Which VMware component is primarily used to manage virtual machines?

The vCenter Server is primarily used to manage virtual machines within a VMware environment. It acts as a centralized management platform that allows administrators to control numerous ESXi hosts and their associated virtual machines from a single interface. With vCenter Server, functionalities such as VM provisioning, monitoring, template management, and resource allocation can be efficiently handled. It also provides essential features like Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), High Availability (HA), and vMotion, which enhance overall efficiency and uptime in a virtualized environment.

In contrast, while an ESXi host is the hypervisor that runs the virtual machines, it does not provide a management layer across multiple hosts. VMware Workstation and VMware Fusion are desktop virtualization products that allow users to run virtual machines on personal computers but do not serve the same management role as vCenter Server in a data center or enterprise environment. Thus, vCenter Server is the key component for managing virtual machine infrastructures effectively.