vSphere 8 is a major release which brings benefits of the cloud to on-premises workloads with cloud integration through the VMware Cloud Console It supercharges performance with DPU, and GPU based acceleration, enhances operational efficiency through the VMware Cloud Console, seamlessly integrates with add-on hybrid cloud services and accelerates innovation with an enterprise-ready integrated Kubernetes runtime that runs containers alongside VMs. vSphere 8 version release will be available through the various vSphere product line offerings, including vSphere Standard edition, vSphere Enterprise Plus edition, as well as vSphere+. See the vSphere 8 datasheet and vSphere 8 version comparison for more details.

vSphere Distributed Services Engine modernizes virtual infrastructure by offloading infrastructure functions from CPU to DPU. It enables modern distributed workloads to take advantage of resource savings, accelerated networking and enhanced workload security. It improves DPU lifecycle management with workflows integrated with vSphere. Learn more about vSphere Distributed Services Engine.

vSphere 8 can be licensed under several different licensing models, such as perpetual and subscription, on various metrics, including per CPU, VM packs, and per Core. For more details, please refer to the vSphere Licensing, Pricing and Packaging Guide.

vSphere+ is a new subscription-based offering that consists of both on-premises and cloud components that interact with each other. The on-premises components include cloud gateways, vCenter instances and ESXi hosts. The cloud components include various cloud services for admins (or IT operations) and developers (or DevOps) that augment and enhance on-premises capabilities, all accessible within the VMware Cloud Console. Cloud gateways connect your vCenter instances to the VMware Cloud Console, where you can centrally manage on-premises infrastructure and access cloud services.

Yes. vSphere+ is precision-engineered to provide a simple, non-disruptive upgrade for customers already using vSphere. Existing vSphere Enterprise Plus licenses can be easily converted to subscription-based entitlements. Please contact your VMware partner or sales representative to start your upgrade to vSphere+.

vSphere+ includes cloud services that are delivered as a service. Your vCenter instances and ESXi hosts remain on-premises.

Please contact your preferred VMware Partner or Sales representative to find out more information on pricing and how to subscribe to vSphere+.

Please contact your VMware partner or sales representative to try vSphere+ for free in your environment.

Getting started with vSphere+ is easy. Once you subscribe, you will receive an onboarding email from VMware with setup instructions, and the process takes about an hour.

Yes, vSphere+ supports ESXi version 6.7 or later. vCenter instances need to be updated to the latest version.

There are no special hardware requirements for vSphere+ beyond the basic vSphere requirements.

With vSphere+ you can:

• Access cloud services delivered as-a-Service (SaaS)
• Centralize management with a cloud console
• Create an enterprise-ready Kubernetes environment at no additional charge
• Purchase by subscription

See a detailed set of features and capabilities available in vSphere+

vSphere+ supports traditional workloads based on VMs, plus modern workloads based on containers. There is no difference between vSphere+ and vSphere in the types of workloads supported.

VMware is developing vSphere+ add-on services to expedite disaster recovery, ransomware protection, capacity planning and more. For a list of add-on services currently available for purchase or in development, contact your VMware partner or sales representative.

vSphere+ includes extensive developer services, including VM service, Storage service, Network service, Registry service, Tanzu Kubernetes Grid service, Tanzu integrated services, Tanzu Mission-Control Essentials and more. These services are included with vSphere+ at no additional charge

vSphere+ includes extensive admin services, including Global Inventory service, Event View service, Security Health Check service, VM Provisioning service, Lifecycle Management service, Configuration Management serviceand more. These services are included with vSphere+ at no additional charge. See a detailed list of features and descriptions in vSphere+.

See a detailed list of features across vSphere offerings.

vSphere+ delivers the benefits of the cloud through a secure cloud gateway that links your on-premises vCenter instances to VMware Cloud. The vSphere+ cloud gateway uses industry-standard Transport Layer Security (TLS) to protect network connections and does not copy or share your proprietary data to the cloud. The gateway allows VMware to initiate maintenance and support operations, ensuring those operations are secure by applying traditional security concepts like privilege separation and least privilege.

None of your workloads or on-premises vSphere infrastructure are moved to the cloud. Your workloads continue to run on-premises on ESXi hosts. vSphere+ allows you to centrally manage your on-premises environment from a cloud console and to enhance management with cloud services.

If you do choose to migrate on-premises workloads to the cloud, vSphere+ will make this easier. You can move workloads to VMware Cloud on AWS, using the hybrid linked mode capability built into the vSphere+ cloud gateway.

If you lose your connection to the cloud, only access to cloud services and the cloud console will be affected. vCenter instances, ESXi hosts, and workloads will continue to run normally, and can be managed from vCenter (through the vSphere client).

The only additional tool needed to unlock vSphere+ benefits is the VMware Cloud Console, accessible through a web browser.

VMware Cloud Console can be reached at https://vmc.vmware.com. Once logged in, you can review and subscribe to available VMware services, including vSphere+.