VMware ESXi 8.0 Update 3e Goes Free

Broadcom released VMware ESXi 8.0 Update 3e (build 24674464) on April 10, 2025, bringing significant improvements to the enterprise-grade hypervisor.

This update addresses numerous critical issues while adding valuable new features that enhance compatibility and performance for data center operations.

New Features and Compatibility Enhancements

A standout addition in ESXi 8.0 Update 3e is support for the Communication Device Class Network Control Model (CDC-NCM) protocol in the ESXi USB driver.

This enhancement delivers improved compatibility with HPE Gen12 iLO Virtual NIC and enables better interoperability with HPE management tools, including Agentless Management (AMS), Integrated Smart Update Tools (iSUT), and the iLORest configuration tool.

The update also extends vSphere Quick Boot support to several critical drivers, including Intel vRAN Baseband Driver, Intel Platform Monitoring Technology Driver, Intel Data Center Graphics Driver, and AMD Instinct MI Series Driver.

For organizations seeking to minimize downtime during updates, this capability allows hosts to reboot without cycling through hardware power states, significantly reducing maintenance windows.

Additionally, Broadcom has made VMware vSphere Hypervisor version 8 available as a free download from the Broadcom Support portal, providing an entry-level hypervisor option for businesses just beginning their virtualization journey.

Critical Bug Fixes for Storage and Networking

The update addresses several serious storage-related issues that affected previous versions.

A notable fix resolves problems with delayed cleanup of deleted components that caused high space usage reports for vSAN datastores.

Another critical repair fixed a memory leak that was preventing the Object Storage File System Daemon (osfsd) from properly processing vSphere Virtual Volumes requests.

On the networking front, the update corrects issues with ConnectX-4 and later physical network adapters that experienced slower TX transmission when handling packets with different VLAN priority values.

The fix implements a new driver parameter that maps DSCP priorities to the same traffic class, avoiding hardware-related slowdowns.

Improved System Stability and Virtual Machine Performance

ESXi 8.0 Update 3e significantly enhances overall system stability by addressing numerous issues that previously caused host failures with purple diagnostic screens.

The update resolves a critical problem with AMD Turin processors that have PCI Multi-segment Support enabled in BIOS, fixing failures that occurred due to ESXi’s lack of PCIe multi-segment support for CPUs with input-output memory management units.

Virtual machine performance and migration capabilities also receive substantial improvements.

The update fixes a problem where encrypted VMs with active Change Block Tracking would intermittently power off during rekey operations and resolves issues with virtual machine migration that previously failed with various errors, including namespace database problems.

The extensive list of over 100 fixed issues makes this a recommended update for all VMware ESXi 8.0 environments.

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