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VMware vSphere Edition Comparison and Features Introduction
With the growing popularity of VMware vSphere in the virtualization industry, you may also want to give it a try, but are confused by its complex features and multiple editions. This article presents you with a VMware vSphere edition comparison table.
By Crystal / Updated on December 20, 2024
Brief Introduction to VMware vSphere
VMware vSphere is the industry’s leading server virtualization software that creates and runs full-scale virtual machines and Kubernetes instances. It consists of ESXi hypervisor, vCenter Server, and other components and technologies that work together to provide a complete infrastructure for virtualization. For comparison between vSphere, vCenter and ESXi you can refer to: VMware vSphere vs vCenter vs ESXi.
As IT infrastructures become more complex due to the exponential growth of businesses, the number of licenses, editions, and latest features offered by VMware vSphere has increased. As a result, users may be confused by these editions.
In this article, I will provide a VMware vSphere edition comparison and introduce their main features. Before that, you may want to review the vSphere version releases.
Quick Review: VMware vSphere Versions Releases
Starting from 2009, VMware has released multiple versions of vSphere. The following table lists the vSphere version numbers and editions in release date order.
| Version | Release Date | Features |
| vSphere 4.0 | 2009/05/21 | Introduction of vCenter Server, VMotion, Storage VMotion, DRS |
| VMware vSphere 4.1 | 2010/07/13 | Enhanced scalability, large memory support, improved securit |
| VMware vSphere 5.0 | 2011/08/24 | Storage DRS, vSphere Replication, Web Client, HA enhancements |
| VMware vSphere 5.1 | 2012/09/10 | vCenter Single Sign-On, Storage DRS, improved APIs |
| VMware vSphere 5.5 | 2013/09/22 | vSphere Data Protection, improved scalability, Flash Read Cache |
| VMware vSphere 6.0 | 2015/03/12 | vSphere Virtual Volumes, Fault Tolerance, improved vMotion/Storage vMotion |
| VMware vSphere 6.5 | 2016/11/15 | vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA), security improvements, HTML5-based client |
| VMware vSphere 6.7 | 2018/04/17 | Full HTML5 client, vSAN integration, enhanced security, Content Library |
| VMware vSphere 7.0 | 2020/04/02 | Kubernetes integration, vSphere Lifecycle Manager, TPM 2.0 |
| vSphere 7.0 Update 3 | 2022/01/27 | Enhanced lifecycle management, improved networking, cloud consumption features |
| vSphere 8.0 Update 3 | 2024/06/25 | AI/ML workload optimization, edge computing, enhanced hybrid cloud integration |
After years of updates, vSphere offers a complete and stable VMware backup solution and more advanced features to protect virtual machine data. To get more effective features, you can easily upgrade to 8.x easily.
4 Main Editions of VMware vSphere 7
And in this article, I will also compare vSphere editions of 7.0's main featuresas an example.
With the release of VMware vSphere 7.0, there have been several changes in licensing, such as the updates to per-CPU pricing model. Under the new model, 1 CPU license covers up to 32 physical cores in a single CPU. If the CPU has more than 32 cores, additional licenses (per-CPU) are required.
When purchasing a license, you can choose between the following 4 main editions:
vSphere Essential Kit
- All-in-one solution for small offices (up to 3 hosts with up to 2 CPUs each).
- Server virtualization and consolidation with centralized management to reduce hardware and operating costs.
- Simplify software upgrades, patching and firmware updates.
- Includes vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) and vCenter Server Essentials.
vSphere Essential Plus Kit
- Provide business continuity and always-available IT.
- Save on IT hardware costs.
- Improve service levels and application quality.
- Strengthen security and data protection.
- Includes vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi), vCenter Server Essentials. vSphere Data Protection, vSphere High Availability (HA), vSphere vMotion, Cross Switch vMotion, vSphere vShield Endpoint and vSphere Replication.
vSphere Standard
- Entry-level solution for basic server consolidation.
