WilliamLam.com

NFS Multi-Connections in vSphere 8.0 Update 1

by // 13 Comments

The upcoming vSphere 8.0 Update 1 release includes a lot of exciting new features, some of which you can learn about by listening to either The Unexplored Territory and VirtuallySpeaking Podcasts, both of which covered the vSphere 8.0 Update 1 launch announcement. One of the highlighted core storage platform feature is the long awaited NFS capability that will allows users to select and isolate a specific VMKernel interface as shown in the screenshot below.


This actually reminded me of another interesting NFS capability that will also be part of the upcoming vSphere 8.0 Update 1 release, which is for ESXi to support multiple TCP connections for a single NFS v3 volume, also referred to as nconnect for those familiar with this NFS capability.

For those interested in this new NFS capability, it is important to note that this setting will initially only be configurable by using either the vSphere API or ESXCLI directly on an ESXi host.

[Read more...]

Quick Tip - How to download ESXi ISO image for all releases including patch updates?

by // 14 Comments

Not all ESXi releases, including patch updates are available as an ISO image that can be downloaded. Depending on the type of ESXi release, it will either be available as an ISO and Offline Bundle (zip) format which can downloaded from the ESXi Customer Connect portal or only as an Offline Bundle which must be downloaded from the VMware Patch portal.

I typically see folks forgetting about the VMware Patch portal, which also provides patch updates for the vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA), when they are searching for a new ESXi updates. Let's take a look at an example using the ESXi 7.0 Update 3 release, as you can see from the screenshot below, you can download 7.0 Update 3c, d, f and g from the Customer Connector portal but for 7.0 Update 3e, i, j and k you will need to use the VMware Patch portal.


As mentioned earlier, when downloading ESXi patches from the VMware Patch portal, they are only available in the Offline Bundle format, which might work for most typical patch use cases but in some scenarios, you may actually want it in an ISO format, especially for initial installation.

[Read more...]

ESXi on palm size iKOOLCORE R1

by // 17 Comments

Towards the end of 2022, I came to learn about a really fascinating mini PC called the R1, that is manufactured by a company called iKOOLCORE, which is based out of China. iKOOLCORE is described as specializing in open source firewall applications and the R1 adds some interesting networking possibilities as you will see shortly.


What really makes the R1 standout is that it comes equipped with four built-in ethernet adapters that is packaged into a super compact form factor with a pretty elegant design. In fact, the R1 might actually be the worlds smallest x86 system that literally fits in the palm of your hand! ?

With the compact design and flexibility in networking, the R1 can certainly enable a number of interesting use cases for VMware Homelabs like running infrastructure systems (vCenter Server Appliance, VMware Cloud Builder, Active Directory, etc.) to networking services (DNS, DHCP, Firewall, VPN, etc). The R1 can also make for a great portable homelab that you can bring anywhere and not have to worry about space or noise and is powered simply through USB-PD (Power Delivery) which makes it even more friendly to travel with.

The only thing left was to get my hands on the R1 and thanks to the creator and designer of the R1, who goes by the name of Jackeroo, I was able to give the R1 a spin and explore it from a VMware Homelab perspective.

[Read more...]