What is VMware ESXi?

VMware ESXi is a Type 1 (bare-metal) hypervisor that installs directly on a physical server and provides efficient virtualization of computing resources. VMware ESXi abstracts the processor, memory, network, and storage, distributing them across fully isolated virtual machines with minimal overhead, high performance, and increased fault tolerance.

The hypervisor supports snapshots, thin provisioning of disks, virtual switches, VM encryption, role-based access control (RBAC), and integration with vCenter Server for centralized management. In clusters, it implements high availability, vMotion, DRS, and features like Live Patching for seamless updates.

VMware ESXi remains a core component of the vSphere platform (including versions 8.x and 9), providing workload isolation, efficient hardware utilization, Kubernetes (Tanzu) container support, and scalability for private and hybrid clouds in enterprise environments.