{"id":1,"date":"2024-07-09T00:36:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T00:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?p=1"},"modified":"2024-10-30T17:26:22","modified_gmt":"2024-10-30T17:26:22","slug":"end-of-free-esxi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?p=1","title":{"rendered":"Broadcom ends free version of vSphere ESXi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like many IT professionals, my first experience with Virtualization was thanks to the desktop hypervisor VMware Workstation. The ability to test different operating systems on my desktop opened a new world of appliances, linux distros, and emulated environments. I outgrew what my PC was capable of in just a matter of months. In researching what to do, I came across the dedicated Hypervisor &#8211; vSphere ESXi. Even with the limitations of the early free versions (memory restrictions, vCenter) &#8211; it changed my view of how I would build infrastructure both for personal use and in my professional career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the last 15 years, vSphere has had a welcome place in my ever-evolving home lab. Today marks the last day of ESXi&#8217;s general availability and the last day of it running &#8220;production&#8221; in my home lab. Replaced with Nutanix&#8217;s AHV Community Edition, I won&#8217;t lie &#8211; it will be missed. As they say, off to better things and in this case, new challenges. I look forward to what Nutanix can offer and seeing what else is out there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Read the official announcement here: <a href=\"https:\/\/knowledge.broadcom.com\/external\/article\/345098\/end-of-general-availability-of-the-free.html\">End Of General Availability of the free vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi 7.x and 8.x) (broadcom.com)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For those still looking to run native vSphere disk images &#8211; you&#8217;re in luck. VMware Workstation is still available free for Personal Use. With desktops and workstations quickly surpassing 12 Cores\/64GB ram\/NVME &#8211; it&#8217;s still a viable option for testing. Although I prefer OVA at this point :).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.vmware.com\/workstation\/2024\/05\/vmware-workstation-pro-now-available-free-for-personal-use.html\">VMware Workstation Pro: Now Available Free for Personal Use &#8211; VMware Workstation Zealot<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8211; Marc<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Like many IT professionals, my first experience with Virtualization was thanks to the desktop hypervisor VMware Workstation. The ability to test different operating systems on my desktop opened a new world of appliances, linux distros, and emulated environments. I outgrew what my PC was capable of in just a matter of months. In researching what [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[5,6,7],"class_list":["post-1","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hypervisor","category-virtualization","tag-home-lab","tag-nutanix","tag-vmware"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Broadcom ends free version of vSphere ESXi - Found Infra<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"VMware ESXi end of Free vSphere\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?p=1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Broadcom ends free version of vSphere ESXi - Found Infra\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"VMware ESXi end of Free vSphere\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?p=1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Found Infra\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-09T00:36:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-30T17:26:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/vsphere_endofga.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"873\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"611\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Marc Heynderickx\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Marc Heynderickx\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/?p=1#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/?p=1\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Marc Heynderickx\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8f13e948dea602d3ef2d13b38d4a0dee\"},\"headline\":\"Broadcom ends free version of vSphere ESXi\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-09T00:36:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-30T17:26:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/?p=1\"},\"wordCount\":271,\"commentCount\":1,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/?p=1#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/vsphere_endofga.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Home Lab\",\"Nutanix\",\"VMware\"],\"articleSection\":[\"hypervisor\",\"virtualization\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/?p=1#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/?p=1\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/?p=1\",\"name\":\"Broadcom ends free version of vSphere ESXi - Found Infra\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/?p=1#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/?p=1#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/vsphere_endofga.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-09T00:36:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-30T17:26:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8f13e948dea602d3ef2d13b38d4a0dee\"},\"description\":\"VMware ESXi end of Free vSphere\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/?p=1#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/?p=1\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/?p=1#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/vsphere_endofga.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/vsphere_endofga.jpg\",\"width\":873,\"height\":611},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/?p=1#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Broadcom ends free version of vSphere ESXi\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Found Infra\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8f13e948dea602d3ef2d13b38d4a0dee\",\"name\":\"Marc Heynderickx\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ce82cae336ece34a82c01539b25bcef2be045be82dfe2266a49edbc16caa8e3c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ce82cae336ece34a82c01539b25bcef2be045be82dfe2266a49edbc16caa8e3c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ce82cae336ece34a82c01539b25bcef2be045be82dfe2266a49edbc16caa8e3c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Marc Heynderickx\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/foundinfra\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foundinfra.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Broadcom ends free version of vSphere ESXi - Found Infra","description":"VMware ESXi end of Free vSphere","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?p=1","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Broadcom ends free version of vSphere ESXi - Found Infra","og_description":"VMware ESXi end of Free vSphere","og_url":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?p=1","og_site_name":"Found Infra","article_published_time":"2024-07-09T00:36:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-10-30T17:26:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":873,"height":611,"url":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/vsphere_endofga.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Marc Heynderickx","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Marc Heynderickx","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?p=1#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?p=1"},"author":{"name":"Marc Heynderickx","@id":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8f13e948dea602d3ef2d13b38d4a0dee"},"headline":"Broadcom ends free version of vSphere ESXi","datePublished":"2024-07-09T00:36:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-30T17:26:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?p=1"},"wordCount":271,"commentCount":1,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?p=1#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/vsphere_endofga.jpg","keywords":["Home Lab","Nutanix","VMware"],"articleSection":["hypervisor","virtualization"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?p=1#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?p=1","url":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?p=1","name":"Broadcom ends free version of vSphere ESXi - Found Infra","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?p=1#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?p=1#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/vsphere_endofga.jpg","datePublished":"2024-07-09T00:36:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-30T17:26:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8f13e948dea602d3ef2d13b38d4a0dee"},"description":"VMware ESXi end of Free vSphere","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?p=1#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?p=1"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?p=1#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/vsphere_endofga.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/vsphere_endofga.jpg","width":873,"height":611},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?p=1#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Broadcom ends free version of vSphere ESXi"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/","name":"Found Infra","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8f13e948dea602d3ef2d13b38d4a0dee","name":"Marc Heynderickx","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ce82cae336ece34a82c01539b25bcef2be045be82dfe2266a49edbc16caa8e3c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ce82cae336ece34a82c01539b25bcef2be045be82dfe2266a49edbc16caa8e3c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ce82cae336ece34a82c01539b25bcef2be045be82dfe2266a49edbc16caa8e3c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Marc Heynderickx"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/foundinfra.com","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/foundinfra\/"],"url":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76,"href":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions\/76"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/53"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundinfra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}