Introduction
After a long period of not blogging and a compromised website I take a new start.
This post documents the baseline configuration of my homelab which is built around VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0.1 running on Dell PowerEdge R640 servers. All future posts will assume this environment unless explicitly stated otherwise.
The primary goal of this homelab is to provide a realistic, repeatable platform for testing VMware features, validating upgrade paths, and developing automation workflows without impacting production environments. Also this lab is being rebuild regular as this is being used a demo material in The VCF trainings I teach. Sometimes things go crazy and things get broken. Luckily I have another smaller VCF environment that runs as a kind of production environment. This is run on MiniForum MS-A2 devices. I will give you more info how this is setup in another post.
Homelab Goals
This homelab is used for:
- VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) lifecycle management
- vSphere and vCenter feature validation
- HCX migration testing
- PowerShell / PowerCLI automation
- Patch, upgrade, and failure scenario testing
- General infrastructure experimentation
- Demo Material during the VCF training classes I teach as Broadcom VMware VCI
Hardware Overview
Physical Hosts
The homelab consists of multiple Dell PowerEdge R640 servers.
| Component | Specification |
|---|---|
| Server Model | Dell PowerEdge R640 |
| CPU | Dual Intel(R) Xeon(R) Gold 6240 CPU @ 2.60GHz |
| Memory | 512 GB RAM per host |
| Boot | BOSS-S1 with mirrored M.2 SSDs |
| Storage | Local SSD / NVMe for vSAN (2×1.6TB) |
| Networking | Dual 25GbE SFP+ + Dual 10GbE + 1Gbe iDRAC |
Out-of-Band Management
- iDRAC 9 Enterprise
- Dedicated management NIC
- Static IP addressing
Network Architecture
My network infrastructure is based on Ubiquity material.
| Purpose | Device |
| Router / Firewall | Dream Machine Pro |
| SFP+ Aggregate | USW Pro Aggregation 28x10GbE + 4x25GbE |
| Network switch | Pro Max 48 32x1GbE + 16×2.5GbE + 4x10GbE SFP+ |
The network is segmented using VLANs to mirror production-style deployments.
VLAN & IP Plan
| Purpose | VLAN | Subnet |
| Management INFRA | 3 | 192.168.3.0/24 |
| Management VM | 4 | 192.168.4.0/24 |
| vMotion | 7 | 192.168.7.0/24 |
| vSAN | 6 | 192.168.6.0/24 |
| NSX Overlay | 12 | 192.168.12.0/24 |
| Storage (iSCSI – NFS) | 5 | 192.168.5.0/24 |
All ESXi hosts are configured with redundant 10GbE and 25 GBE uplinks connected to a managed switch supporting VLAN trunking. the 25 GbE nics will be used for vSAN, vMotion, NSX Overlay. One 25GbE NIC is really 25GbE connected.
Software Stack & Versions
The following software versions are used as the baseline for this homelab:
| Component | Version |
| VMware Cloud Foundation | 9.0.1 |
| ESXi | Included with VCF 9.0.1 |
| vCenter Server | Included with VCF 9.0.1 |
| NSX | Included with VCF 9.0.1 |
| vSAN | Included with VCF 9.0.1 |
| Dell OpenManage | Latest supported version |
Note: Versions may change over time as upgrades are performed. This post will be updated accordingly.
Core Infrastructure Services
DNS
- Internal DNS hosted on a Microsoft Windows 2025 server
- Forward and reverse DNS configured for all infrastructure components
NTP
- Central NTP source configured for all ESXi hosts, vCenter, and VCF components
- I use 3 enteries, 0.be.pool.ntp.org, 1.be.pool.ntp.org and 2.be.pool.ntp.org
- Time synchronization validated before any VCF deployment
- Firewall allows servers to go to internet for the NTP configuration
Certificates
Certificates
- Initial deployment uses VMware-generated certificates
- Future posts will cover integration with an internal Certificate Authority on a Windows 2025 Server
Licenses
- As vExpert I was happy I got a VMUG Advantage Package. And finishing up some VMware Certificates you get licenses in the VMUG Advantage program.
Authentication & Access
- vCenter authentication via local SSO domain
- ESXi root access enabled for troubleshooting
- SSH access restricted and enabled only when required. 1 host has permanent SSH open as this makes it easier when doing demos.
- API access used extensively for automation and scripting
VCF Deployment Assumptions
All future posts assume the following prerequisites are met:
- Fully functional DNS with forward and reverse lookup
- Reliable NTP configuration across all hosts
- VLAN-backed networking with jumbo frames where applicable
- iDRAC access for all physical servers
- Administrative access to the VCF management domain
If your environment differs, adjustments may be required.
What’s Next
Upcoming posts will cover:
- Preparing Dell PowerEdge R640 servers for VCF 9.0
- How to get VCF 9.0 License Keys
- VCF bring-up and management domain deployment
- NSX configuration and workload domain creation
- HCX deployment and migration testing
- PowerShell and API-based automation examples
Change Log
- v1.0 – Initial publication of homelab baseline
This post will be kept up to date as the homelab evolves.
