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Not heard this yet?

Broadcom have enabled the FREE ESXi license once more.

It is limited to 8 vCPUs per VM, but otherwise for those of you with home labs, if you’ve not already jumped ship or still want to dabble in the eco-system, here is your chance again.

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Yeah there’s just a global trend of do something bad, reverse it, do another thing bad, reverse it..

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LOL… I just waiting to see if Broadcom would reverse the VMware pricing soon, especially when most or all customers would have their 3 yrs support ending 2026 (for those smart enuff to extend in 2023)

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Is what he says about organizations moving away from VMware true? Over this size of the ocean, I am seeing a lot of cope and HyperV as a plan B. I am saying this based on the job advertisement which I check semi-regularly. I have only seen a single job requiring Proxmox knowledge while everything else remains VMware or at most VMware + HyperV (presumably the ones looking to migrate to it).

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Many people’s contracts are still live and valid, if they jump ship, it would be at the renewal based on the pricing at the time.

many smaller companies (who can’t afford price hikes or 72 core minimum) will move to Hyper-V or Proxmox.

While you may not see job adverts specifically asking for Proxmox skills, doesn’t mean they’re not required, said company may be in migration or pondering their options, they’ll advertise based on need, not future plans.

The adverts may be geared more towards Linux support (or you’re looking specifically at Windows environments, so wont see them).

You don’t see posts for surgeons, pilots or footballers much of the time, but we know those jobs exist.

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Sorry, but I would hardly consider a YouTube video by a content creator reliable information.

How about a link to an official source?

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What do you think ‘content creators’ have by sharing this information if it’s not true? the source is within the video too, but for those who don’t want ‘unreliable sources’

VMware ESXi 8.0 Update 3e Release Notes

image
image932×990 91.5 KB

I wont share any of the numerous other tech channels, YouTube or otherwise talking about this, as they’re unlikely reliable either.

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I am in the Broadcom support portal and I found this VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi ISO) image

VMware-VMvisor-Installer-8.0U3e-24677879.x86_64.iso(618.34 MB)

Build Number: 24677879 Dated the 10th

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It says you can “download” for free. wonder what happen when you try to install and use it? :thinking:

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Previously you’d get 30 day trial of enterprise plus, then you needed a free license key to use it.

Now you get a free version by default, no key needed. Limited to a maximum of 8 vCPU per VM.

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It says you can “download” for free. wonder what happen when you try to install and use it? :thinking:

Nothing, they’ve even removed the previous key requirement.

Have to chuckle at yours and others scepticism in this thread based on incorrect assumptions.

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This is a recent reversal. I have seen articles here and there talking about the price hike by Broadcom. Many of the articles talk about moving to Proxmox. This just confirms that the sales and marketing departments didn’t just fumble the ball on customer retention. They straight-up spiked it.

Even with offering the free license, I’m not sure this will save them. Knee jerk reactions like this don’t restore customer faith. It just reinforces customers decisions to leave as the company looks to make business decisions on a whim instead of long-term sustainable plans. Or they it could be that everyone see Broadcom following in Oracle’s footsteps and doesn’t want anything to do with a company that seeks to punish customers with inferior productions and high prices. Both could be correct as well.

In either case when I get hardware for my lab. I will be using Proxmox. I have long history and love for products that work with the Linux/UNIX community.

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I saw an email invitation to some BC event for VMware “new pricing” ??
But need to pay like $1,200 or $1,800 to attend with “exams” ??

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It now says “is for non-production use”. Sounds like mostly for learning and certification.

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For a time, I was relying on ESXi, until I was forced to look for an alternative. But honestly, I’m thankful—if they hadn’t pushed me, I wouldn’t have tried Proxmox. It’s incredibly reliable, stable, and, frankly, a much better solution.
At this point, whether ESXi comes back or not makes no difference to me.

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And one assumes, home labs.

This was one of the biggest gripes people had, sure Workstation was free, but this doesn’t give you skills you’d need for work.

Either way, I migrated away in the end. Also to Proxmox - it has quirks, but only because It’s not something I am fully accustom to at the moment.

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YES…
It requires VMWare Customer Connet Account , community support , idea for testing development .

I know some platform they provides VMWare services like Sangfor , Fortinet etc … you can connect with them for better services..