Hey All!

I'm sure I read it somewhere before that they made ESXi free again, but probably didn't really let it soak in or believe it.

Anyhow, yesterday I went to the Broadcom site, and sure shit, as of 8.0 Update 3s or something, it is free again to download after you setup an account on the site. I got excited.

I downloaded it, burned it to a USB stick with Rufus, shut down all my VMs and rebooted into the installer. Once I got to the point where I pick the drive to install the new medium on (it is supposed to look for an already installed ESXi), it saw my drives, but didn't show ESXi installed on any of them.

Much further digging, and the latest versions of ESXi don't support my old ass hardware any more (Proliant ML310e Gen8). I think the latest I could go is either 6.7 or 7.0 Update 3 with some kind of a customized build for pre-Gen9 HPE hardware. I'm currently at 6.5, so don't really care to bother with it any more. I was more excited to try out the new and shiny, but that didn't work out too well for me. ;)

Eh well, that was a waste of a few hours. lol

Regards,
Nick

... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20250409
* Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (21:1/200)

Hey All!

I'm sure I read it somewhere before that they made ESXi free again, but probably didn't really let it soak in or believe it.

Really, all the same free features as before?

I moved to proxmox a while back, been running fine since. Seems like more effort then anything to go back?

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
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Hey niter3!

On Tue, 04 Nov 2025 20:56:00 -0500, you wrote:

Really, all the same free features as before?

As far as I can tell, yes.. I think the announcement was something in the lines of "as of ESXi 8.0 update 3s" or something, and they're now on "update 3w").

I moved to proxmox a while back, been running fine since. Seems like
more effort then anything to go back?

I would agree with you there. If I were ever to snag up some new hardware, I'd most likely switch also. But the fact that I'm already running ESXi 6.5 update 1, I figured I'd try an easy upgrade to the shiny new stuff without having to migrate my VMs or anything. I was severely disappointed, though.

I have no issues with ESXi 6.5 except some quirky shit I can get around (as easy as refreshing the page) in the web GUI, so I'll stick with it for the remainder of this server's lifespan, which could be awhile yet unless I come across something for the right price. ;)

Regards,
Nick

... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20250409
* Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (21:1/200)

Re: ESXi
By: Accession to All on Tue Nov 04 2025 05:05 pm

Much further digging, and the latest versions of ESXi don't support my old ass hardware any more (Proliant ML310e Gen8). I think the latest I could go is either 6.7 or 7.0 Update 3 with some kind of a customized build for pre-Gen9 HPE hardware. I'm currently at 6.5, so don't really care to bother with it any more. I was more excited to try out the new and shiny, but that didn't work out too well for me. ;)

VMWare dropped support for my 4-year old Dells, and VMWare Workstation for Linux only worked with certain kernels. Update your kernel and VMWare would break until you updated it - if they had an update for a version other than the latest and greatest.

That's what attracted me to Proxmox - I've run it on the cheapest, EOL crap and it just runs. I'm seriously tempted to move my production servers at work to it; I'm mostly running utility and dev workloads on them now.
--- SBBSecho 3.30-Win32
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Much further digging, and the latest versions of ESXi don't support my
old ass hardware any more (Proliant ML310e Gen8). I think the latest I could go is either 6.7 or 7.0 Update 3 with some kind of a customized build for pre-Gen9 HPE hardware. I'm currently at 6.5, so don't really care to bother with it any more. I was more excited to try out the new
and shiny, but that didn't work out too well for me. ;)

OMG. So they made it free again, but made it so you had to be on CORPORATE prod hardware??? Great... at this point, just install PVE and PBS and move on - Proxmox is the shyyyyttttt!



|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
|08.........

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paulie420 wrote to Accession <=-

OMG. So they made it free again, but made it so you had to be on
CORPORATE prod hardware??? Great... at this point, just install PVE and PBS and move on - Proxmox is the shyyyyttttt!

Veeam has been making inroads regarding support for PVE, if they can get support working by the time my support contract is due I'll be looking
hard at PVE.



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Hey poindexter!

