VMware ESXi 9.0: What’s Changing and Why It Matters for Your Servers

In today’s digital landscape, standing still simply isn’t an option. If your VMware hosts are powered by Intel Xeon processors, there’s an important change you need to be aware of.

With the release of VMware ESXi 9.0 on 17 June 2025, support for several older Xeon CPU families will officially come to an end. This change could affect your ability to install or upgrade to ESXi 9.0, so now is the ideal time to review hardware compatibility and start planning your upgrade strategy.

What’s Actually Changing

VMware is refining its hardware support strategy to focus on modern CPU technologies, those that deliver stronger security, greater efficiency, and significantly enhanced performance.

As part of this evolution, the following Intel Xeon processor families will no longer be supported in ESXi 9.0:

• Broadwell-DE: Xeon D-1500 Series
• Broadwell-EP: Xeon E5-1600 v4, E5-2600 v4, E5-4600 v4, and E7-8800/4800 v4 Series
• Skylake-S: Xeon E3-1200 v5 and E3-1500 v5 Series
• Kaby Lake-S: Xeon E3-1200 v6 Series
• Skylake-SP: Xeon Platinum 8100, Gold 6100/5100, Silver 4100, and Bronze 3100 (1st Generation Scalable Processors)
• Skylake-D: Xeon D-2100 Series
• Skylake-W: Xeon W-2100 Series

In addition, VMware has also flagged several newer processor families as deprecated, meaning they are expected to be discontinued in a future major release after ESXi 9.0:

• AMD EPYC 7001 Series (Naples / Zen)
• AMD EPYC 7002 / 7Fx2 Series (Rome / Zen2)
• Intel Xeon Platinum 8200 (Cascade Lake-SP) Series
• Intel Xeon Gold 6200 / 5200 (Cascade Lake-SP / Refresh) Series
• Intel Xeon Silver 4200 / Bronze 3200 (Cascade Lake-SP / Refresh) Series
• Intel Xeon E-2100 Series and Xeon E-2200 (4 or 6-core) Series (Coffee Lake)
• Intel Xeon E-2200 (8-core) Series (Coffee Lake)

You can verify whether your current hardware will be affected by visiting the official VMware Compatibility Guide.

VMware has decided to discontinue support for legacy CPUs to build a stronger foundation for the workloads of the future. Modern processors deliver significant advancements in the areas that matter most for virtualisation: security, performance, and efficiency.

Today’s CPUs feature hardware-level protections that help defend against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. They also provide higher performance with more efficient resource utilisation, enabling greater workload density and responsiveness. In addition, improved energy efficiency helps reduce power consumption and operational costs, supporting both economic and sustainability goals.

While any change of this scale may seem disruptive, it brings clear advantages. Upgrading to modern CPUs means access to faster performance per virtual machine, lower power and cooling requirements, and advanced vSphere capabilities such as AI-optimised workload scheduling, enhanced DRS, and integrated security.

Think of this not as the end of support for old hardware, but as the beginning of a new era of performance and innovation.

How We Can Help

At ServerSource we specialise in helping organisations modernise their IT infrastructure with confidence. Whether you’re reviewing compatibility, planning a phased upgrade, or deploying new systems, our experts can help you make the transition smooth, secure, and cost effective.

We can support you with:

• Hardware compatibility assessments and lifecycle planning
• Bespoke upgrade paths to Intel Xeon Scalable or AMD EPYC platforms
• Cost efficient procurement and deployment support

Don’t wait until a failed upgrade or unsupported CPU warning catches you off guard. Let’s make sure your VMware environment is ready for the future, reliable, powerful, and fully optimised for what comes next.

At ServerSource, we help organisations modernise their IT infrastructure with confidence. As a Dell Authorised Reseller, we build brand-new, enterprise-grade Dell PowerEdge systems tailored precisely to your requirements, from high-core-count rack servers and NVMe optimised storage to hyper-converged nodes designed for performance and reliability.

Why You Should Choose ServerSource 

• Custom builds, no delays. Every system is assembled and tested by our engineers using genuine Dell components.
• Flexible warranties.
• Fast, reliable delivery.
• Transparent pricing.
• Complete solutions. We also provide storage, networking, and Microsoft server software, everything you need in one place.

Our goal is simple: to make upgrading your IT environment seamless, secure, and cost-effective.
If you’re planning a server refresh or preparing for VMware ESXi 9.0, our experts can help you build a solution that’s future-ready and optimised for performance.

Contact us on sales@serversource.co.uk to learn more or request a free, no obligation quote.