- Next-Gen Infrastructure Image Management.
- Reduce hardware cost while accelerating application deployment.
- Includes vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi), vSphere vMotion, vSphere High Availability (HA), vSphere vShield Endpoint and vSphere Replication.
vSphere Enterprise Plus
- Full range of features for transforming data centers into simplified cloud infrastructures.
- Data-at-rest encryption for virtual machine data and disks.
- Run modern applications with the next generation of flexible, reliable IT services.
- Includes vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi), vSphere vMotion, vSphere High Availability (HA), vSphere Trust Authority, vSphere vShield Endpoint, VM encryption and vSphere Replication.
VMware vSphere Editions Comparison Table
After a brief introduction to the editions of vSphere 7.0, you may still need know how they differs in features in order to choose between them.
Here I provide a vSphere editions comparison table of the 4 main editions: vSphere 7 Standard vs Enterprise Plus vs Essentials vs Essentials Plus.
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vSphere Essentials |
vSphere Essentials Plus |
vSphere Standard |
vSphere Enterprise Plus |
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vSphere Hypervisor – Provides a robust, production-proven, high-performance virtualization layer. |
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vSphere vMotion® – Allows live migration of VMs from one ESXi host server to another with no disruption to users or loss of service. |
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vSphere Storage vMotion – Allows movement of VM files from one data storage location to another with no disruption to users or loss of service, for example from a local data store to a shared data store. |
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Cross-vSwitch vMotion – Allows live migration of VMs from one ESXi host server to another, where the hosts exist across different virtual switches. |
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Cross-vSwitch vMotion – Allows cold migration of VMs from one ESXi host server to another, where the hosts exist across different virtual switches. |
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VMware vCenter® Hybrid Linked Mode – Enables unified visibility and management across on- premises vCenter and vCenter on a cloud enabled with vSphere, such as VMware Cloud™ on AWS. |
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vCenter Server Standard™ |
vCenter Server Standard |
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vSphere Virtual Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP) – Enables VMs to have multiple virtual CPUs. |
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vSphere High Availability (HA) – Automatically restarts your VMs following physical machine failure. |
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vSphere Fault Tolerance – Provides continuous availability of any application in the event of a hardware failure with no data loss or downtime; for workloads up to 8-vCPU. |
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2-vCPU |
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VMware vShield Endpoint™ – Secures VMs with offloaded anti-virus and anti-malware solutions, without the need for agents inside the VM. |
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vSphere Replication™ – Enables efficient, array-agnostic replication of VM data over the LAN or WAN, and simplifies management by enabling replication at the VM level. |
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Support for 4K native storage – Enhances platform scalability by leveraging high-capacity drives; reduces CapEx. |
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vSphere Quick Boot™ – Skips hardware initialization steps and dramatically reduces time required for patching and upgrades. |
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vCenter High Availability – Provides native vCenter Server availability. |
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vCenter Server Standard™ |
vCenter Server Standard™ |
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vCenter Backup and Restore – Provides native vCenter Server backup and restore. |
vCenter Server for Essentials |
vCenter Server for Essentials |
vCenter Server Standard™ |
vCenter Server Standard™ |
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vCenter Server Appliance™ Migration – Provides single-step migration and upgrade of existing Windows vCenter deployments to vCenter Server Appliance. |
vCenter Server for Essentials |
vCenter Server for Essentials |
vCenter Server Standard™ |
vCenter Server Standard™ |
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TPM 2.0 support and virtual TPM – Supports TPM 2.0 hardware modules and adds a virtual TPM device to shield a guest OS from operator or in-guest attacks. |
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FIPS 140-2 compliance and TLS 1.2 support – Provides default enhanced security compliance. |
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VM encryption – Provides data-at-rest encryption for VM data and disks. |
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Support for Microsoft virtualization-based security (VBS) – Supports Windows 10 and Windows 2016 security features, such as Credential Guard, on vSphere. |
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Per-VM Enhanced vMotion Compatibility – Allows seamless migration across different CPUs across the hybrid cloud by persisting the Enhanced vMotion Compatibility mode per VM during migrations across clusters and during power cycles. |
