Is there enough support for ESXi already

3 November, 2009

We all know that the future version of vSphere will probably only be the ESXi version. At least, this is what VMware’s aim is for ESX5. Because it is wise to already get used to ESXi now to get more familiar with the absence of the Service Console, I was trying to switch my home lab of three ESX hosts to ESXi. While preparing for this I ran into some compatibility issues with appliances that don’t support ESXi (yet).

To make more people aware of the software that can and cannot work with ESXi yet, I decided to set up a list of all software that is not yet ESXi compatible. I hope it can help you in your migration to ESXi. If you have additions to the list, please write them in the comments so that I can edit this post.

Note 1: Since the Free ESXi version (no license, no vCenter) has quite a number of limitations, it is left out of the view. In the table below we’re only looking at the licensed (full feature) ESXi version.

Note 2: If an application supports ESXi, this doesn’t imply that ESXi supports the application !!! Always check VMware’s HCL especially for virtual storage.

Software Version Vendor Support Remark
Backup & Replication 3.1 / 4 Veeam YES Backup and replication software, fully supports ESXi
Veeam Monitor, Veeam Reporter Enterprise, Veeam Configurator, Veeam/nworks SPI and MP Veeam YES All products support ESXi
vRanger Pro 4.0 / 4.1 Vizioncore NO Backup software. No support
vConverter Vizioncore YES P2V / V2P software
esXpress 3.6.x PHDvirtual NO Backup software. No support
SvSAN StorMagic NO Virtual Storage on your local ESX disks (in some PDF’s ESXi is mentioned, but in QuickStart it is specifically excluded)
Lefthand P4000 VSA HP / Lefthand YES Virtual Storage on your local ESX disks
PowerChuteR Network Shutdown v2.2.3 APC YES Their new version works as an appliance and can handle ESXi
vOptimizer WasteFinder Vizioncore NO Finds waste storage of your VMs

by Gabrie van Zanten

  • SteveA
    Veeam Backup/Replication supports ESXi as source but _NOT_ as target. I'd call that partial support and not "fully supports ESXi" (including the recently released v4).
  • You may as well add all of the Veeam products to the list that DO support ESXi as they all do. This includes Veeam Monitor, Veeam Reporter Enterprise, Veeam Configurator, Veeam/nworks SPI and MP.

    Veeam realized early on that ESXi was going to be the "future" of VMware so we made sure to put our full support behind ESXi.

    The only current limitation we have for ESXi is that it can't be used as a replication target...stay tuned...
  • SnapManager for Virtual Infrastructure has limited ESXi support. If you want to be able to restore on a VM level you are restricted to using NFS datastores. Otherwise you need a fat ESX.
  • Can you share more info on the product, maybe a link to the vendor page / support page?
  • Sure, take a look at the product page on: http://www.netapp.com/us/products/management-so....

    And check out the best practices guide on ESXi support: http://www.netapp.com/us/library/technical-repo...
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