All those supported versions of open-source applications that provide the container registry, networking, monitoring, authentication, ingress control, and logging services are all included, so the Kubernetes environment does not need to download additional apps from elsewhere. Tanzu Kubernetes packages are tested, signed, and supported by VMware. You manage the workloads in vCenter Server only compared to Standard or Advanced, where you use the Tanzu Mission Control SaaS application. You're able to run this product on-premises in vSphere. Let's have a look at the various Tanzu editions: VMware Tanzu Basic ^ VSphere with Tanzu uses many existing vSphere features, such as vCenter Single Sign-On (SSO), Content Library for Kubernetes software distributions, vSphere networking, vSphere storage, vSphere HA and DRS, and the other vSphere security and governance features that we discussed in our introductory article about Kubernetes and containers. All patches and upgrades will be conducted together with the VMware ESXi hypervisor.

The Linux kernel itself is optimized not only from a performance perspective by carrying only a minimum set of drivers, but also from a security perspective, as it is packaged directly with ESXi via vSphere Installation Bundle (VIB). Since CRX does not need a keyboard, mouse, or video, the virtual hardware is stripped down to the bare minimum. The CRX bypasses BIOS to boot faster and executes the preloaded Linux kernel directly. The CRX has also optimized the boot process, where there is no BIOS, as with traditional VMs.

Vmware esxi free edition comparison