Best Free Hypervisors in 2024

As we deal with the death of the VMware ESXi free edition, in this video we look at the best free hypervisor solutions now that VMware ESXi free edition is dead.

Check out the written write up of this video here:

Introduction - 0:00
Nutanix Community Edition - 1:27
Nutanix Move Utility - 2:03
Why have an enterprise solution on the list? 3:14
Proxmox VE - 3:51
Proxmox Backup Server - 5:42
XCP-ng - 6:00
Xen Orchestra - 6:38
Xen Orchestra built-in migration from VMware - 7:26
Xen Orchstra built-in backups - 8:00
KubeVirt - 8:15
Rancher Harvester - 8:25
Possible challenges with KubeVirt - 8:58
Vanilla KVM - 9:47
Wrapping up thoughts - 11:16

Configuring Proxmox SDN step-by-step:

Setting up GitLab, Runner, and Container Registry in the Home Lab:

[LampJustin]

5:00 no you don't have to do all these steps to migrate from VMware to Proxmox. You only need to have access to the vmdks directly and you can then import them. The conversion will be done automatically for you in that process. Another great option if you use zfs is exporting the storage via NFS and doing a storage live migration to it. Then the cutover will be quick as you only have to import the disk. Be sure to save the MAC address of the network interfaces tho

[trungnguyen]

Rancher-Harvester is modern hyperconverged infrastructure solution for both VM + Container

[alighanem]

A year ago, I made the decision to avoid using products developed by companies like VMware, Ubuntu, or Red Hat in my production environment. Instead, I opted for community-driven software solutions. Currently, I rely on Debian for my main servers infrastructure and use KVM along with the Cockpit project for virtual machine management. Although Cockpit was initially developed by Red Hat, it primarily serves as a management interface and isn't essential to my operations.

[NetBandit]

All these companies keep doing rug pulls... Makes me think that KVM is the only trustworthy solution.

[GrishTech]

Are the time stamps for another video? Doesn't seem to match up.

[andrewjackson]

Proxmox 8 has an VMware import feature so moving VMs from ESXi to Proxmox is pretty easy. It's integrated into the storage section and part of the web UI, so even it's slicker than a separate tool.

[TheEnimabandit]

I use Hyper-V works well for us we run 10 VMs on two machines and never had issues with it!

[oscarcharliezulu]

I worry about using any free version of a paid product. I find eventually it stops being free - always after the company is bought by another. If we stick to open source, even if it’s limited, our support adds to its success and it will get more attention and funding and support which is to benefit to us all.

[sergeyklassen]

Hello, from my experience using Nutanix CE I am unable to run UEFI VMs on there due to the Foundation/AOS version. I currently have Foundation v5.4.2 (February 20 2024 release) and AOS 2020.09.16. Also recently started getting emails that my license is set to expire 2024-04-17. Not sure what that is about since Nutanix CE is suppose to be free.

[iggysfriend]

Broadcom removing the free version of VMWare is moronic. How is an aspiring IT engineer supposed to setup a VMWare lab. So, they essentially killing the new crop of engineers coming through the supply chain. This is great for me as it means with fewer engineers businesses will have to pay more for engineers with VMWare and ESXi skills. On the downside, companies will start moving away from VMWare. For VMWare it's a lose, lose situation. Imagine if Microsoft discontinued eval versions of Windows server, this would slowly kill support skill.

[alienJIZ]

Bro I loved you in The Crow

In all seriousness though, great overview of the hypervisor landscape. Built-in backup function is an absolute must for me. It's kind of astonishing VMware never gave a way to back up for DR and you have to involve solutions like Veeam or treat the VMs as physical

[RonnieRedd]

I could comment on just about everything on this video being a really early homelab and production virtual environment. Suffice it to say, virtualization came out of open source. My first try was Xenand KVM. Didn't go that route right away because windows machines didn't work. ESX (without the i) did support windows vms. It was running on RedHat. I kept with ESX then VMware GSX and so for work at the same time kept my home lab also up to speed on Linux KVM. Finally abandoned windows and VMware. So glad I did. I'm about to clear a server for xcp-ng. It appears more scalable than proxmox. KVM is really, really nice. The only reason I'm considering moving is KVM is mostly maintained by RedHat, and I'm not fully confident in what they shown to be after IBM purchased them.

[jackt]

I agree with your conclusions. I would add that Kubernetes offers granularity. It is not difficult to understand and stitch solutions together with if you have someone that knows how to explain it and show you how to build a simple system with it. It enables you to stitch together your own and/or integrate from places like AWS. However, Kubernetes granularity come at a management cost. To do that effectively requires software to maintain consistency, and you need to learn that software. You also now have visibility down to the item level, which is not necessarily something you want to maintain. You become responsible to spell out the goesintas and order of system updates and results in understanding the logic of the system by few. Even if you are one of the few, do you want to be enslaved by that position long term. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should without a compelling reason. JAT

[ErikBussink]

if some is running 100 VMs in a lab, then getting the VMUG advantage for ~$200 might be interesting. That is cheaper than the old Microsoft TechNet bundle from years ago.

[KevinTKerrigan]

OpenStack?
free and open source able to run on a single host via Kubernetes mgmt or KVM based with optional commercial support?

[soyabean]

Great video. I'd never heard of XCP-NG before. Could you possibly do a video on some of the best Open Source Solutions for managing KVM Hypervisors please? I may be about to inherit a lot of Red Hat based KVM servers and need a vCenter style tool to manage them. I come from a VMware background. I have heard about oVirt and Cockpit but am unsure if they're vCenter style or need to be run locallaly on each KVM server. Thanks!

[Thierry.g]

Thanks for this video

I jus have one (maybe stupid) question for an enthousiaste home user. For you, what is the « best » solution between the two following:
- using an hyperviser on which are running several OS (AD server, Data server, Media server, Linux distribution …)
- having an AD server on which are running the other OS in containers

I currently have an old server which currently ensures all these functions (without using hyperviser or containers) and I plan to upgrade it.

[subcan]

I like Harvester a lot but wow is it a big learning curve... I am leaning towards xcp-ng for production work loads and smallest learning curve

[coppereva]

I think the timestamps in the description are wrong btw.

[brigasm]

I still need to build a lab. I focus on EUC side with horizon but really need to dig into vsphere alternatives.