Differences Between VMware Versions

VMware is a virtualization software that allows multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical
machine. The different versions of VMware refer to different releases of the software, and each
release includes different features, improvements, and updates. Here are some of the differences
between VMware versions 5, 6, 6.5, 6.7, 7, and 8:

1. VMware version 5: This was released in 2011 and included features such as virtual machine
hardware version 8, support for large virtual machines, and improved networking and
storage performance.

Included support for virtual machine hardware version 8, which allowed virtual machines to
have up to 1TB of virtual RAM and up to 32 virtual CPUs.

Improved networking and storage performance, with support for up to 1 million IOPS per
host.

Introduced the vSphere Web Client, which provided a web-based interface for managing
vSphere environments.

2. VMware version 6: This was released in 2015 and included features such as virtual machine
hardware version 11, support for hot-plug of virtual hardware, and enhanced vSphere web
client.

Introduced virtual machine hardware version 11, which added support for virtual graphics
processing units (vGPUs), virtual SATA controllers, and virtual NVMe controllers.

Added support for hot-plug of virtual hardware, allowing virtual devices to be added or
removed while the virtual machine is running.

Enhanced the vSphere web client, improving performance and usability.

3. VMware version 6.5: This was released in 2016 and included features such as support for VM
encryption, vCenter high availability, and improved security with secure boot for ESXi hosts.

Added support for VM encryption, which provided data-at-rest encryption for virtual
machines.

Introduced vCenter high availability, which provided automated failover and redundancy for
vCenter servers.

Improved security with secure boot for ESXi hosts, which verified the digital signature of the
ESXi kernel and prevented the loading of unauthorized components.

4. VMware version 6.7: This was released in 2018 and included features such as support for
persistent memory, enhanced vSphere client, and improved scalability with increased
maximums for hosts and virtual machines.
 Added support for persistent memory, which allowed virtual machines to use non-volatile
memory as a high-speed storage tier.

Introduced an enhanced vSphere client, which provided a modern, HTML5-based interface

for managing vSphere environments.

Improved scalability with increased maximums for hosts and virtual machines, including
support for up to 128 vCPUs per virtual machine.

5. VMware version 7: This was released in 2020 and included features such as support for
Kubernetes, improved DRS and HA, and enhanced vSphere lifecycle management.

Introduced support for Kubernetes, allowing vSphere to be used as a platform for running
and managing containerized applications.

Enhanced DRS and HA with new features such as predictive DRS and Proactive HA, which
helped optimize resource utilization and improve availability.

Added support for vSphere Lifecycle Manager, which provided a unified interface for
managing vSphere upgrades and patches.

6. VMware version 8: This was released in 2021 and includes features such as support for
secure boot with TPM 2.0, enhanced vSAN management, and improved guest operating
system compatibility.

Introduced support for secure boot with TPM 2.0, which provided an additional layer of
security for virtual machines and hosts.

Enhanced vSAN management with features such as vSAN data-in-transit encryption and
enhanced vSAN capacity management.

Improved guest operating system compatibility, with support for new operating systems
such as Windows Server 2022 and Ubuntu 20.04.