A multi-node VMware lab running vSphere, VCF, VVF, and management services. Built on enterprise-grade hardware for real-world testing of vSphere, vSAN, NSX, VCF lifecycle operations, and core infrastructure management. All hosts are physical servers, grouped by role.
8Physical hosts
276CPU cores
2.6 TBMemory
10/25GbEHost networking
VCF 9.1VCF 9.0VVFStorageNetworkInfrastructure
Topology
Logical view of the data and out-of-band networks
Services
What runs where
| Service | Runs on | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| VCF 9.1 management domain In build | R640 ×4 | vCenter, NSX and vSAN ESA on physical hosts |
| Nested VCF 9.0 | R740xd #1 | NFS-backed nested lab |
| Nested VCF 9.1 | R740xd #2 | Nested lab on vSAN ESA |
| VVF lab | DL380 Gen9 | VMware vSphere Foundation lab |
| Active Directory and DNS | R740xd #1 | Windows Server 2022 DC for the nested VCF 9.0 lab |
| Lab management vCenter | DL380 Gen9 | Manages the lab hosts and nested environments |
| NFS storage | R620 | TrueNAS Scale, NFS 4.1 datastores for vSphere |
| Routing | CRS309 | Inter-VLAN routing for VLANs 41–61 |
VCF management domain
4-node vSAN ESA cluster with NVMe memory tiering In build
R640 #1
VCF mgmt
| Boot | 400 GB SAS SSD |
| CPU | 2× Gold 6230 |
| Memory | 256 GB · 4× 64 GB |
| HBA | Dell HBA330 |
| NIC | CX422A · 2× 25GbE |
| vSAN | 3× 1.6 TB NVMe |
| Tiering | 1× 1.6 TB NVMe |
R640 #2
VCF mgmt
| Boot | 400 GB SAS SSD |
| CPU | 2× Gold 6230 |
| Memory | 256 GB · 4× 64 GB |
| HBA | Dell HBA330 |
| NIC | CX422A · 2× 25GbE |
| vSAN | 3× 1.6 TB NVMe |
| Tiering | 1× 1.6 TB NVMe |
R640 #3
VCF mgmt
| Boot | 400 GB SAS SSD |
| CPU | 2× Gold 6230 |
| Memory | 256 GB · 4× 64 GB |
| HBA | Dell HBA330 |
| NIC | CX422A · 2× 25GbE |
| vSAN | 3× 1.6 TB NVMe |
| Tiering | 1× 1.6 TB NVMe |
R640 #4
VCF mgmt
| Boot | 400 GB SAS SSD |
| CPU | 2× Gold 6230 |
| Memory | 256 GB · 4× 64 GB |
| HBA | Dell HBA330 |
| NIC | CX422A · 2× 25GbE |
| vSAN | 3× 1.6 TB NVMe |
| Tiering | 1× 1.6 TB NVMe |
Nested lab hosts
Physical hosts running nested VCF 9.0 and VCF 9.1 labs
R740xd #1
Nested VCF 9.0
| Boot | BOSS · 2× M.2 SATA |
| CPU | 2× Gold 6230 |
| Memory | 256 GB DDR4 |
| HBA | Dell HBA330 |
| NIC | BCM57414 · 10/25GbE |
| Tiering | 1× 1.6 TB NVMe |
R740xd #2
Nested VCF 9.1
| Boot | BOSS · 2× M.2 SATA |
| CPU | 2× Gold 6230 |
| Memory | 256 GB DDR4 |
| HBA | Dell HBA330 |
| NIC | BCM57414 · 10/25GbE |
| Tiering | 1× 1.6 TB NVMe |
Shared services
Lab management vCenter and TrueNAS NFS storage
DL380 Gen9
vCenter · VVF
| Boot | HPE boot card |
| CPU | 2× E5-2690 v3 |
| Memory | 768 GB DDR4 |
| HBA | Smart Array P440 ×3 |
| NIC | P225p · 2× 25GbE |
| Drives | SAS + SSD arrays |
R620
TrueNAS
| Boot | PCIe boot card |
| CPU | 2× E5-2640 |
| Memory | 384 GB DDR3 |
| HBA | H310 Mini · IT mode |
| NIC | X520 2× 10GbE + I350 |
| Drives | 10× 1 TB SAS |
Network
MikroTik 10/40GbE data network with jumbo frames, plus a 1GbE out-of-band network
CRS309
L3 core
| Ports | 8× SFP+ 10GbE |
| Role | Inter-VLAN routing |
| Routing | HW-offloaded SVIs |
| VLANs | 41–61 |
| MTU | 9000 |
CRS326-24S+2Q+
L2 core
| Ports | 24× SFP+ · 2× QSFP+ |
| Role | 10GbE server access |
| VLANs | 41–61 |
| MTU | 9000 |
CRS326-24G-2S+
OOB
| Ports | 24× 1GbE · 2× SFP+ |
| Role | iDRAC / iLO (OOB) |
Lab Posts
- Mastering VCF 9.x: 10-part series
- VVF Lab series
- TrueNAS Scale on a Dell R620: 4-part series
- OMV 7 on a Dell R620: 5-part series
Last updated: September 2026