#unsupported

Deploy VMware NSX-V in Homelabs with Limited Resources

by Florian Grehl
May 15, 2016February 26, 2020
11 Comments

downsizing-nsx When deploying VMware NSX-V in a homelab, its huge resource requirement might be an issue. In the default configuration a small setup with NSX Manager, 3 NSX Controllers and 2 Edge gateways requires 30 GB Memory. Consumer VMs to connect to logical switches requiring additional resources.

This post explains how you can deploy VMware NSX in your homelab with less than 8GB Memory by downsizing each component including:

NSX Manager
NSX Controllers
NSX Edge Gateways
Consumer VMs

VMware NSX-V 6.2 Beginners Guide - From Zero to Full Deployment for Labs

by Florian Grehl
April 29, 2016February 26, 2020
22 Comments

NSX VMware NSX-V is the SDDC technology of the future. What ESX was once for Servers, NSX is now for Networks. I highly encourage everyone to make yourselves familiar with this technology. NSX with all its features is quite complex, but the entry point is quite simple and requires only basic vSphere and networking skills. This beginners guide explains how to deploy NSX in your homelab even with limited physical ressources by downsizing NSX Manager and NSX Controller VMs. The guide starts at zero and quickly explains how to deploy NSX and connect your first Virtual Machine to a VXLAN based logical switch that is able to communicate to the physical world through an NSX Edge Gateway.

What do you need to create the Lab?

vCenter 6 with some physical ESXi Hosts
vSphere Distributed Switch (dvSwitch)
NSX Manager Appliance (Download: NSX 6.2.2)
There is no special physical Switch requirement

VMware Host Client (HTML5 based Web-Client) on Android

by Florian Grehl
March 17, 2016
5 Comments

vmware-esxi-host-client-on-android The VMware Host Client is a HTML5 client that is used to connect to and manage single ESXi hosts without a vCenter Server. The Host client was initially created as a Fling, but made it to a supported component of vSphere 6.0 Update 2.

No Flash, no Windows-based C# Client - Shouldn't it work on Android based smartphones and tablets? I've tried to manage a standalone Homelab ESXi Host with the Web-based Host Client and it works quite nice (with some tweaking).

Of Course, it's not suitable for large platforms, as the vCenter Web-Client is still Flash based.

USB Devices as VMFS Datastore in vSphere ESXi 6.0

by Florian Grehl
October 17, 2015January 6, 2017
76 Comments

In the last years I've seen many requests in forums and blogs where people are trying to use USB devices like USB sticks or external hard disks as VMFS formatted datastore. It was actually possible in vSphere 5, but very picky. Some USB flash drives were working, others not. In vSphere 6, this behavior has been changed obviously. This post explains how you can use USB devices as datastore on your ESXi host. Of course, this is neither a supported, nor a performant storage solution, so use at your own risk.Read More »USB Devices as VMFS Datastore in vSphere ESXi 6.0