Welcome to Post 5, in this post I want to dive a little deeper into the Host Configuration, Physical Build and Networking configuration. The previous post has outlined the simple approach and where I place each of the physical nodes and even slightly touching on the nested hosts for demo purposes.

This post also signifies the 7th post of the #VDM30in30 challenge that I am attempting and I am now at the stage where I have the ideas and titles in my head but its now about putting it down on paper and getting constructive useful posts out on the site for all to consume.

In capturing this information I have used the trustworthy source of Veeam ONE to capture and report on and I have used screen captures from these reports. Where relevant and where I have not yet implemented for example my fourth physical host this will follow suit with all other host configuration.

Host Configuration

Each host is configured in very much the same way, this is not because of DRS or HA as this is not really a use case because of the differences in hardware and lack of shared storage in the most part.

General Information

Management

Physical
Site 1 & Site 2 (Nested)
Available Resources

Management

Physical
Site 1 & Site 2 (Nested)
Network Configuration

Management

Physical
*Virtual Lab 1 is a virtual switch with no physical connectivity and is used for Veeam SureBackup/SureReplica and Sandbox Test operations.

Site 1 & Site 2 (Nested)

*Storage Snapshots Lab VM Network is a virtual switch with no physical connectivity and is used for Veeam OnDemand SandBox from Storage Snapshots

All Hosts Configuration

*Note that this is including some  nested ESXi so not a clear indication on physical hardware being used.

Physical Build
I wanted to start here by sharing the rack that I have situated in my home office. I managed to pick this up really really cheap around 2-3 years back. It gives me 22U for all home  lab equipment, when I purchased it was sound proofed but over time this just has not withstood the movement and I won’t be including it in the write up.

More information can be found here – https://www.amazon.co.uk/19-Inch-Server-Rack-Cabinet/dp/B005SSSNR6

I have also purchased a mounted power strip and this is mounted on the back of the rack towards the bottom.

That concludes this post, tomorrows post will be covering off a little more detail on how I am using the storage in the lab, the majority of storage I have is spinning rust but there are elements of shared SAN, NAS and SSD that I am using sparingly for different tasks within the lab.

Any feedback or advice please reach out to me @MichaelCade1 / @vZillaUK

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