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VMware Instant Clone – Reduces provisioning times, especially beneficial for VDI applications. |
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Identity federation with Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) – Provides secure access and account management. |
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vSphere Trust Authority™ – Provides remote attestation for sensitive workloads. |
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Content Library – Provides simple and effective centralized management for VM templates, virtual appliances, ISO images and scripts. |
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APIs for storage awareness |
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Storage APIs for array integration and multipathing – Improves performance, reliability and scalability by leveraging efficient array-based operations and third-party storage vendor multipath software capabilities. |
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vSphere Virtual Volumes™ – Virtualizes external storage (SAN and NAS) and provides VM-aware, policy-based storage management through vCenter. |
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Storage policy-based management – Allows common management across storage tiers and dynamic storage class-of-service automation via a policy-driven control plane. |
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Next-generation infrastructure image management – Manages infrastructure images to patch, update or upgrade VMware ESXi™ clusters using a desired state model. |
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vSphere Distributed Switch™ – Centralizes provisioning, administration and monitoring by using cluster-level network aggregation. |
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Host Profiles and vSphere Auto Deploy™ – Captures host-level configuration settings and saves them as a template to configure other vSphere hosts; monitors hosts for configuration changes and automatically alerts vSphere administrators if a host falls out of compliance. |
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vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler™ (DRS) and vSphere Distributed Power Management™ (DPM) – Enables usage with business priorities by automatically load balancing across hosts; optimizes power consumption by turning off hosts during periods of reduced demand. |
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vSphere Storage DRS™ – Enables automated load balancing to look at storage characteristics to determine the best place for a given VM’s data when it is created and used over time. |
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vSphere Network I/O Control and vSphere Storage I/O Control – Prioritizes storage and network access by continuously monitoring I/O load of a storage volume and over the network, and dynamically allocating available I/O resources to VMs according to business needs. |
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Single root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV) support – Allows one PCI Express (PCIe) adapter to be presented as multiple separate logical devices to VMs; allows users to offload I/O processing and reduce network latency. |
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vSphere Persistent Memory™ – Leverages persistent memory to provide DRAM-like performance with flash-like prices. |
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NVIDIA GRID vGPU – Enables native 2D and 3D graphics performance for VMs; supports multiple vGPUs per VM. |
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Predictive DRS – Feature that combines the analytics of vRealize Operations Manager with the logic of vSphere. This collaboration between products allows DRS to execute predictive moves based on the predictive data sent by vRealize Operation. |
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Accelerated graphics for VMs |
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Dynamic vSphere DirectPath I/O™ – Supports vGPU and vSphere DirectPath I/O initial VM placement. |
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vCenter Server Profile – Provides desired-state configuration management capabilities for vCenter Server; helps users to define/validate/apply configuration for multiple vCenters. |
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vCenter Server Standard |
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vCenter Server update planner – Manages the compatibility and interoperability for vCenter Server for upgrade scenarios; allows users to generate an interoperability and pre-checks report, which helps plan for upgrades. |
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vSphere Native Key Provider - A mechanism fully within vSphere to enable data-at-rest protections like vSAN Encryption, VM Encryption, and vTPM out of the box, making it a lot easier for customers to take advantage of these security features and improve overall security posture for VM environments. |
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Licensing Matrix in VMware vSphere
VMware vSphere offers various licensing options to accommodate different needs and environments. Here are some of the main licensing options available:
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Per CPU: This is the traditional licensing model for vSphere, where you purchase licenses based on the number of physical CPUs (sockets) in your hosts. Each CPU requires a separate license, regardless of the number of cores it has.
