VMWare ESXi Free, Small Businesses Rejoice

Today, VMWare released its popular ESXi software for free to the public.  The basic software includes all the basics for a fast and stable virtual machine host, including the VMKernel, Symmetrical Multi-processing, and the VMFS File System.

I have long been a proponent of VMWare because of the quality and stability of their software.  I am comfortable enough that I have driven my organization to virtualizing as the standard for all new servers (even production) unless it can be proven otherwise.  It has been a tremendous cost savings for us, spending about 1/8 of the dollars for a virtual infrastructure than our old physical one.

By releasing the core of their software for free, I hope many of you in smaller businesses that may have seen the cost of VMWare as prohibitively expensive will give it a try.  Don’t be scared to virtualize your hardware, its like we all learned in Kindergarten, it’s good to share.