We were just talking about some random VMware acronyms during a lab day and I thought I would write the ones down which some of us didn’t know. (Even google did not have the answer to some) I guess the most difficult one to figure out was VPXA/VPXD, which refers to VPX which was the official name for vCenter back in the days….

FDM = F ault D omain M anager

ault omain anager CSI = C lustering S ervices I nfrastructure

lustering ervices nfrastructure PAE = P ropero A pplication E nvironment

ropero pplication nvironment ESX = E lastic S ky X

lastic ky GSX = G round S torm X or G round S well X

round torm or round well VPX = V irtual P rovisioning X

irtual rovisioning VPXA = V irtual P rovisioning X A gent

irtual rovisioning gent VPXD = V irtual P rovisioning X D aemon

irtual rovisioning aemon VMX = V irtual M achine e X ecutable

irtual achine e ecutable AAM = A utomated A vailability M anager

utomated vailability anager VIX = V irtual I nfrastructure e X tension

irtual nfrastructure e tension VIM = V irtual I nfrastructure M anagement

irtual nfrastructure anagement DAS = D istributed A vailability S ervice

istributed vailability ervice ccagent = C ontrol C enter agent

ontrol enter agent vswif = V irtual S witch I nter f ace

irtual witch nter ace vami = V irtual A ppliance M anagement I nfrastructure

irtual ppliance anagement nfrastructure vob = VMkernel Observation

How about code names for releases? Well we had a couple, note that the first name usually refers to ESX and the second to vCenter, so for KL “Kadinsky” was the code name for ESX and Logan for vCenter:

DM = Dali/McKinley = VI 3.0

NP = Neptune/Pluto = VI 3.5

KL = Kadinsky/Logan = vSphere 4.0

KL.next = vSphere 4.1

MN = Matisse/Newberry = vSphere 5.0

OP = Oliveira/Pikes = vSphere 5.5

Of course the big question is where the “X” comes from in ESX, GSX etc. To be honest I don’t know but according to VMware old-timer Mike Di Petrillo (source is this interview (21:30) by Rodney Haywood) the X had been added by an Engineer to make it sound technical and cool!

If there are any to VMware related acronyms that you feel should be on the list which are not too obvious… leave me a comment. (And too obvious would be something like vDS.)

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