vBrain.info

HomeLab in 2020

My homelab changed a lot since my last refresh in 2014 which you can find here. The reason for this is that my requirements for a homelab changed drastically since I joined VMware in 2014. I need to be up to date with more products that I needed before so I’m teaching myself new stuff through this lab. Also it’s always good to have an environment where you can check if a configuration is just a customer config error/issue problem or if it’s a general problem (bug, different understanding about a feature etc.).

Current configuration

Server (ESXi)

  • 2x Whitebox Server (currently offline as everything is running on one HPE DL360 Gen9 server, 2021-06-16)
    • SuperMicro X9SRH-7TF
    • Intel Xeon E5-2620 v2
    • 128GB RAM
    • Quad-Port NIC
    • Dual-Port 10G NIC (10GBase-T, onboard)
  • 1x DELL R720 (currently offline as all nested environments are also running on the HPE DL360 Gen9 server, 2021-06-16)
    • 2x Intel Xeon E5-2660 v2
    • 384GB RAM
    • Intel Quad-Port NIC
    • 2x 10Gbit (MCX311A-XCAT ConnectX-3)
    • Crucial MX300 750GB & Crucial MX500 1TB local SSD
  • 3x 2x Gigabyte BRIX BSi3HAL-6100
    • Intel i3-6100 (6th Gen)
    • 32GB RAM
    • Samsung EVO 850 M.2 256GB SSD (Cache)
    • Crucial MX300 750GB SSD (Capacity)
    • 2x 1G NIC
    • All-Flash vSAN Cluster iSCSI LUNs via DS918+
  • 2x HPE DL360 Gen9
    • 2x Intel Xeon E5-2690 v4
    • 768GB RAM
    • Intel Quad-Port NIC
    • 2x 10Gbit (10GBase-T)

Storage

  • DS918+ (VMware Production NAS)
    • 4x 3TB Seagate IronWolf
    • RAID5
    • 2x M.2 Plextor 256GB NVMe (Cache, RAID1)
    • Currently testing new NVMe SSDs for new Cache (Sep. 21st, 2020)
    • KINGSTON SA2000M8500G (Write-Cache, RAID1) (2021-06-16)
  • DS1515+ (VMware Development NAS)
    • 4x 4TB Seagate IronWolf
    • RAID5
    • 1x Intel SSD DC S3520 (Read Cache only)
  • DS415+ (Backup NAS)
    • 4x 4TB Seagate IronWolf, RAID5

Networking

  • Cisco SG-300-52 52-Port Gigabit Switch, Layer 3 managed (Core Switch)
  • Cisco SG-200-26 26-Port Gigabit Switch, Layer 2 managed (Office Switch)
  • Ubiquiti US-16-XG, 16 Port 10G Switch (12 SFP+, 4 10GBase-T)
  • Sophos UTM110/120 9.7, 100 IP Home License
  • Sophos SG135 v2, 9.7, 100 IP Home License
  • DELL R220, v9.7, 100 IP Home License

Current Network Diagram (design idea by Chris Wahl, www.wahlnetwork.com)

Available resources (without AF vSAN cluster)