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VMware Workstation 17 Nested Home Lab Part 6: Installation of ESXi 8 Hosts

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We’ve turned the corner on our series and in Part 6 we install ESXi 8 on to our Workstation 17 deployment. Additionally, I cover a few tips and tricks for getting the install to go smoothly!


#Optane #IntelXeon #Xeon #vExpert #VMware #Cloud #datacenter


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VMware Workstation 17 Nested Home Lab Part 5: Installation of VCSA 8

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In Part 5, I show you all the tips you’ll need to successfully install VCSA 8 on to Workstation 17.

#Optane #IntelXeon #Xeon #vExpert #VMware #Cloud #DataCenter

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VMware Workstation 17 Nested Home Lab Part 4A/B

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In Part 4A, I cover installing Windows 2022 Server, setting up AD, and DNS. Part B we complete the installation of Windows 2022 Server services (NTP, DHCP, RAS) and validate them. Towards the end of the video I make some adjustments to the DNS server allowing it to work properly.

#Optane #IntelXeon #Xeon #vExpert #VMware #Cloud #DataCenter

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VMware Workstation 17 Nested Home Lab Part 3

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In Part 3, I go over some OS Clean Up items, reviewing our network plan, and setting up Workstation 17 for the networks we’ll need. As motioned in the video check out  @VMwareTAMLab  for more information around alternative Windows AD/DS services.

#Optane #IntelXeon #Xeon #vExpert #VMware #Cloud #DataCenter

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VMware Workstation 17 Nested Home Lab Part 1

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In Part 1, I go into some of the Goals, Requirements, and a bit of planning around developing your own Nested Workstation environment by using mine an an example deployment.

Links in the video:

#Optane #IntelXeon #Xeon #vExpert #VMware #Cloud #DataCenter

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Home Lab Generation 8 Parts List (Part 2)

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Today I’m releasing the parts that I plan to use for my Generation 8 Home Lab! I’ll be using three Dell T7820 Workstations for my ESXi Hosts. In this video I go through the BOM (Bill of Materials) or the parts I selected to build out my systems.

NOTE: Though I’ve installed ESXi 8 on these hosts, this in no way is my complete solution. For now ESXi 8 seems to run without issue but I have not tested it with vSAN ESA yet. I’ll be releasing more videos around settings and networking shortly.

UPDATE: 03/11/23 All parts seem to be working well though I’ve had a string of bad QLogic QL45212HLCU-DE 2 Port 25Gbe cards from eBay. After receiving 2 bad cards, I’ve decided to buy a new card from Server Supply. I’ve installed this card and its working fine. I recommend buying this card new vs. used. https://www.serversupply.com/NETWORKING/NETWORK%20ADAPTER/25%20GIGABIT/DELL/0NJFX_310672.htm

More and updated information can be found here – https://vmexplorer.com/home-lab-bom/ #intelxeon #optane #vmware #vexpert #cloud

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Home Lab Generation 7: Archive Page

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Today I’m retiring my Generation 7 Home lab as my Generation 8 lab will be posted in my Home Lab BOM section very soon. My Gen 7 Home Lab was a vSphere and vSAN 7 All Flash cluster and below was its final configuration. Some of the items below I’ll be reusing in Generation 8, and some of the items I will be selling off.

Overview:

My Gen 7 Home Lab is based on vSphere 7 (VCSA, ESXi, and vSAN), NSX-T, and vRealize Suite. Additionally, I use it for vSphere Nesting and Testing. It contains 3 x ESXi Hosts, 1 x Windows 10 Workstation,  4 x Cisco Switches, 2 x MikroTik 10gbe Switch, 3 x APC UPS, 1 x Synology 1621+, and 1 x Asustor Lockerstor 10.  Read further below for an itemized list.

NOTE: My Home Lab Generation 7 design will not fully work with vSphere 8.  Though I could force the install of vSphere 8 I have decided to upgrade my home lab. Please see my Home Lab BOM for more inforamtion.

