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VMware ESXi 8.0 Update 3e now available as a Free Hypervisor

Broadcom have made VMware ESXi free available as a hypervisor. But it’s only for ESXi 8.0 Update 3e->. There is currently no plan for VMware ESXi 9 to make this free.

Features included in the free version:

  • Run unlimited VMs within hardware limits
  • Up to 2 physical CPUs supported per host
  • 8 vCPUs per virtual machine
  • Access to vSphere Host Client for web-based host management
  • Basic hardware health and logging

Limitations in the free license:

  • Cannot be managed by vCenter
  • No access to vMotion, DRS, HA, VADP-based backups
  • Usage of API’s to manage hosts is not supported, and may only provide read-only information.
  • No official Broadcom support 

How to download Free ESXi 8.0 Update 3e:

  1. Log in to Broadcom Support Portal
  2. Go to My Downloads
  3. Click on the box that says “Free Software Downloads available HERE”
  4. Search for “VMware vSphere Hypervisor”
  5. Click “I agree to the Terms and Conditions ” and download the ISO
  6. Once installed, the free license is embedded in the software download itself — no separate key required. 

Source

https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/399823/vmware-esxi-80-update-3e-now-available-a.html

VMware vSphere 9

In this blogpost I will as a VMware vExpert cover whats new in VMware vSphere 9

VMware vSphere 9 was released, June 17 2025 as part of VMware vSphere Foundation 9 and VMware Cloud Foundation 9

Build number: 24957454

Components of VMware vSphere 9

  • VMware vSphere ESXi9
  • VMware vCenter 9

Versions of VMware vSphere 9

  • VMware vSphere Foundation 9
  • VMware Cloud Foundation 9

Upgrade path for VMware vSphere 9

Streamlined Upgrade Path: vSphere 9.0 supports direct upgrades from vSphere 8.0, enabling smoother transitions for recent versions.
Compatibility Requirements: vCenter 9.0 requires ESX 8.0 or later, dropping support for ESX 7.0 and earlier versions.
Lifecycle Management Shift: Traditional VMware Update Manager is replaced by image-based lifecycle management for all clusters and hosts.

Key New Features in vSphere 9.0

1. Memory Tiering over NVMe
vSphere 9 introduces NVMe Memory Tiering, allowing local NVMe devices to serve as a secondary memory tier. This can expand effective host memory capacity and improve VM density without requiring more DRAM. 

2. Virtual Hardware Version 22

  • Updated VM hardware version that enables support for up to 960 vCPUs and larger memory limits (e.g., ~16 TB).
  • Improved device support (NVMe, PCI passthrough, graphics).
    This unlocks greater performance and scalability for heavy workloads. 

3. Enhanced Storage Support

  • Native support for 4K SSDs on compatible hardware.
  • Write Zeroes support and namespace write protection for virtual NVMe devices, which improve performance and storage efficiency. 

4. Lifecycle Management Upgrades

  • vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) enhancements, including mixed-hardware clusters and composite cluster images.
  • Traditional baselines-based patching is replaced by image-based lifecycle workflows. 

5. vMotion & Cluster Improvements

  • Optimizations for vMotion (including better performance for GPU-enabled workloads).
  • Improvements to managing clusters and lifecycle across hosts. 

6. Kubernetes & Modern Workloads Support

  • Enhanced support and tooling for integrating Kubernetes workloads via Supervisor services (especially in vSphere Foundation / Cloud Foundation contexts).
  • Live VM customization APIs and enhanced automation. 

7. API & Developer Experience Enhancements

  • Open API 3.0 and a more unified SDK for automation across vCenter, vSAN, and core APIs.
  • Simplified automation and scripting using consistent API sets. 

8. Security & Compliance Improvements

  • Enhanced support for modern security standards including TLS 1.3 and vTPM support.
  • Namespace write protection and disk protections for virtual storage. 

9. Changes in Deprecated/Removed Features
vSphere 9 also marks the deprecation or removal of certain legacy features such as Auto Deploy, Host Profiles, baselines (in favor of vLCM), and parts of older management tooling — signaling VMware’s shift toward more modern infrastructure management. 

Source

https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/vsphere/vsphere/9-0/release-notes.html

VMware Horizon 8 (2106)

VMware have released a new version of VMware Horizon 8 (2106), and this release is general available from August 2021. This is a major release, so I hope you like this article I put together. VMware have made some huge improvements in this release, which customers/partners are going to benefit from. HINT – If you are using Nvidia vGPU driver 13 supports VMware Horizon 8 2106. I have in this article also included the new features of Horizon Cloud service for 2106 IBM Cloud, AWS, Azure. Lets dig into what is new.

