On 2/2/2010 11:09 AM, Greg Bailey wrote:
> Les Mikesell wrote:
>> I have to agree that ESXi is better, but I've had VMware server running
>> for years (mostly 1.x versions on CentOS 3.x, but also some CentOS 5.x
>> and VMware 2.x) with no surprises other than jumpy clocks. The servers
>> have sometimes been shut down for power work but I've probably had more
>> than a year of uptime for some intervals on C3 boxes running 3 windows
>> guests. I rarely use the vmware console though - I prefer to vnc
>> directly to the guests once everything is set up. The one advantage of
>> Server vs. ESXi is that you can run things on the host natively if you
>> want.
>
> I would say another advantage of Server as opposed to ESXi is that you
> don't need a Windows box to administer it. VMware Server version 1.X
> uses a "server console" that has Windows and Linux clients, whereas I
> believe VMware Server version 2 is web-based. VMware ESXi *requires*
> that you have a Windows machine to install the "vSphere Client".
That's true, but the windows client doesn't need to be part of your
production infrastructure - you only need it when making changes or if
some problem prevents direct access to the guests with vnc/ssh, etc. A
laptop or remote desktop works fine - or you could run a windows VM
under VMware server to install the ESXi setup if you really don't want
to let windows touch your hardware (which probably came with windows
installed...).
--
Les Mikesell
lesmikesell at gmail.com