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vRAM Entitlement: In earlier versions of vSphere, VMware used a vRAM entitlement model, where the license was based on the amount of allocated virtual RAM (vRAM) across your virtual machines. However, starting from vSphere 5.0, VMware removed the vRAM entitlement limitation.
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vSphere Standard, Enterprise Plus, and Platinum Editions: VMware offers different editions of vSphere with varying feature sets. Each edition comes with its own licensing model and capabilities. These editions include vSphere Standard, Enterprise Plus, and Platinum.
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vSphere with Operations Management (vSOM): vSOM combines the vSphere Enterprise Plus edition with vRealize Operations for virtual infrastructure management. It provides advanced monitoring, capacity planning, and performance optimization capabilities. The licensing for vSOM is typically based on the number of physical CPUs.
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vSphere Remote Office Branch Office (ROBO) Editions: VMware offers specific licensing editions for remote office and branch office environments. These editions, such as vSphere ROBO Standard and Advanced, are designed to meet the needs of smaller, distributed environments.
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VMware Cloud on AWS: VMware also offers a licensing model for running vSphere-based environments on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud platform. The licensing for VMware Cloud on AWS is based on a subscription model that includes software and cloud resources.
✐ Note: Licensing models and options may evolve over time
How to Choose a Suitable vSphere Edition
As you can see from the above VMware vSphere edition comparison table, vSphere 7 Enterprise Plus is the most comprehensive, but many of its unique features are not very useful for individual users or small businesses.
Therefore, if you are an individual user who want to try out vSphere basic features, vSphere Essentials or Essentials Plus will be enough. As for small or medium-sized enterprises, vSphere 7 Standard Edition will better meet the business needs. And for large organizations, the comprehensive edition of vSphere 7 Enterprise Plus can better improve productivity and business continuity.
VMware vCenter Server Editions
VMware offers different editions of vCenter Server. These editions cater to varying management requirements. Let's explore the key vCenter Server editions:
- vCenter Server Foundation: Designed for small environments, this edition provides essential management capabilities. It supports up to four vSphere hosts and offers features like centralized management, vSphere High Availability (HA), and vSphere vMotion for live virtual machine migration.
- vCenter Server Standard: Suited for medium to large environments, the Standard edition offers advanced management features and scalability. It supports an unlimited number of hosts and provides additional functionalities such as vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) for automated workload balancing, vSphere Storage DRS for automated storage management, and vSphere Update Manager for patching and updating.
- vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA): VMware also offers vCenter Server as a pre-configured virtual appliance known as VCSA. VCSA is available in both Foundation and Standard editions and provides the same management features as their corresponding editions mentioned above.
When selecting a vCenter Server edition, consider factors such as the size of your environment, desired management features, and scalability needs.
Microsoft Hyper-V vs. VMware vSphere Comparison
When choosing between virtualization platforms, VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V are two top contenders.
VMware vSphere is renowned for its advanced features, high performance, and strong management tools, making it ideal for complex enterprise environments. It excels in scalability, high availability, and disaster recovery.
Microsoft Hyper-V integrates seamlessly with Windows Server, offering a cost-effective solution for organizations within the Microsoft ecosystem. It's well-suited for small to medium-sized businesses with simpler IT needs.
📢Differences between VMware vSphere vs. Microsoft Hyper-V
Updated: Broadcom Licensing Changes
With Broadcom's acquisition of VMware, expect significant changes to the licensing model and policies for VMware products, including vSphere 8.
- No more perpetual license sales: New perpetual license sales have been discontinued and the focus is now on subscription services. If there is a sudden need for more licenses, the only option is the subscription model.
- License portability and trade-in: A new bring-your-own-subscription license option has been introduced; customers with existing perpetual licenses cannot migrate or trade-in new subscriptions.