What is new in VMware Horizon 8 (2106)

VMware Horizon 8 2106 provides the following new features and enhancements

  • VMware Horizon Connection Server
  • VMware Horizon Agent for Linux
  • VMware Horizon Agent for Windows
  • VMware Horizon GPO Bundle
  • VMware Dynamic Environment Manager 2106
  • VMware Unified Access Gateway 2106
  • VMware Horizon Clients 2106 for Android, Linux, iOS, Mac, Windows, HTML Access

VMware Horizon Cloud services 2106

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NVIDIA vGPU Software v 10.0

Hi All

Its time to plan updating your NVIDIA TESLA M6, M10, M60, P4, P6, P40, P100, V100, T4, RTX6000, RTX8000 with NVIDIA vGPU software 10.0. NVIDIA have released new drivers for vGPU 10.0.

I have in this article also included which Public Cloud instance is available with NVIDIA GPUs and which license is BYO or provided by the public cloud provider such as Alibaba, Azure, AWS, GCP, Alibaba.

For a list of validated server platforms, refer to NVIDIA vGPU Certified Servers.

Important:

  • Citrix XenServer 7.0, 7.1 is not supported with NVIDIA Tesla T4
  • NVIDIA vGPU 10.0 is supported with VMware Horizon 7.11, 7.10, 7.9, 7.8, 7.7, 7.6, 7.5, 7.4, 7.3, 7.2, 7.1, 7.0, 6.2
  • NVIDIA vGPU 10.0 is only supported with Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops 7.15, 7 1808, 7 1903, 7 1906, 7 1909, 7 1912 in HDX 3D Pro mode
  • If you are a customer using XenServer 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5 its no longer supported with NVIDIA vGPU 10.0 and should plan upgrading to Citrix Hypervisor 8.1

This release includes the following software:

  • NVIDIA vGPU Manager version 440.43 for the Citrix Hypervisor, VMware vSphere, RHEL KVM, Nutanix AHV
  • NVIDIA Windows driver version 441.66
  • NVIDIA Linux driver version 440.43

New Features in Release 10.0

  • Support for NVIDIA® GRID™ Virtual PC and GRID Virtual Applications on Quadro RTX 6000 and Quadro RTX 8000 GPUs
  • Increase in the maximum number of virtual display heads supported by -1Q, -2B, and -1B4 vGPUs:
    • All -1Q vGPUs now support 4 heads instead of 2 heads.
    • All -2B vGPUs now support 4 heads instead of 2 heads.
    • All -1B4 vGPUs now support 4 heads instead of 1 head.
  • Flexible virtual display resolutions

    Instead of a fixed maximum resolution per head, vGPUs now support a maximum combined resolution based on their frame buffer size. This behavior allows the same number of lower resolution displays to be used as before, but alternatively allows a smaller number of higher resolution displays to be used.

  • Virtual display resolutions greater than 4096×2160
  • 10-bit color
  • Changes to allow cross-branch driver support in future main release branches
    Note: This feature cannot be used until the next NVIDIA vGPU software main release branch is available.

    The purpose of this change is to allow a release of the Virtual GPU Manager from a later main release branch to be used with the NVIDIA vGPU software graphics drivers for the guest VMs from the previous branch.

  • Miscellaneous bug fixes

Hardware and Software Support Introduced in Release 10.0

  • Support for passively cooled Quadro RTX 6000 and Quadro RTX 8000 GPUs
  • Support for Tesla V100S PCIe 32GB GPUs
  • Support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.1 as a guest OS
  • Support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.0 and CentOS 8.0 as a guest OS
  • Support for Windows 10 November 2019 Update (1909) as a guest OS
  • Support for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops version 7 1912
  • Support for Citrix Hypervisor 8.1
  • Support for VMware Horizon 7.11

Features Deprecated in Release 10.0

The following table lists features that are deprecated in this release of NVIDIA vGPU software. Although the features remain available in this release, they might be withdrawn in a future release. In preparation for the possible removal of these features, use the preferred alternative listed in the table.

Deprecated Feature Preferred Alternative
-1B4 vGPU types -1B vGPU types
-2B4 vGPU types -2B vGPU types

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VMware Horizon 7.11

VMware have released a new version of VMware Horizon 7.11, and this release is for now general available from 13th December 2019. This is a major release, so I hope you like this article I put together. VMware have made some huge improvements in this release, which customers/partners are going to benefit from.

HINT – If you are using Nvidia vGPU (on-prem) I highly recommend you upgrade to NVIDIA vGPU 10, when this is released it will be supporting VMware Horizon 7.11. I have in this article also included the new features of Horizon Cloud service for IBM Cloud, AWS, Azure.

One of the great things I saw in this release is that VMware Horizon the new HW encoder supports five or more monitors. Lets dig into what is new.

What is new in VMware Horizon 7.11

VMware Horizon 7.11 provides the following new features and enhancements

  • VMware Horizon Connection Server On-Premises
  • VMware Horizon Agent for Linux
  • VMware Horizon Agent for Windows
  • VMware Dynamic Environment Manager 9.10 (former VUEM)
  • VMware Unified Access Gateway 3.8
  • VMware Horizon Clients 5.3 for Android, Chrome, Linux, iOS, Mac, Windows, UWP, HTML Access

VMware Horizon Cloud services:

  • VMware Horizon Cloud Service 2.2 (Azure, AWS, On-prem)
  • VMware Horizon Cloud Service on IBM Cloud 19.3

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