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VMware vSphere / ESXi

Enterprise virtualization on the ESXi hypervisor with vCenter management.

Paid Desktop download

Reviewed by Paul Jens Handschuh, Network administrator Updated 2026-11-05

Official site www.vmware.com
Platforms
ESXi (type-1 hypervisor), vCenter, web client
Licence
Paid — proprietary (Broadcom)
Price
Core-based subscription; free ESXi discontinued
Category
RMM, endpoints & virtualization
Updated
2026-11-05

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 removes

  • 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.
VMware ESXi host client summary
Screenshot: Wikipedia (fair use, © VMware/Broadcom). Non-free.

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.

Common 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.

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