What service serves as the management infrastructure for VMware ESXi hosts connected on a network?

The management infrastructure for VMware ESXi hosts that are connected on a network is provided by vCenter Server. This centralized management platform allows administrators to manage multiple ESXi hosts and virtual machines from a single interface, simplifying operations such as provisioning, performance monitoring, and maintaining a consistent security policy across the environment.

vCenter Server enables several advanced features that enhance the capabilities of the ESXi hosts, including VMotion, Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), and high availability (HA). These features improve resource allocation, workload balancing, and reliability of virtual environments, which are critical for maintaining service uptime and performance.

Additionally, vCenter Server plays a crucial role in managing the overall lifecycle of virtual machines and ESXi hosts, facilitating operations like patch management and updates. Without vCenter, the management of individual ESXi hosts would be significantly more cumbersome and less effective, especially in larger environments with multiple hosts and virtual machines.