It’s been a long debate that everyone has been asked by what is the difference between ESX and ESXi. Most of the admins would have asked this question during interviews and also asked by new learners of VMware virtualization. I decided to post on the topic to give architectural difference always as to compare the different level capabilities between ESX & ESXi along the tabular comparison to explain the difference between VMware ESX and ESXi. Even though ESX is no more available, I thought it would be helpful especially for the new administrators to understand the architectural difference between VMware ESX and ESXi.
Vmware Esxi 6.5 Version Comparison
Most of you are familiar with VMware ESX Server as it has been around for so many years. ESX Server offers the 'service console' built in and it is a rather large installation (in comparison to ESXi). The latest version of ESXi is 'thinner' and lacks the service console. VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus includes the full range of vSphere features for transforming datacenters into dramatically simplified cloud computing environments providing the next generation of flexible, reliable IT services.
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What is VMware ESX ?
ESX (Elastic Sky X) is the VMware’s enterprise server virtualization platform. In ESX, VMkernel is the virtualization kernel which is managed by a console operating system which is also called as Service console. Which is Linux based and its main purpose is it to provide a Management interface for the host and lot of management agents and other third-party software agents are installed on the service console to provide the functionalists like hardware management and monitoring of ESX hypervisor.
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What is VMware ESXi?
ESXi (Elastic sky X Integrated) is also the VMware’s enterprise server virtualization platform. In ESXi, Service console is removed. All the VMware related agents and third party agents such as management and monitoring agents can also run directly on the VMkernel. ESXi is a ultra-thin architecture which is highly reliable and its small code-base allows it to be more secure with fewer codes to patch. ESXi uses Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) instead of a service console to perform management of ESXi server. ESXi installation will happen very quickly as compared to ESX installation.
Vmware Esxi Version Comparison Guide
Difference between VMware ESX and ESXi
Vmware Esxi Version Comparison Chart
ESX | |
|---|---|
Service Console | Removed |
Service Console | |
Active Director Authentication | Enabled |
Not Supported | |
Management Network | VMKernel Interface |
Supported | |
Hardware Montioring | Via CIM Providers |
Supported in ESX | |
Software patches and updates | Few patches because of small footprint and more secure |
Only experimental | |
Locked Down Mode | Present. Lockdown mode prevents remote users to log into the host |
Supported | |
vMA Support | Yes |
esxcfg- | |
Rapid deployment via Auto Deploy | Supported |
Not supported | |
VMkernel Network Used for | Management Network, vMotion, Fault Tolerance, Storage Connectivity, ISCSI port binding |
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