WilliamLam.com

  • About
    • About
    • Privacy
  • VMware Cloud Foundation
  • VKS
  • Homelab
    • Hardware Options
    • Hardware Reviews
    • Lab Deployment Scripts
    • Nested Virtualization
    • Homelab Podcasts
  • VMware Nostalgia
  • Apple

Considerations for future vSphere Homelabs due to upcoming removal of SD card/USB support for ESXi

09.22.2021 by William Lam // 16 Comments

In case you have not heard the news, VMware had recently published a new knowledge base article (KB 85685) outlining details for the future removal of SD card/USB as a standalone boot device for ESXi.

📣 New VMware KB has just been published on the Removal of SD card/USB as a standalone boot device option for ESXi https://t.co/ci9xLbQIv5

— William Lam (@lamw.bsky.social | @*protected email*) (@lamw) September 16, 2021

If you have not read the KB, please take a few minutes and carefully read the article, especially as you think about future hardware upgrades and purchases.

There has certainly been no shortage of discussions and debates since the publishing of the VMware KB. One topic that I know many of you have been wondering and asking about is what is the impact to vSphere Homelabs? This was something that had already crossed my mind after I first read the KB and I was thinking about this a bit more this week and specifically some of the potential options that are available to customers right now but also some of the considerations you may want to account for in with future homelab upgrades.

Disclaimer: These are my own personal opinions and do not reflect any official guidance or recommendations from VMware.

[Read more...]

Categories // ESXi, ESXi-Arm, Home Lab Tags // ESX-OSData, ESXi, homelab, Intel NUC

ESXi on Intel NUC 11 Extreme (Beast Canyon)

07.29.2021 by William Lam // 17 Comments


The NUC 11 Extreme (codenamed Beast Canyon) is the latest in Intel's Tiger Lake based NUC lineup which includes the NUC 11 Performance (Panther Canyon), NUC 11 Enthusiast (Phantom Canyon) and NUC 11 Pro (Tiger Canyon). As you can see from the picture above, the codename for the NUC 11 Extreme is quite fitting as this is currently the largest "NUC" that Intel has built to date, coming in at 8L. Yes, this is definitely "stretching" the NUC label in terms of what folks historically expect but I believe Intel is simply expanding on their well known NUC brand, especially as there are also NUC laptops.

However, this is also not the first time Intel has explored a larger NUC design. In 2020, Intel introduced the NUC 9 Pro (Quartz Canyon) and Extreme (Ghost Canyon) which took advantage of the new NUC Compute Element and enabled a new modular design and form factor adding support for discrete GPU and PCIe expandability. As a successor to the NUC 9, the NUC 11 Extreme extends this concept further by adding support for a full length discrete GPU, which is the primary driver for the larger form factor.

The NUC 11 Extreme can also enhance your homelab experience with LED lights which are located underneath the chassis and on the front with the classic Intel NUC Skull. Even cooler, the design in the front is customizable and can be user replaced with a different graphic. For an example of what this could look like, jump down to the customizable logo section of this blog post 🙂

I know there are a number of folks in the VMware community who are currently using the NUC 9 for their VMware Homelab, especially for those with GPU and/or additional network and storage requirements. Let's now take a closer look at what the NUC 11 Extreme has to offer the VMware Community.

[Read more...]

Categories // ESXi Tags // Beast Canyon, Intel NUC

Passthrough of Intel Iris Xe Integrated GPU on 11th Gen NUC results in Error Code 43

07.07.2021 by William Lam // 49 Comments

I recently ran into an issue after enabling ESXi passthrough of the new Intel Iris Xe Integrated GPU (iGPU), which is available with the latest Intel 11th Gen Pro (Tiger Canyon) NUC and SimplyNUC Topaz. After installing the latest Intel Graphics Driver and rebooting the Microsoft Windows 10 (20H2) VM, I noticed Microsoft Device Manager would show the iGPU device with the following error message:

Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)


Unfortunately, this generic error message was not very useful in identifying the underlying issue. I was hoping the process was going to be seamless like it was for enabling passthrough of the iGPU in Intel NUC 10 (Frost Canyon) NUC, especially with the higher execution units for the 11the Gen NUC i3 (48 EU), i5 (80 EU) and i7 (96 EU).

I currently have a case open with the Intel NUC team and see if they can help investigate the underlying issue for their driver. For the time being, it looks like passthrough of the new iGPU is not fully functional when using ESXi 7.0 Update 2 and I will update this blog post if/when I have further updates to share.

Categories // ESXi Tags // GPU, Intel NUC, Iris Xe, SimplyNUC

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • …
  • 11
  • Next Page »

Search

Thank Author

Author

William is Distinguished Platform Engineering Architect in the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Division at Broadcom. His primary focus is helping customers and partners build, run and operate a modern Private Cloud using the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) platform.

Connect

  • Bluesky
  • Email
  • GitHub
  • LinkedIn
  • Mastodon
  • Reddit
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo

Recent

  • Ultimate Lab Resource for VCF 9.0 06/25/2025
  • VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) on ASUS NUC 15 Pro (Cyber Canyon) 06/25/2025
  • VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) on Minisforum MS-A2 06/25/2025
  • VCF 9.0 Offline Depot using Synology 06/25/2025
  • Deploying VCF 9.0 on a single ESXi host? 06/24/2025

Advertisment

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Copyright WilliamLam.com © 2025

 

Loading Comments...