ESXi Licence - question.

[mattx]

I've having a real problem interpreting the actual T & Cs on the ESXi license.

I have a key which states I can apply to 5 hosts. Great - I've applied it to 3 so far. What is there to stop me applying it to more than 5 ( as I can't see within my profile this number going down ) and also as this is a free product surly I can simply keep using it. I would appreciate if anyone has an actual understanding of the ESXi license ( in regards to deploying it )

 

Quote:

This license key can be deployed on an unlimited number of physical hosts, but is restricted to deployment on less than or equal to 1 Physical Servers.

 

Does this mean you can't install it on a host host ? ( I.E. - install it on a server, and then create another install on that server ? )

Edited May 12, 2014 by mattx

[cpjitservices]

You can use it as you like if you are using the free version of ESXi, however there are some drawbacks.. like the free version of VEEAM likes you to pay for your license so you dont get scheduled backups etc. Aslong as you dont go over the specs stated: (It won't let you)

 

Requirements

CPU

Minimum: single socket, dual core

Ideal: dual socket, four or more cores per CPU

Memory

Minimum: 4GB

Ideal: 8GB or more

Network

Minimum: one network adapter, plus one for management interface

Ideal: one network adapter for management interface, plus multiple adapters for virtual machines

Local Storage (SATA/SAS)

Minimum: one 80GB drive

Ideal: two mirrored drives, plus four RAID 5 drives for virtual machines

Shared Storage

NFS, iSCSI or Fibre Channel for virtual machine storage

Specifications

Unlimited number of cores per physical CPU

Unlimited number of physical CPUs per host

Maximum vCPUs per virtual machine: eight

Limitation of 32GB RAM limit per server/host has been removed from the free Hypervisor.

Operating system support: Microsoft OS (18 versions), Linux (54 versions), Mac OS X 10, Solaris, FreeBSD, etc. (See a complete list of supported versions.)

- See more at: Free Virtualization with VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) | VMware United Kingdom

[mattx]

You can use it as you like if you are using the free version of ESXi, however there are some drawbacks.. like the free version of VEEAM likes you to pay for your license so you dont get scheduled backups etc. Aslong as you dont go over the specs stated: (It won't let you)

 

Requirements

CPU

Minimum: single socket, dual core

Ideal: dual socket, four or more cores per CPU

Memory

Minimum: 4GB

Ideal: 8GB or more

Network

Minimum: one network adapter, plus one for management interface

Ideal: one network adapter for management interface, plus multiple adapters for virtual machines

Local Storage (SATA/SAS)

Minimum: one 80GB drive

Ideal: two mirrored drives, plus four RAID 5 drives for virtual machines

Shared Storage

NFS, iSCSI or Fibre Channel for virtual machine storage

Specifications

Unlimited number of cores per physical CPU

Unlimited number of physical CPUs per host

Maximum vCPUs per virtual machine: eight

Limitation of 32GB RAM limit per server/host has been removed from the free Hypervisor.

Operating system support: Microsoft OS (18 versions), Linux (54 versions), Mac OS X 10, Solaris, FreeBSD, etc. (See a complete list of supported versions.)

- See more at: Free Virtualization with VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) | VMware United Kingdom

 

Thanks for that ( already knew the limits ) - but still wondering why it states you have 5 licenses. Very odd, and not clear at all - my concern is that if I stick ESXi on a load more servers ( for example - 15 ) - am I then breaking some license agreement.

[cpjitservices]

I've never come across this '5' license issue, I for example have a server running ESXi free and have about 20 vm's on that machine. I've used it on more than 5 servers at a a time too. Never had any hassle. Never seen the 5 license before... whoops.