On Tue, 04 Nov 2025 20:58:50 -0800, you wrote:

That's what attracted me to Proxmox - I've run it on the cheapest, EOL
crap and it just runs. I'm seriously tempted to move my production
servers at work to it; I'm mostly running utility and dev workloads on
them now.

Most definitely. That'll be my next go-to, but I don't feel the need to do it on this current hardware. VMWare has been really good to me in that aspect. May as well leave it alone until I decide to get something different.

Regards,
Nick

... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20250409
* Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (21:1/200)

Hey paulie420!

On Tue, 04 Nov 2025 20:56:14 -0800, you wrote:

OMG. So they made it free again, but made it so you had to be on
CORPORATE prod hardware??? Great... at this point, just install PVE and
PBS and move on - Proxmox is the shyyyyttttt!

I don't think they "made it" that way, it has always dropped support for older hardware at certain versions. I just didn't know about that until now because I installed ESXi 6.5 some 12+ years ago now, and never felt the need to upgrade until I saw an announcement that it was free again. :)

Either way, I agree. I have Proxmox running in a Virtualbox VM just to mess around with for now so I'm not a deer in headlights when I get some new hardware and actually put it to work. I will be making the switch, I just don't know when. There's no need to change anything on my current server as by now it's old and fragile. ;)

Regards,
Nick

... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20250409
* Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (21:1/200)

I have no issues with ESXi 6.5 except some quirky shit I can get around (as easy as refreshing the page) in the web GUI, so I'll stick with it
for the remainder of this server's lifespan, which could be awhile yet unless I come across something for the right price. ;)

If I recall you're running an HP desktop server... I'm running a Lenovo ST50.

I've been on the fence about switching to a mini pc for my needs in the future. Small form factor machine with my NAS. Should really be all that I need.

The only disadvantage, it won't be server hardware grade. No ECC ram and no Xeons...

Does it matter? As long as I can get the same type of uptime, I'd be happy and save money, and space, and maybe cut a few dollars on my hydro bill.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
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Hey niter3!

On Thu, 06 Nov 2025 06:07:46 -0500, you wrote:

If I recall you're running an HP desktop server... I'm running a Lenovo ST50.

Yeah, HP Proliant ML310e Gen8, to be specific.

I've been on the fence about switching to a mini pc for my needs in the future. Small form factor machine with my NAS. Should really be all that
I need.

I've looked at a few, but it seems these are newer, and more expensive than the server hardware I've been looking at.

The only disadvantage, it won't be server hardware grade. No ECC ram and
no Xeons...

The machine I have I bought used back in like 2012. No idea how long it was used before me, but I replaced the HDDs with new ones, and it has ran like a champ for 13+ years non-stop. That would be my only argument for preference of server grade hardware, though.

Does it matter? As long as I can get the same type of uptime, I'd be
happy and save money, and space, and maybe cut a few dollars on my hydro bill.

Ultimately, it's your setup, you do what you want with it!

How are you thinking you'll save money? Are you comparing new vs new? I've been looking at some server hardware on Ebay and Amazon for like $400-$700 range, whereas most of those mini pcs are upwards of $1000..?

Or are you only needing like a 4 core with 16gb ram?

I'm looking at anywhere from 16-40 cores, and like 64-256g of ram. Something that will last a long while and I won't run out of things to do with it (as many VMs as I'll ever need, etc). My current server is only 4 cores with 4 threads, and I have 4 VMs using 2 cores each, so I'm already bottlenecked. :)

Regards,
Nick

... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20250409
* Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (21:1/200)

The machine I have I bought used back in like 2012. No idea how long it was used before me, but I replaced the HDDs with new ones, and it has
ran like a champ for 13+ years non-stop. That would be my only argument for preference of server grade hardware, though.

That is a very good point. I should really just try squeezing as many years out of what i have today. See if I can push it another 5 years. I'm not facing any issues as of now. *knock on wood*

How are you thinking you'll save money? Are you comparing new vs new?
I've been looking at some server hardware on Ebay and Amazon for like $400-$700 range, whereas most of those mini pcs are upwards of $1000..?

