Homelab suggestion

[ovaisvm99]

Dear Experts,

I know this question might have been raised couple of time but i was not able to find any suitable answer. Currently i am confused as to what shall be the specs of the server that can cater the future requirement as well. I am planning to attempt VCIX-NV by 2018, so please advise the cost effective server or any mini pc type of thing. I am unfortunately not a server guy

Please pardon my ignorance

[Dan_Johnson]

Hey,

Building an NSX lab is tricky, while building a nested NSX lab is possible, the ram requirements for the required VMs mean you'd probably be looking for something with at least 64gb to install workstation on and get a lab spun up.

You could build a physical lab, but then it becomes quiet costly, you're probably better off using the VMware HOL for NSX as this will get you hands on experience and the troubleshooting HOL are very useful for the VCIX exam.

For a physical lab, look at something like the Dell C6100, 4 nodes in a single 2u chassis, 12 x 3.5" SAS\SATA drive bays which could be used to build a VSAN datastore, get a 1GB switch and you're cooking with gas 😉

[ovaisvm99]

Thanks Dan,

But can we prepare for VCIX NV using HOL alone?

On Thu, Apr 13, 2017 at 8:40 PM, Dan_Johnson <communities-emailer@vmware.com

[bayupw]

I was using HOL alone for VCIX-NV but I do have some experiences in designing and deploying NSX.

HOL would give you a platform to test feature function both for single site deployment and cross-vCenter deployments

VCIX-NV exam covers feature function on single & cross-vC and should not cover about deploying from scratch or configuring physical network.

So you can use HOL for studying VCIX-NV, but you don't have the experience to deploy from scratch, designing the platform, design and build the physical network.

Having your own lab would be ideal.

If you are planning to use homelab and have minimal resources, you can downsize some NSX management components

Downsize vCenter Server from 2vCPU/10GB to 2vCPU/6GB, NSX Manager from 4vCPU/16GB to 1vCPU/5GB, NSX Controller from 4vCPU/4GB to 1vCPU/1GB.

You can also deploy 1 controller just for functionality purposes

see this blog post:

Homelab: Downsizing vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 | Virten.net

Deploy VMware NSX in Homelabs with Limited Resources | Virten.net

Don't forget to add some more resources for NSX Edge Services Gateway, NSX DLR Control VM, AD, DNS, workload VMs.

Double the resources to cover cross-vCenter deployment

If you prefer small homelab, I would use SuperMicro E200-8D

https://lab-rat.com.au/2017/04/01/supermicro-vs-intel-nuc/