To test programs, new configurations and implement new solutions, I heavily rely on my Home lab where also most of my blog posts are taken from.
Since the hardware choice depends on the available budget and must respect the compatibility criteria as defined in the HCL VMware, I had to do some investigations to find the right configuration to meet the requirements.
Current Home Lab
This is my current Home Lab configuration.
PROD Site
ESXi nodes
- Model: 3x Minisforum MS-01.
- CPU: Intel Core I9-12900H.
- RAM: 2x 32GB CORSAIR VENGEANCE SODIMM DDR5 4800MHz CL40.
- Disks: 2x 1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 (2280) SSD, 500GB Crucial T500 PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 SSD.
Storage
- Synology DS918+: 4x 3TB WD Red disks in RAID 5 configuration. NvME 250GB read/write cache, 16GB RAM.
- Synology DS918+: 4x 3TB WD Red disks in RAID 5 configuration, 8GB RAM. Used as Backup Repository.
- VMware vSAN OSA: 6TB full flash.
DR Site
ESXi nodes
- Model: Intel NUC NUC8i3BEH.
- CPU: Intel Core i3-8109U.
- RAM: 2x 16GB Crucial CT16G4SFD824A.
- Disks: Kingston SA1000M8/240G SSD A1000, SanDisk Ultra Fit 16GB USB 3.0.
- Model: Intel NUC NUC5I5RYK.
- CPU: Intel Core i5-5250U.
- RAM: 16GB Crucial.
- Disks: CRUCIAL SSD 500GB Serie MX200 M. 2, SanDisk Ultra Fit 16GB USB 3.0.
Storage
- Synology DS119j: 3TB WD Red disk.
Networking
- Cisco SG350-28 28-Port Gigabit Managed Switch. Used to separate VMs Traffic with specific VLANs.
- Mikrotik CRS310-1G-5S-4S+IN network switch L3 Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000). This switch is used to handle vSAN and vMotion traffic.
- Ubiquiti USG: used as main router and for Inter VLANs traffic to route the configured subnets.
- Raspberry Pi 3+: used to manage the Ubiquiti USG.
