

If you need to perform VMware vSphere H.A Cluster, vCenter Server is necessary to achieve high availability of virtual machines in cluster. Therefore, an enterprise user may probably not consider the free version of VMware ESXi. Unfortunately, there's no free version of vCenter.

īesides VMware vSphere Hypervisor, vCenter Server is the main management component which adds a range of advanced features such as vMotion, DRS, Software-defined storage (vSAN), High-Availability, cluster ESXi servers, upgrade Manager, etc. You cannot manage virtual machines through vCenter Server. This free version of ESXi provided some convenience such as not limiting physical memory and the number of cores per CPU. Taking the latest vSphere 7.0 as example, VMware has also released a free version of ESXi, which changes hardware support and the disk layout of the ESXi drive, and the rest remains unchanged. However, this free version of ESXi also has some limitations on features, which can be found in the next part. You can decide for yourself whether the free version is suitable for your needs and environment. It is a 100% free Hypervisor provided by VMware with no expiration date, and is great for home or light usage. If you are looking for a completely free version of ESXi, then the VMware Free license would be the best answer here. When you install ESXi, the default activation is the VMware Evaluation license, which allows you to free use all ESXi features of Enterprise Plus for 60 days. But in case all your business stops after that time limit, you still need to get and apply a license. VMware offers a great option for ESXi hypervisors to download a free version of ESXi, and the process is quite flexible.
