If one looks at the various Home Server and Virtualzation Forums on the net, I noticed there are a lot of home virtual users either looking too or already jumping ship from ESXi to Xen, KVM and Hyper-V.

 

I have only used licensed copies of ESXi and haven't spoken to our VMware rep yet. However, from what I understand...

 

With ESXi 5.5 you have to run your VMs with virtual machine version 8. The features you gain with virtual machine version 10 (VMs with large capacity virtual disks, mapping USB 3.0 ports to VMs, better GPU handling, vSphere Flash Read Cache, etc.) cannot be used once the 60 license expires since you need vSphere Web Client.

 

What it sounds like is you end up with is a free product that can only be managed by a paid, licensed product.

 

Are most of you purchasing VMware Workstation 10 or VMware vSphere Essentials Kits?

 

 

I don't virtualize UnRAID, but the list of added features above doesn't seem to have any impact on a virtualized UnRAID.    The GPU is essentially irrelevant;  with passed-through controllers you're using native disks;  and whether UnRAID uses a USB2 or USB3 interface makes very little (if any) difference.

 

Am I missing something else here?    I agree that if you're also running VM's that would take advantage of the better GPU capabilities that would be an advantage -- but from what I've read on this forum I suspect virtually everyone who's running virtualized UnRAID is using the free version of ESXi.

 

You can still manage the host with vSphere client, you just don't get the new v10 vm features.

 

5.5 free lifted the 32Gb memory limit, so if anything, it's added a feature.  Admittedly, if you want access to the new v10 virtual machines and other features, you do need a paid license and a vCenter server, but otherwise you have the same functionality as in 5.0/5.1 with the added benefit of lifting the memory limit.

 

VMware have done some curious things I'll admit - if a user mistakenly creates a v10 machine while on the 60 day trial, or upgrades an existing one, then once the trial has expired, they can no longer edit its settings etc... however as long as a user does their research and sticks with the v8 vm's, it's all good.

 

To be honest, I can't think of a scenario where I'd want any of the new features of the v10 VM's in my home lab anyway... although I do have access to enterprise licensing if I ever did find a need.

I have been doing a lot of research on this issue.  There is a website called Tinkertry.com.  This person seems to know a lot about the new vmware 5.5

 

He has a "recepie" where when the 60 day trial ends, its and hour to a full rebuild, and you don't loose all your VM's and its settings.

 

The link is here:  http://www.tinkertry.com/installvsphere55/  He has a youtube video with in the article that takes you through the whole process and ... it takes only an hour.

 

The cost of vspere with support is 1,268.  You have to rebuild 6 times a year.  even if you bill at $65.00 per hour, 65*6 is $395 dollars for the year.  Even if you bill at double that rate ($130 per hour) that is still $780 for the year.  Much cheaper than 1268.  And you get all the neat features for free.  I would not do this for a production environment, but for a lab, why not?

 

-- Sideband Samurai

I would not do this for a production environment, but for a lab, why not?

 

I'd vote for not!

 

...because it might be violating the license you accepted during the first installation event.

The fact that you technically or operationally can circumvent the effect of the restrictions, does not

mean you are living/acting within the binding license agreement.

Why not just stick to runninig 5.1? It has all the features needed, if you can live with 32GB of RAM.

Why not just stick to runninig 5.1? It has all the features needed, if you can live with 32GB of RAM.

 

but you don't have to.

 

Free 5.5 will work just fine and continue to do so after 60 days trial.

all you need to remember is to avoid the extra functions that go dark after 60 days.

like:

1. do not create v10 VM. make sure to choose v8 on new VM creation.

2. load the control utility and use it instead of vsphere or webSphere for management.

3. stick to the limitations of the free version when using the system.

 

all of that will work after the free trial and you still get an updated APIs.

 

 

I'm running ESXi 5.5 (free), unRAID set with a passed through IBM M1115 (flashed as an LSI 9211-8i).

Why not just stick to runninig 5.1? It has all the features needed, if you can live with 32GB of RAM.

 

 

2. load the control utility and use it instead of vsphere or webSphere for management.

 

 

When you say load the control utility are you referring to Vsphere Client, because I was under the impression that Vsphere client would not function after the 60 day trial and you are required to used the webclient that only works with purchased vsphere server license.

When you say load the control utility are you referring to Vsphere Client, because I was under the impression that Vsphere client would not function after the 60 day trial and you are required to used the webclient that only works with purchased vsphere server license.

 

The vSphere client will not expire with the free version, it just does not support some of the new features.

 

In saying that you must register with VMWare to get a free licence (different to trial mode)

Why not just stick to runninig 5.1? It has all the features needed, if you can live with 32GB of RAM.

 

 

2. load the control utility and use it instead of vsphere or webSphere for management.

 

 

When you say load the control utility are you referring to Vsphere Client, because I was under the impression that Vsphere client would not function after the 60 day trial and you are required to used the webclient that only works with purchased vsphere server license.

 

 

no, there is a management client (not vSphere) that you can get same place you download the ESXi from. it is a separate download and windows only.

 

it is the same type of client VMWare used for v5.0

it is limited, and does not give you all the options of vSphere but for basic management it works.

I have found this out when I try to setup 5.5 on my server.

it did not work for me (my hardware does not fully support IOMMU so I can not use it for running unraid)  but it was fun trying it out.

Ok, so to clear up some confusion, there is the free vSphere Client (Windows only) and the paid for vSphere Server (which runs the web client)

 

vSphere Client has enough functionality to perform all operations necessary to run an unRAID server, provided that your motherboard and CPU support PCI passthrough.

 

The 60 day trial is different to the free licence, which can be obtained for free from the VMWare website.

 

I recommend if you plan on using the free licence, add it from the start as it will start limiting the features before you use them and not take them away after everything is setup.

 

I recommend if you plan on using the free licence, add it from the start as it will start limiting the features before you use them and not take them away after everything is setup.

 

Good suggestion.

I would not do this for a production environment, but for a lab, why not?

 

I'd vote for not!

 

...because it might be violating the license you accepted during the first installation event.

The fact that you technically or operationally can circumvent the effect of the restrictions, does not

mean you are living/acting within the binding license agreement.

 

Really you just said that.  when the idea of the 60 day trial is to kick the tires.  There is nothing in the EULA that says you cant test how a bare metal restore works, which includes re-installing the system  to understand what happens when you perform such a function after it happens?  BTW there is nothing in the EULA that says you "Cant re-install" or re-install that same download on to another server.

 

How do you test HA and all the other features?

 

On the other hand, I agree, if you stay with hardware version 8, you will be ok using the standard windows client.  Just like on Version 5.1

Just ditch esxi and use KVM or Xen. Both are free and work just the same. Even hyper-v.

 

You get all the latest stuff and its not crippleware.

 

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