Installation guide

System Requirements 2
Systems running vCenter Server and ESX/ESXi instances must meet specific hardware and operating system
requirements.
This chapter includes the following topics:
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“ESXi Hardware Requirements,” on page 13
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“vCenter Server and the vSphere Client Hardware Requirements,” on page 15
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“vCenter Server Software Requirements,” on page 17
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“vSphere Client Software Requirements,” on page 17
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“Support for 64-Bit Guest Operating Systems,” on page 17
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“Requirements for Creating Virtual Machines,” on page 17
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“Required Ports,” on page 18
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“DNS Requirements for vSphere,” on page 19
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“Supported Remote Management Firmware Versions,” on page 19
ESXi Hardware Requirements
Make sure the host meets the minimum hardware configurations supported by ESXi 4.1.
You need the following hardware and system resources to install and use ESXi 4.1:
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Supported server platform (for a list of supported platforms, see the Systems Compatibility Guide)
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VMware ESXi 4.1 will install and run only on servers with 64-bit x86 CPUs.
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Known 64-bit processors:
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All AMD Opterons support 64 bit.
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All Intel Xeon 3000/3200, 3100/3300, 5100/5300, 5200/5400, 7100/7300, and 7200/7400 support 64 bit.
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All Intel Nehalem (no Xeon brand number assigned yet) support 64 bit.
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2GB RAM minimum. For upgrades, 3GB RAM is required if the ESXi host is managed by vCenter Server.
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One or more Gigabit or 10Gb Ethernet controllers. For a list of supported network adapter models, see the
Hardware Compatibility Guide at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility.
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One or more of the following controllers (any combination can be used):
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Basic SCSI controllers – Adaptec Ultra-160 or Ultra-320, LSI Logic Fusion-MPT, or most NCR/Symbios
SCSI.
VMware, Inc.
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