Loading

×Sorry to interrupt
CSS Error

Refresh

Cookie Preference Center

General Information on cookies

When you visit our website, we use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience. This information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies by clicking on the different category headings to find out more and change your settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on the site and the services we are able to offer. Further information can be found in our

Cookie Policy.

Strictly Necessary

Strictly Necessary

Always Active

Strictly Necessary

Strictly necessary cookies are always enabled since they are essential for our website to function. They enable core functionality such as security, network management, and website accessibility. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but this may affect how the website functions. For more information please visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.

Cookie Details‎

Performance

Performance

Performance

Performance cookies are used to analyze the user experience to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. They allow us to know which pages are the most and least popular, see how visitors move around the site, optimize our website and make it easier to navigate.

Cookie Details‎

Please confirm your settings by refreshing the page.

Functional

Functional

Functional

Functional cookies help us keep track of your past browsing choices so we can improve usability and customize your experience. These cookies enable the website to remember your preferred settings, language preferences, location and other customizable elements such as font or text size. If you do not allow these cookies, then some or all of these services may not function properly.

Cookie Details‎

Advertising

Advertising

Advertising

Advertising cookies are used to send you relevant advertising and promotional information. They may be set through our site by third parties to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant advertisements on other sites. These cookies do not directly store personal information, but their function is based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device.

Cookie Details‎

Advertising Cookies

Consent Leg.Interest

Select All Vendors

Select All Vendors

Select All Hosts

Select All

Clear Filters

Information storage and access

Apply

Confirm My Choices Reject All Allow All

My Subscriptions

Loading

Knowledge Base

VMware ESX and ESXi 4.1 Comparison (1023990)

Last Updated: 3/20/2024Categories: InformationalTotal Views: 195430Language:
Chinese (Simplified)Portuguese (European)JapaneseSpanishEnglish

1 like this article

Subscribe to get an email
newsletter with new updates

1 people found this helpful Please provide article feedback:

Purpose

This article provides a detailed comparison of VMware ESX and ESXi 4.1. The article is separated into capabilities or features and compared at that level. For comparisons of other versions of ESX and ESXi, see the links in the Additional Information section of this article.

Resolution

Capability

VMware ESX

VMware ESXi

Service Console

Service Console is a standard Linux environment through which a user has privileged access to the VMware ESX kernel. This Linux-based privileged access allows you to manage your environment by installing agents and drivers and executing scripts and other Linux-environment code.

VMware ESXi is designed to make the server a computing appliance. Accordingly, VMware ESXi behaves more like firmware than traditional software. VMware has created APIs through which monitoring and management tasks – traditionally done through Service Console agents – can be performed. VMware has provided remote scripting environments such as vCLI and PowerCLI to allow the remote execution of scripts and commands.

Tech Support Mode (TSM) provides a command-line interface that can be used by the administrator to troubleshoot and correct abnormal conditions on VMware ESXi hosts.

CLI-Based Configuration

VMware ESX Service Console has a host CLI through which VMware ESX can be configured. VMware ESX can also be configured using vSphere CLI (vCLI) or vSphere PowerCLI.

The vSphere CLI (vCLI) is a remote scripting environment that interacts with VMware ESXi hosts to enable host configuration through scripts or specific commands. It replicates nearly all the equivalent COS commands for configuring ESX.

VMware vSphere PowerCLI is a robust command-line tool for automating all aspect of vSphere management, including host, network, storage, virtual machine, guest operating system, and more.

Notes:

vCLI, PowerCLI, and vSphere SDK for Perl are limited to read-only access for the free vSphere Hypervisor edition. To enable full functionality of vCLI on a VMware ESXi host, the host must be licensed with vSphere Essentials, vSphere Essential Plus, vSphere Standard, vSphere Advanced, vSphere Enterprise, or vSphere Enterprise Plus.

Certain COS commands have not been implemented in the vCLI because they pertain to the management of the COS itself and not ESXi. For details, please see the vSphere Command-Line Interface Documentation.

Scriptable Installation

VMware ESX supports scriptable installations through utilities like KickStart.

VMware ESXi supports scriptable installations using a mechanism similar to Kickstart, and includes the ability to run pre- and post-installation scripts. VMware ESXi also provides support for post installation configuration using PowerCLI- and vCLI-based configuration scripts.

Boot from SAN

VMware ESX supports boot from SAN. Booting from SAN requires one dedicated LUN per server.

VMware ESXi may be booted from SAN. This is supported for Fibre Channel SAN, as well as iSCSI and FCoE for certain storage adapters that have been qualified for this capability. Please check the VMware Compatibility Guide for supported storage adapters.

Serial Cable Connectivity

VMware ESX supports interaction through direct-attached serial cable to the VMware ESX host.

