLR]

Just to clarify - what likely expired was ESXi. You need to provide that with a license, but they give you free serial numbers for that.
If you've deployed vCenter, then you would need a non-free license after 60 days every time. vCenter is not required for standalone hosts with none of the vSphere feature set.

[asv]

Any word on a Vpshere Linux client yet? It seems like people have been waiting years for it..

[zaphod777]

Any word on a Vpshere Linux client yet? It seems like people have been waiting years for it..

Not as far as I know I think from what I understand the problem is it was written in .net and would need a complete re-write to work in Linux. Or something like that. You might be able to get it to work in Wine but I have never tried.

At work I had to use a Windows machine anyway to use all of the Active Directory Management tools.

[qhash]

Hi guys,

I am new to the forum as I found that thread researching on a configuration I have to create so maybe it is a good time to say hello

Moving to the point - as the thread title states - is the ESXi right for me?

My company is going to install a new server and I have to virtualize it to have several machines running on 1 HW:

VM #1 DC
VM #2 Exchange
VM #3 Fileserver (small shares, very few people using it <10)
VM #4 Webserver
VM #5 Dev/tests

The virtualization technology must be free. I came to the point where I wanted to install a VMServer on a debian, but then two problems arised - performance (server will be 1 CPU, Xeon4c,12GB ram) and my very little knowledge in linux. That's why I thought about ESXi, but as I have no experience in virtualization except I used VMWorkstation and I had some contact with WMServer, will it create a lot of problems to me? If I can't backup the whole machine on the fly, without stopping it, can I just backup the data from within the guest OS to an external storage using ESXi? And how do I actually manage VMs using ESXi (working on the free option of ESXi)?

[zaphod777]

Hi guys,

I am new to the forum as I found that thread researching on a configuration I have to create so maybe it is a good time to say hello

Moving to the point - as the thread title states - is the ESXi right for me?

My company is going to install a new server and I have to virtualize it to have several machines running on 1 HW:

VM #1 DC
VM #2 Exchange
VM #3 Fileserver (small shares, very few people using it <10)
VM #4 Webserver
VM #5 Dev/tests

The virtualization technology must be free. I came to the point where I wanted to install a VMServer on a debian, but then two problems arised - performance (server will be 1 CPU, Xeon4c,12GB ram) and my very little knowledge in linux. That's why I thought about ESXi, but as I have no experience in virtualization except I used VMWorkstation and I had some contact with WMServer, will it create a lot of problems to me? If I can't backup the whole machine on the fly, without stopping it, can I just backup the data from within the guest OS to an external storage using ESXi? And how do I actually manage VMs using ESXi (working on the free option of ESXi)?

ESXi is probably the easiest but if you have no experience on virtualization you are setting yourself up for a world of hurt. Look into a product called Vmware Converter it is useful for creating the VM's.

Otherwise you can probably use clonezilla to backup the machines and restore them in vmware.

Vmware converter can backup server while they are running but it is better to do it when they are shutdown. Also I believe MS doesn't recommend DC's or Exchange as a VM.

If you feel like you are in over your head if you buy ESX then you can get support from VMware they have great support.

MS Server 2008 also has Hyper-V built in for virtualization so that may be easier too since you know MS stuff.

[qhash]

Thanks a lot for your comment. Do you know why Exchange is not recommended for VMs? I have seen many people doing that. Is it a performance issue? My server will not be heavily loaded, I think until the end of2011 there will not be more than 20 ppl using it, and I think it will be rather 15. Same goes for DC, but actually it may happen there won't be a domain used at all.

Then, maybe Virtualization is not needed for me at all, I just wanted to seperate web server from our more "internal" use servers, and DC/Exchange 2007+ need to be installed on two machines, can not work together.

Moreover, now the virtualization is actually not a must for us, but I would like to be ready, because it may be a need in 2011/2012.