ESXi Host

The physical machine running the ESXi Hypervisor software.

ESXi Hypervisor

A platform that runs multiple operating systems on a host computer at the same time.

vSphere Client

vSphere Client is an application that installs and manages virtual machines. vSphere Client connects to a vCenter server or directly to an ESXi host if a vCenter Server is not used. The application is installed on a personal computer or accessible through a web interface. The installable vSphere Client is not available in vSphere 6.5 and later releases.

vSphere Web Client

Using a Web browser, vSphere Web Client connects to a vCenter server or directly to an ESXi host if a vCenter Server is not used.

vSphere Client (HTML5)

vSphere Client (HTML5) is available in vSphere 6.0 or later. Using a Web browser, it connects to a vCenter server or directly to an ESXi host if a vCenter Server is not used. This is the only vSphere client administration tool after the next vSphere release.

vCenter Server

vCenter Server provides centralized control and visibility at every level of the virtual infrastructure. vCenter Server provides VMware features such as High Availability and vMotion.