VMware's vSphere 8 Update 3 brings significant enhancements and new features, providing improved performance, flexibility, and security.
Key Updates
vSphere Live Patch
vSphere Live Patch in Update 3 allows critical bug fixes without needing to reboot or evacuate hosts. This ensures minimal disruption as virtual machines undergo fast-suspend-resume (FSR) during patching. However, VMs with vSphere Fault Tolerance or using Direct Path I/O must be manually remediated.
Partial Maintenance Mode
This new state allows existing VMs to continue running while disallowing the creation or migration of new VMs during vSphere Live Patch remediation tasks.
Enhanced Image Customization
vSphere Lifecycle Manager now supports more granular customization of images, including the removal of non-essential components and retaining specific driver versions, optimizing for remote and edge use cases.
Dual DPU Support
vSphere 8 Update 3 introduces support for dual DPU configurations, enhancing high availability and network offload capacity by allowing two independent DPUs to be attached to separate vSphere Distributed Switches.
vCenter Reduced Downtime Update
The new update reduces service downtime during vCenter updates, supporting various deployment topologies and enabling automatic or manual switchover phases.
Hardware and Performance Enhancements
Intel
Xeon CPU Max Series Support
Update 3 supports Intel Xeon CPU Max Series, accelerating AI/ML workloads and high-performance computing (HPC) applications with high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and on-chip accelerators.
vGPU Profiles and Cluster Level Monitoring
The update introduces flexible vGPU profiles, allowing different profile types on the same GPU. It also adds cluster-level GPU monitoring for better resource management and performance overview.
Availability and Resilience
Embedded vSphere Cluster Service
The rearchitected vSphere Cluster Service now uses fewer resources and eliminates storage footprint, running entirely in host memory and simplifying deployment and management.
vSphere Fault Tolerance Metro Cluster Support
Update 3 supports metro clusters with vSphere Fault Tolerance, ensuring high availability across sites. If a site fails, affected VMs continue running without FT protection until recovery.
Workloads and Efficiency
CPU C-State Virtualization
vSphere 8 Update 3 allows virtualization and management of physical CPU C-States, enhancing energy efficiency for Telco and VRAN infrastructures by enabling power-saving modes.
Customizable Virtual Hardware
OVF/OVA templates from the content library can now have their hardware customized during deployment, streamlining the process and ensuring desired configurations.
Virtual Machine Disabled Operations
Administrators can now easily reactivate vSphere operations that were disabled during third-party tasks, ensuring smooth operations and task completion.
Security and Compliance
PingFederate Support
vSphere now supports PingFederate as an external identity provider, enhancing flexibility and modern authentication methods alongside Entra ID, Okta, and ADFS.
TLS & Cipher Suite Profile Support
The update introduces profile-based configuration for TLS and cipher suites, simplifying compliance and security configurations through API or PowerCLI scripts.
Updated Security Configuration Guides
The Security Configuration Guide for vSphere 8 Update 3 includes new features and scripts for auditing and remediation, helping users meet compliance requirements efficiently.
Planning and Migration
Upgrade Planning
With vSphere 7's end-of-general-support approaching in April 2025, it's crucial to plan upgrades or migrations to vSphere 8. Utilize the vSphere 8 upgrade activity path and best practices for a smooth transition.
Deprecations and Removals
Update 3 announces the deprecation of vSphere Trust Authority and certain features related to Storage DRS and IO Control. These features will not be supported in future major versions, making it essential to adapt to these changes.
Conclusion
vSphere 8 Update 3 brings a wealth of improvements across various domains, enhancing performance, security, and usability. By leveraging these updates, organizations can ensure their virtual infrastructure remains robust, efficient, and future-proof.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. Stay tuned for more 8.0.3 coverage.!-->
