Articles about installing VMware vSphere 6.5 on your TinkerTry'd Supermicro SuperServer Bundle Xeon D
This article is a starting point for you, the proud Supermicro Superserver Xeon D system owner!
For virtualization enthusiasts with a SuperServer Xeon D
This article will help you enjoy an even smoother ownership experience.
For any virtualization enthusiast already at vSphere 6.0
These two articles have enjoyed very wide appeal to anybody with any home lab hardware, including various whiteboxes and frankenservers that happen to have supported hardware:
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How to easily update your VMware vCenter Server Appliance to VCSA 6.5
- How to easily update your VMware Hypervisor to ESXi 6.5
The missing link
What's missing here? A single article with a detailed video showing you each and every step. I realize a complete redo of is sorely needed:
I'm not yet sure when I'll get a chance to get that done. It's a pretty massive undertaking, having done it twice before, which have been far-and-away TinkerTry's biggest YouTube hits, even though neither video features any cute kittens.
Looking ahead
The outlook for a streamlined fresh-install 6.5 process, without the somewhat "janky" DNS workarounds (host file edits), is very good. Most of it is already contained in the various articles above.
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The sunny part
What's the sun in the mostly sunny forecast? The nice confluence of extensive testing of the DNS services provided by this this little $80 Ubiquiti gem coupled with this 2-node-cluster-capable fanless 10GbE switch, and a great UPS solution for affordable protection featuring automated shutdown. - The cloudy part
One recent stumbling block was this setback marring the release of the world's fastest consumer M.2 NVMe drive from Samsung. Got some RMAs to process, all the more reason Samsung's not sending me an October reviewer's sample to TinkerTry in advance of late December's release meant unnecessary pain for my readership. I'm truly sorry about that. Thankfully, I've got a much better relationship with Micron and Intel.
Looking further ahead
The Home vSAN dream continues to be challenging (licensing, stringent hardware requirements, 10GbE switches, etc.) It's extremely important to choose hardware on the vSAN HCL, if a performant solution is your goal. That's kind of my thing, something you can buy turn-key, run 24/7 efficiently, and have a good family-acceptance-factor (noise and price). That's a tall order, but worry not, what we have today is pretty amazing already, with M.2 NVMe options multiplying!
If money is no object, and official vSAN support is less of a concern than blowing a customer away with a butt-kicking config, well, here you go, enjoy reading all about this masterpiece now!
Now on week 3 of my new job at VMware as a Systems Engineer doing vSAN work, I'd say the forecast for a brighter vSAN infused future is pretty sunny here at TinkerTry, assuming I'm somehow able to:
- get through some daunting budgetary constraints to pull off such a feat
- get past some recent issues with coordinating with limited resources over at Supermicro
Supermicro's first priority and focus needs to be on them getting beyond today's one system, the SYS-5028D-TN4T Xeon D-1541 that's on the VMware HCL 5.5/6.0. While this accomplishment was a huge victory for home-labs and small business, the future needs to include delivery of their promise, to get the entire Xeon D line onto the vSphere HCL. Yes, this needs to include vSphere 6.5 too, of course.
Whatever happens in 2017, it will be a interesting and challenging, which for me, is the epitome of fun!
See also at TinkerTry
