VMware vSphere Hypervisor and vCenter Server

As far as I know, when users installing VMware vSphere Hypervisor (free version) they can use it in three way, for 60 days in trial period with full feature, they can enter their free license or they can use the license they bought which means more feature would be available for use.
For checking different edition check these links: (Compare vSphere Kits and Compare vSphere Editions).
I’m using free edition right now and this is my license below:

In the other hand VMware vCenter can be used in trial version for testing all features or with the license users bought.
When users buying license for their environment for the first time, they will hose between available editions and kits which suite their need best.
The final result would be the same some how, they will busy licenses for VMware vCenter and Hosts (ESX or ESXi).
Until now, theres nothing new in these notes I wrote here, lets check the VMware vSphere Hypervisor.

Is it possible to centrally manage VMware vSphere Hypervisor? as the chart says, NO also check this link (this link is for VI3) and search for “Other useful ESXi facts” in it, the first paragraph after it said:

The basic version of ESXi can not be managed by VirtualCenter, as it does not include a VirtualCenter agent.

Is it mean that we can’t add VMware vSphere Hypervisor to our VMware vCenter? NO
Well, as following screenshots will show, YES, you can add free licensed hosts to your vCenter server when you are using VMware vSphere (at least I checked this with 4.1), but in this case you will only have very limited management capability, in this case instead of opening four vSphere Client for four servers for managing them separately, you can use on client connected to your vCenter.

But again, you will not have any feature of ESXi or ESX with license, you can just manage them centrally, thats all.
You may think there is no way or no reason for having vCenter server and free licensed hosts together in the same place, but always there is exception and cases which need more flexibility than the others, like this one.

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  1. hi i just want to know can l use this vmware vshpare 5.1 free license in commercial way?

    1. Hi,
      I guess by “commercial” you mean using this in the “production”.
      “VMware Hypervisor” which is the new name of “VMware ESXi (Free Edition)”, free and paid edition are same but different in feature which is possible to use and management and it’s possible to upgrade edition from one level to other (free -> standard -> enterprise -> enterprise plus) by just providing proper license key.
      By providing bought license key it would be possible to use some other features which are not available in free edition like centralized management.
      This is a link to FAQ which contains some common questions.
      Also it’s possible to buy support for Hypervisor in two general category of “Basic or Production“.
      Depend on the project size and it’s design you might consider on selecting one edition and buying licenses in order to use it’s great features.
      Hope you found above links useful and feel free to contact me.

      1. thank you very much it’s cleared

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