VMware ESXi does not support interaction through direct-attached serial cable to the VMware ESXi host at this time.

SNMP

VMware ESX supports SNMP.

VMware ESXi supports SNMP when licensed with vSphere Essentials, vSphere Essential Plus, vSphere Standard, vSphere Advanced, vSphere Enterprise, or vSphere Enterprise Plus.

The free vSphere Hypervisor edition does not support SNMP.

For related information, see Configuring SNMP Traps for ESX/ESXi 3.5 and 4.x(1008065).

Active Directory Integration

VMware ESX provides native support for Active Directory integration.

VMware ESXi provides native support for Active Directory integration.

HW Instrumentation

Service Console agents provide a range of HW instrumentation on VMware ESX.

VMware ESXi provides HW instrumentation through CIM Providers. Standards-based CIM Providers are distributed with all versions of VMware ESXi. VMware partners include their own proprietary CIM Providers in customized versions of VMware ESXi. These customized versions are available either from VMware’s web site or the partner’s web site, depending on the partner.

Remote console applications like Dell DRAC, HP iLO, IBM RSA, and FSC iRMC S2are supported with ESXi.

Software Patches and Updates

VMware ESX software patches and upgrades behave like traditional Linux based patches and upgrades. The installation of a software patch or upgrade may require multiple system boots as the patch or upgrade may have dependencies on previous patches or upgrades.

VMware ESXi patches and updates behave like firmware patches and updates. Any given patch or update is all-inclusive of previous patches and updates. That is, installing patch version “n” includes all updates included in patch versions n-1, n-2, and so forth. Furthermore, third party components such as OEM CIM providers can be updated independently of the base ESXi component, and vice versa.

vSphere Web Access

vSphere Web Access is only experimentally supported in VMware ESX.

VMware ESXi does not support web access at this time.

Licensing

For licensing information, see the VMwareSphere Editions Comparison.

For licensing information, see the VMwareSphere Editions Comparison.

Diagnostics and Troubleshooting

VMware ESX Service Console can be used to issue command that can help diagnose and repair support issues with the server.

VMware ESXi has several ways to enable support of the product:

Remote command sets such as the vCLI include diagnostic commands such as vmkfstools, resxtop, and vmware-cmd.

The console interface of VMware ESXi (known as the DCUI or Direct Console User Interface) has functionality to help repair the system, including restarting of all management agents.

Tech Support Mode, which allows low-level access to the system so that advanced diagnostic commands can be issues. For more information, see Using Tech Support in ESXi 4.1 (1017910).

Jumbo Frames

VMware ESX 4.1 fully supports Jumbo Frames.

VMware ESXi 4.1 fully supports Jumbo Frames.

Related Information

For a comparison of ESX/ESXi 4.1 and ESXi 5.0, see VMware ESXi/ESX 4.1 and ESXi 5.0 Comparison (2005377).

For a comparison of ESX and ESXi 4.0, see VMware ESX and ESXi 4.0 Comparison (1015000).

For a comparison of ESX and ESXi 3.5, see VMware ESX and ESXi 3.5 Comparison (1006543).

For a list of new features in vSphere 4.1, see What's New in VMware vSphere 4.1.

For a comparison of vSphere 5.0 editions, see Compare vSphere 5.0 Editions.

VMware ESX and ESXi 3.5 Comparison
Configuring SNMP Traps in ESXi/ESX
VMware ESX and ESXi 4.0 Comparison
Using Tech Support Mode in ESXi 4.1, ESXi 5.x, and ESXi 6.x
Comparación entre VMware ESX y ESXi 4.1
VMware ESX 4.1 と VMware ESXi 4.1 との比較
VMware ESXi/ESX 4.1 and ESXi 5.0 comparison
Comparação entre o VMware ESX e o ESXi 4.1
VMware ESX 与 ESXi 4.1 对比

Detectable by VMware SkylineTM

Actions

Copy

link to clipboard
copied!

Print

Language:
Chinese (Simplified)Portuguese (European)JapaneseSpanishEnglish

Attachments

Additional Resources

KB
•
End Of General Availability of the Free vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi 7.x and 8.x) (2107518)

KB
•
仮想ネットワークアダプタを新規追加後、Windows Server の DNS 設定を変更できない (2075571)

KB
•
vSphere 5.1 のvSphere Web Client へのログイン失敗のトラブルシューティング (2034506)

Results 1-3 of 3

Ask The Community

Get answers quickly from VMware experts in the community

Post Subject

CONTINUE IN COMMUNITIES

Related Products:

VMware vSphere ESXi

VMware ESX Server

Related Versions:

VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable

VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded

VMware ESX 4.1.x

Take Our Survey

Support Assistant