📢Tips: For businesses with valid perpetual licenses, there are no changes at this time. These licenses can continue to be used, but will need to be transitioned to a subscription model in order to continue to receive support after the contract expires. And Broadcom is offering upgrade pricing incentives for customers who trade in their perpetual licenses for subscription products.
Once these products are available, they will no longer be sold:
- VMware Cloud Foundation
- VMware vSphere
- VMware vSAN
- VMware NSX
- VMware HCX
- VMware Site Recovery Manager
- VMware vCloud Suite
- VMware Aria Suite
- VMware Aria Universal
- VMware Aria Automation
- VMware Aria Operations
- VMware Aria Operations for Logs
- VMware Aria Operations for Networks
Customers who have purchased perpetual licenses will still be able to use their products, but once their current SnS contract expires, they will not be eligible to access VMware support or update to a newer version. The shift in Broadcom license changes may result in some significant updates and transitions.
Efficient VMware vSphere Backup Solution - AOMEI Cyber Backup
As you can see from the vSphere releases table, VMware no longer provides official application for image-level backups, but instead focus on refining vStorage APIs. So regardless of which vSphere 7 edition you choose, you will need to find a third-party backup software to protect your VM data.
And if you use the free VMware ESXi, your options for VM backup and restore may be limited by not supporting vStorage APIs. You may need to find a backup tool that supports the free ESXi.
Here I recommend you an easy yet professional VMware backup solution - AOMEI Cyber Backup. It supports both paid and free versions of VMware ESXi, allowing you to protect your VMware vSphere VMs in 3 simple steps.
✦ Flexible vSphere Backup: batch backup large numbers of VMs managed by vCenter Server, or multiple VMs on a standalone ESXi host.
✦ Auto Backup Schedule: you can create an automatic VM backup schedule to perform the task daily, weekly, monthly.
✦ Restore from Any Point: capable of restoring entire VM from any backed up history versions.
✦ Role Assignment: allows one administrator to create sub-accounts with limited privileges, effectively reduce human errors.
✦ Supported Versions: centrally manage VMs on VMware vSphere/ESXi 6.0 and later versions
Next, I will demonstrate how to create an automatic backup task that covers multiple VMs. You can click the button below to enjoy the free trial:
✍ You can choose to install this VM backup software on either Windows or Linux system.
3 Simple Steps to Backup Multiple VMs in VMware vSphere
1. Bind Devices: Access AOMEI Cyber Backup web client, navigate to Source Device > VMware > + Add VMware Device to Add vCenter or Standalone ESXi, and then click … > Bind Device.
Note: Once bound the host you do not need to repeat this step later.
2. Create Backup Task: Navigate to Backup Task > + Create New Task, select the Backup Method as VMware ESXi Backup, and then set the Task Name, Device, Target, Archive, Schedule and Backup Cleanup.
- Device: you can select multiple VMs from added vCenter Server or standalone ESXi host.
- Target: back up to local path or network path. Used paths will be saved in Favorite Storage for handy selection.
- Archiving: Easily backup VMware to AWS by archiving your backups. And it allows you to scale your backup storage as needed without worrying about running out of space.
- Schedule: performing full, differential or incremental backup, and automate execution daily, weekly or monthly according to the frequency you specified.
- Backup cleanup: set up a retention policy to auto delete old backup files and save your storage space.
Now you can click Start Backup and select to Add the schedule and start backup now, or Add the schedule only.
3. Restore VM: Click … > Restore on the backup task to open a wizard, and click Select Content to specify a restore point. Click Start Restore to execute the restoration.
✐ Restore to new location: You can choose to restore the backup from any history version, and create an identical new VM in the same or another datastore/host.
Summary
If you want to choose the popular product VMware vSphere but are confused by the complexity of features and editions, this article provides a table of VMware vSphere edition comparison. Hopefully, it will be helpful to you.
In addition, after creating a virtual machine with VMware ESXi, you will need an effective solution to backup VMware ESXi VM data. AOMEI Cyber Backup definitely worth a try.
