ESXi Installation Requirements

                                ESXi Installation Requirements

    A) VMware ESXi:

-          Runs directly on your hardware

-          It is “the operation System”

-          Talks directly to your hardware including NIC and storage controller

    B) Requirements:

-          64-bit CPU with Intel VT or AMD-V enabled

-          2098MB of ram is minimum but likely you’ll want  8GB+

-          Gig-E or 10 Gig-Ethernet controller

ESXi Installation Requirements:

·         vSphere 5.0 support booting ESXi hosts from the Unified Extensile Firmware interface (UEFI).With UEFI you can boot systems from hard drives, CD-ROM drives, or USB media.

·         ESXi can boot from a disk larger than 2TB provided that the system firmware and the firmware on any addin card that you are using supports it.

·         Check hardware compatibility (HCL / HCG) at

www.vmware.com/go/hcl

·         For testing purposes only, it is possible to run ESXi in Workstation or Fusion

·         VMware Fault Tolerance (FT) has more specific hardware requirements

·         vSphere storage has it’s own set of requirements.

What Happened to ESX Server?

·         ESX server has been deprecated /discontinued

-       Redhat Linux-based service console required more frequent  updates and had a longer    attack surface.

-       Maintaining two platforms didn’t make sense

-       Took longer to install and boot

-       Used more resources

·         ESXi type- 1 hypervisor

-          Thinner

-          Less updates

-          More secure

-          Still has a very thin local CLI

-          Loads and install super – fast

-          Performs all the advanced features of ESX

        Downloading VMware ESXi :

·                                               vShere (with ESXi) is available with 60 day evolution                       

f                           from www.vmware.com/tryvmware

·                                                                                                                          or  

              if you have a registered license, just download the ISO                                 from www.vmware.com/download 

·                                         ESXi is a 32MB CD ISO

       Installing VMware ESXi 5:

1)   Burn ISO to CD and put in drive

2)   Make sure VT is enabled in server BIOS

3)   Boot the CD

4)   Answer installation question,reboot,and you are ready to use ESXi 5

5)   Perform initial configuration (recommended)

6)   Connect with vSphere Client!