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2022 VMUG Advantage Community Group Buy

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It is that time of the year again, the event that you all have been waiting for ... the annual VMUG Advantage Community Group Buy! 😀


For those not familiar with the VMUG Advantage membership, it provides benefits such as access to training, VMworld discounts but also to EVALExperience, which provides you with 365-days access (non-production usage) to the latest VMware solutions such as vSphere, vSAN, NSX, vRealize, Tanzu and VMware Cloud Foundation. The EVALExperience alone is worth the normal $200 USD membership fee and is certainly one of the cheapest and easiest way to get access to all the latest VMware offerings for homelab and educational purposes.

Here are other benefits of VMUG Advantage:

  • Access to VMware Test Drive
  • 20-35% discounts on VMware training and certification
  • This 15% discount is only offered once a year through this offer
  • Advantage members receive $100 USD VMware Explore Discount (not stackable)
  • Full list of Advantage Benefits: https://www.vmug.com/membership/vmug-advantage-membership

The table below provides the respective discounts based on the quantity of VMUG Advantage membership purchases. The larger the interests group, the larger the discount.

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New VMware Community HCL

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If you are not using or can not use the official VMware Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) to identify hardware systems and components that are officially supported with a given version of vSphere ESXi, then the experience in finding hardware can be quite daunting for both new and even existing users. Typically, users might start off by searching online or posting in the VMTN Community Forums and although I have attempted to help in this space with my VMware Community Homelab project, which attempts to crowd source working configuration and build-of-materials (BOM) that can assist, it certainly is a big challenge.

Even if you are successful in the initial assessment, there are no guarantees that your hardware configuration will be compatible with future vSphere ESXi releases and the investigative process will likely have to start all over again or simply with trial and error, which can also be frustrating for new users. I have always wanted and I know many of you in the community have also expressed similiar options in having a VMware Community HCL that can be used and maintain by the community.

Today, I am excited to share that we now have a platform that can enable an "unofficial" VMware Community HCL!

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Potentially interesting VMware Homelab Kits for 2022

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I am always on the lookout for new and interesting hardware platforms that can benefit the VMware Homelab Community. In the month of January, there were a number of new announcements that I had been following including news from the Computer Electronic Show (CES) but also a couple of product releases from vendors that I had not heard of before until most recently.

While the global silicon shortage is still a very real challenge, here are some of the new and upcoming hardware platforms that I think could potentially be interesting for VMware Homelabs in 2022. The list below is not exhaustive and I primarily focused on platforms that offers a unique or interesting capability based on the various requirements that I have heard from the community over the years. As an example, I know some of you have expressed interests in platforms that are capable of supporting full length discrete GPU for VDI, AL/ML and Kubernetes-based workloads to a platform that can enable more advanced networking features with multiple onboard network adapters.

If there are other platforms that I or the community should definitely keep an eye out for in 2022, feel free to leave a comment with a pointer to the reference. I will periodically update this article with additional new systems, so definitely bookmark this page and check back frequently.

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