HL7
HL-stats
perhost-storage
perhost-nic

ESXi Hosts: (Total cost for one host ~$1325 | Unless noted, the items this area are per host)

NOTE: This Home Lab Generation 7 has worked well for me with vSphere 7 BUT most likely it will need to be updated for vSphere 8 due to pCPU discontinuation. Please see this KB for further information https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/82794

  • Case:
  • Motherboard:
  • CPU: (These CPUs work on vSphere 7, but chances are they will NOT work with vSphere 8)
    • 2 x Xeon E5-2640 v2 8 Cores / 16 HT (Ebay $30 each)
  • CPU Cooler or Heatsink: (Bracket required to fit narrow 2011 cooler mounts)
  • RAM:
    • 256GB DDR3 ECC RAM (Mostly from Ebay | each host has a different brand)
      • 16 x Host1: ELPIDA 16GB 2Rx4 PC3L-10600R-09-11-E2 Registered ECC Memory DDR3
      • 16 x Host 2: SAMSUNG M393B2K70CM0-YF8 16gb Pc3-8500r 1066mhz 1.35v Quad Rank X4 Ecc Registered Cl7 Ddr3 Sdram 240-pin Rdimm Memory Module For Server
      • 16 x Host 3: HYNIX HMT42GR7BMR4C-G7 16gb Pc3-8500r 1066mhz Cl7 Quad Rank X4 Registered Ecc Ddr3 Sdram 240-pin Rdimm Memory Module For Server
  • Disks:
    • 1 x Dual M.2 PCIe Adapter Card for NVMe/SATA SSD (Amazon $15)
      • 1 x 512GB NVMe SSD | vSAN Cache | Sabrent Rocket 512 (B&H $69)
      • 1 x 240GB M.2 SSD | Boot Disk | Kingston A400 (Amazon $35)
    • 2 x Supermicro AOC-SLG3-2M2 PCIe NVMe (Amazon $55)
      • 2 x 2TB NVMe SSD | vSAN Capacity | Sabrent Rocket 2TB (Amazon $199)
    • 1 x 2TB SATA | Extra Space | Hitachi (Ebay $50)
  • Network:
    • Motherboard Integrated i350 1gbe 4 Port
    • 1 x MellanoxConnectX3 Dual Port (HP INFINIBAND 4X DDR PCI-E HCA CARD 452372-001)
  • Power Supply:
    • Antec Earthwatts 500-700 Watts (Adapters needed to support case and motherboard connections)
      • Adapter: Dual 8(4+4) Pin Male for Motherboard Power Adapter Cable (Amazon $11)
      • Adapter: LP4 Molex Male to ATX 4 pin Male Auxiliary (Amazon $11)
      • Power Supply Extension Cable: StarTech.com 8in 24 Pin ATX 2.01 Power Extension Cable (Amazon $9)

Storage (NAS):

Network:

Battery Backup UPS:

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Announcing my Generation 8 Super VMware Workstation!

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I’ve been using VMware Workstation for many years and its been a great tool to have in my home lab plan. Over the last couple of years, I had been using multiple computers to do various tasks (VMware Workstation, PC, PLEX, Video Editing, etc.) and they seemed to work okay. Most of these were older PCs I had around that I repurposed. However, a follower of my blog made a very generous donation of several key components. It was enough to really get me thinking about creating a SUPER Workstation box. I wanted to make an all in one workstation that could handle everything I currently supported plus more. I started to evaluate what I wanted to accomplish and created a simple goal list.

Goals:

  • Support for 3 different Networks:
    • I wanted to have a 1Gbe and 10Gbe into my Home lab
    • The other connection would be used for basic networking
  • Run VMware Workstation:
    • Support several PC VMs
    • Support nested ESXi/vSAN 8 VMs, without having to force the install
    • Have enough resources to run everything from one box
  • Run PLEX Server
    • I wanted to make sure I had enough HDD space to run my PLEX media
  • Video Editing
    • Support x16 PCIe Video Card
    • From time to time I create videos and I wanted a system that could be performant around this.

From there I inventoried the parts I already had, chose new components, and created my Generation 8 VMware Workstation.

BOM:

To better clarify some of my component choices I created this video and announced my DREAM #vmware #workstation

I’m sure it will be updated as time goes and my most recent Bill of Materials (BOM) can be found here. https://vmexplorer.com/home-lab-bom/

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Working with Dell T7820 Disk trays

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As part of my Generation 8 ESXi/vSAN ESA Home lab build, in this video I go over how to work with the T7820 disk trays. They can be a bit tricky to work with, especially when adding or subtracting the 2.5″ carrier.

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First Look GEN8 ESXi/vSAN ESA 8 Home Lab (Part 1)

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I’m kicking off my next generation home lab with this first look in to my choice for an ESXi/vSAN 8 host. There will be more videos to come as this series evolves!

This entry was posted in Dell, ESXi, Home Lab, InfiniBand, Other, Video Blog, vmware, VSAN.