Which type of hypervisor is ESXi?

ESXi is classified as a Type 1 hypervisor, which is also known as a bare-metal hypervisor. This type of hypervisor runs directly on the physical hardware of the host system rather than on top of an operating system, which allows for better performance and efficiency in resource utilization. Since it operates independently of any host operating system, it has direct access to the underlying hardware, enabling it to manage guest virtual machines effectively.

Type 1 hypervisors are typically used in enterprise environments for virtualization because they can provide better security, stability, and scalability. ESXi, developed by VMware, exemplifies this with its ability to manage multiple virtual machines seamlessly while ensuring optimized resource allocation and isolation between those VMs.

In contrast, other types of hypervisors, like Type 2 hypervisors, rely on a host operating system to function, which can introduce overhead and decrease performance. The categories of cloud hypervisor and container hypervisor refer to specific virtualization technologies and deployment models but do not accurately describe the architecture of ESXi. Thus, recognizing ESXi as a Type 1 hypervisor clarifies its role and functionality in the virtualization landscape.