Home Server Build - Lab for learning

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, learningnewstuff said:

I plan to try VMware ESXI for free first and later pay for it.

If it becomes very expensive, I will have to switch to Xenserver.

the freeversion should be fine.

 

Id go proxmox over xenserver as they have recently killed the freeversion

 

Do you have a sd card slot in your server?

 

[learningnewstuff]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

Id go proxmox over xenserver as they have recently killed the freeversion

Oh, I see. 

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

Do you have a sd card slot in your server?

Yes, there is a slot in the front panel. I am hoping it's connected.

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, learningnewstuff said:

Yes, there is a slot in the front panel. I am hoping it's connected.

Just get any 8gb flash drive and give it a go then.

[learningnewstuff]

7 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Just get any 8gb flash drive and give it a go then.

Thank you! Will this work? (8 and 16 gb are same price. So going for 16)

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, learningnewstuff said:

Thank you! Will this work? (8 and 16 gb are same price. So going for 16)

yep that will work fine.

[DogKnight]

I haven't read the whole thread as it is quite long (but I read your first post) so excuse me if this has been covered. 

With a lot of your VM's you are provisioning, they will often deploy with their minimum requirements (16gb or so like you said). However this is usually designed for a certain amount of throughput or workload. In a home lab you wont need anywhere near production level workload most likely. Sometimes the resource values can be changed in the config files if it is an OVA or similar. Worth looking into if you can free up some resources. 

 

FYI, ESXI will work on a lot of different systems, it is just the level of compatibility that is unknown. I have my ESXI host running on a Gigabyte X99 G1 Gaming Wifi motherboard (repurposed, was not purchased for this originally). The only aspect that doesn't work for me in ESXI is the motherboards RAID. Everything else works including the WIFI interface surprisingly. 

 

The vSphere essentials kit is about $1000 AUD. Depending on where you are you may be able to get a student discount or purchase pre-tax (by registering a business name) and save yourself a few dollars. I was lucky to get licensing through my employer so I have a full vcenter running. Main issue is RAM as I run out quite quickly (32gb) and DDR4 RAM is expensive at the moment.