VMware revives its free ESXi hypervisor • The Register

VMware has resumed providing a free hypervisor.

Information of the providing emerged in throwaway line within the Release Notes for model 8.0 Replace 3e of the Broadcom enterprise unit’s ESXi hypervisor.

Slightly below the “What’s New” part of that doc is the assertion “Broadcom makes obtainable the VMware vSphere Hypervisor model 8, an entry-level hypervisor. You may obtain it freed from cost from the Broadcom Assist portal.”

We’ve requested VMware for particulars concerning the new launch and its capabilities, however no additional data was obtainable on the time of writing.

VMware supplied a free model of ESXi for years, and it was beloved by house lab operators and vAdmins who wanted one thing to tinker with. However in February 2024 VMware discontinued it on grounds that it was dropping perpetual licenses and shifting to subscriptions.

If you wish to attempt the hypervisor, you’ll have to be a registered with Broadcom’s buyer assist portal to obtain it. Sadly our virtualization desk’s house lab will not be presently operational, so whereas we’ve downloaded the .ISO file for the hypervisor, we’ve not been in a position to get it working. Suffice to say it doesn’t wish to run nested inside a desktop hypervisor.

Broadcom hasn’t defined why it’s reversed its determination.

It’s not laborious to guess at why: VMware retailers and companions of all sizes may want take a look at or coaching environments, however as Broadcom solely sells subscriptions (and tremendously favours three-year phrases) there’s no low cost approach to entry Virtzilla’s code. A modest freebie makes it extra seemingly the vCurious will do some tinkering that turns right into a sale. Free editions are additionally a means of constructing a expertise pool.

VMware’s rivals know this: Nutanix has had a free Group Version for years and Platform9 anounced one a few weeks again. Different VMware rivals are open supply, so their code is at all times free.

Whereas VMware has made its Workstation desktop hypervisor free, it lacked a no-cost server virtualization possibility.

Now it’s again within the sport.

The Register has additionally seen reports that Broadcom might have reversed the coverage that noticed one VMware distributor announce minimal license purchases rose from 16 to 72 cores. The reviews say the core flooring is again at 16, maybe to quell buyer ire.

SmartNIC/DPU replace

In VMware-adjacent information, readers might bear in mind the vSphere Distributed Providers Engine that offloads workloads like firewalls from the CPU to an information processing unit (DPU aka SmartNIC).

Hyperscalers have used DPUs for years to run community and safety companies. VMware hoped the Distributed Providers Engine would see DPUs turn out to be widespread in its prospects’ extra modest datacenters.

Analyst agency Crehan Analysis final week teased a report suggesting mainstream adoption of DPUs will not be occurring and that AWS and Azure collectively account for round two thirds of purchases, with Alibaba, CoreWeave, Google, IBM, Oracle and xAI the opposite huge consumers.

“DPU/SmartNIC adoption has, up to now, been principally inside firms that lease server capabilities to prospects, and has not but seen broad penetration into markets past this,” stated Seamus Crehan, president of Crehan Analysis. “Nevertheless, we’re seeing new improvements, use instances and deployment fashions akin to DPU-enabled Ethernet switches and CPU substitute, which ought to broaden the client base.”

Nvidia can be eager on DPUs and suggests them as a effective device to hurry efficiency of AI workloads. Possibly DPUs will catch that wave, too. ®