Amount of cores and ram found on the AMD chips, and the simple fact it will save a few bucks on hydro. Also like the idea of condensing down my rack and eventually putting something on the wall that's small and clean.

... Light year: 1/3 less calories than your regular year

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Clutch BBS * telnet://clutchbbs.com (21:1/199)

Hey niter3!

On Fri, 07 Nov 2025 14:08:56 -0500, you wrote:

Amount of cores and ram found on the AMD chips, and the simple fact it
will save a few bucks on hydro. Also like the idea of condensing down my rack and eventually putting something on the wall that's small and
clean.

That's where I'm not quite sold yet. I don't have a rack (yet). My current server is a 4U tower. I'm debating another one as it takes up less space than a rack, but the price point on these rack mount servers is way better than a "newer than what I have now" tower. Then if you wanted a 2x CPU tower? now you're talking thousands, when you can get multiple CPU rack mount with plenty of ram for a lot less.

Speaking of which. I just looked up those AMD EPYC processors, and yikes are they expensive. lol

Regards,
Nick

... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20250409
* Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (21:1/200)

That's where I'm not quite sold yet. I don't have a rack (yet). My
current server is a 4U tower. I'm debating another one as it takes up
less space than a rack, but the price point on these rack mount servers
is way better than a "newer than what I have now" tower. Then if you wanted a 2x CPU tower? now you're talking thousands, when you can get multiple CPU rack mount with plenty of ram for a lot less.

Speaking of which. I just looked up those AMD EPYC processors, and yikes are they expensive. lol

I should clarify, I have everything in a cheap network rack. Having something small like a NUC and even a desktop server on a network rack works. You don't have to spend a ton of money to get something mounted on the wall.

Anyways, regarding my current server as mentioned. I think I should just hold on to it as long as possible.

To be honest, I replaced my old server and gave it to my son as a gaming machine. Tossed in a GPU and he's still running it. It's over 10+ years and I felt at the time it wouldnt' last a couple more years. .. :) So maybe I hang on to this one and save my money. It's not like I look at this thing, it's tucked away in a back room.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Clutch BBS * telnet://clutchbbs.com (21:1/199)

Hey niter3!

On Sat, 08 Nov 2025 07:40:30 -0500, you wrote:

I should clarify, I have everything in a cheap network rack. Having something small like a NUC and even a desktop server on a network rack works. You don't have to spend a ton of money to get something mounted
on the wall.

True, but I don't have anything mounted on the wall, and I'm still not 100% sure I want to. I'm still looking at 4U tower servers (which is basically just a desktop case with server components in it - no need for a rack or holes in the wall), but in comparison with the same specs you can get with a rack mount 2U server, 4U towers are more expensive.

For example, I was just comparing an HP Proliant ML350g9 (tower) and an HP Proliant DL380g9 (rack mount) with almost the exact same hardware, and there was a $500 difference (the tower was over $1k). Pretty sure they were from the same store, too. Crazy.

With this kinda stuff, though.. you just gotta be patient and keep your eye out for a good deal on something "renewed" or "refurbished". I got my original server for like $300, so I'm definitely not looking to spend a lot - but rather find a great deal instead.

Anyways, regarding my current server as mentioned. I think I should just hold on to it as long as possible.

If it's not giving you any issue, and it's not holding you back from doing what you want to do, I'd agree 100%. I only have a 4c/8t and I'm using it up with 4 VMs (2 virtual cores per VM). It may be time to expand to something I don't ever have to worry about bottlenecking - and not break the bank doing it.

To be honest, I replaced my old server and gave it to my son as a gaming machine. Tossed in a GPU and he's still running it. It's over 10+ years
and I felt at the time it wouldnt' last a couple more years. .. :) So
maybe I hang on to this one and save my money. It's not like I look at
this thing, it's tucked away in a back room.

Hah! That's awesome! I've built my gaming machines myself (I've only had to do 2 in the past 15 years, lol), and passed down my previous build to my son (which is still plenty to play any newer game), only having to upgrade the GPU and replace one fan in his over the years. So I'll knock on wood too, that my stuff keeps holding up strong. :)

Regards,
Nick

... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20250409
* Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (21:1/200)