See "What's inside VMware vSphere 6.5 Update 1" by Florian Grehl at virten.net featuring historical ESX/ESXi graph

Posted by Paul Braren on Jul 28 2017 (updated on Jul 29 2017) in
  • ESXi
  • Virtualization
  • Storage
  • HomeLab
  • HowTo

    • Sometimes there's a post that is so perfect as it is that I just have to call it out, hoping to extend the readership of the author's source article. Simple, elegant, and to the point, not exactly my strengths. I therefore present to you, with little words to say other than "read this" and "enjoy"!

    • What's inside VMware vSphere 6.5 Update 1
      Jul 28 2017 by Florian Grehl at Virten.net, highlights/excerpt:

      vCenter Server 6.5 U1 - What's new

      2017-07-28_9-16-37
      Teaser - the refreshed Clarity UI evident in the vSphere Client [HTML5].
      • Upgrade from vCenter 6.0 U3: vCenter Server 6.5 Update 1 supports upgrades and migrations from vCenter Server 6.0 Update 3 and above to vCenter Server 6.5 Update 1.
      • HTML5 Client with 90% feature support: The HTML5-based vSphere Client now can support up to 90% of general workflows.
      • General Support until November 2021: VMware has extended the general support for vSphere 6.5 for a full 5 years. This means that support for vSphere 6.5 will now end November 15, 2021.
    whats-inside-vmware-vsphere-6-5-update-1
    "What's inside VMware vSphere 6.5 Update 1" by Florian Grehl.

    See also at TinkerTry

    See also

    product-release-tracker-excerpt
    "VMware Product Release Tracker [vTracker]" by Florian Grehl.

    VCP logo TinkerTry - PCs, EVs, home tech, efficiency and more, including virtualization. My opinions here. IT Professional offering part-time consulting.

    vExpert logo Paul Braren, MCSE in 1998, VCP #2681 in 2005, vExpert 2014 to 2025, Veeam Vanguard Emeritus, 2015 to 2019.

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    Necessity to sunset SuperServer Bundles

    SuperServers These systems still work great for many even 9+ years later, mine included, even with (unsupported) vSphere 8 and Windows 11 Version 21H2. But unless you added the optional TPM module, it may be the end of the line as far as repurposing them for running the latest Windows 11 Version 24H2 and beyond.

    After 6 successful years testing then shipping well over 1,000 Xeon D Bundles, Wiredzone had to stop SuperServer bundles in mid-2021 due to cost, supply, and logistics challenges. Bare bones system sales continued for years longer.

    What's next in 2025? I don't yet have my answer for my home lab, especially now that VCF certification is required to keep non-production home lab licenses going, even as a vExpert and VMUG Advantage EVALExperience customer.

    As for a SuperServer follow-on, the Xeon D-1700/2700 (Ice Lake D) was a minor refresh for 2023, with Xeon D-1800/2800 (Granite Rapids D) refresh slightly better in 2024, and hopefully Xeon 6 (Granite Rapids-D) much better in 2025 featuring PCIe Gen5, MCRDIMMs, and 100GbE networking, wow! Feb. 27 2025 update update looks promising, but pricey. Infortunately, it's become clear to me that Supermicro is less focuses on the mini-tower form factor these days.

    As for the CPU industry, it's unfortunate that Pat Gelsinger was apparently ousted from Intel's helm in these challenging times, but I'm also grateful to have had the honor of working at VMware when he was the CIO there. I'll leave it at that, given the whole Broadcom thing.