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.
Topology
Logical view of the data and out-of-band networks
Services
What runs in the lab, where, and how far along it is · Updated 16 October 2026 · Click a service to read how it was built
Core services
Identity, certificates and management for every lab
- Two domain controllers, one forest for every lab
- Enterprise CA: trusted certificates and secure LDAP
- KMS: new VMs activate on their own through DNS
- Runs the lab hosts and the nested labs
- Admin jump boxOne place with the admin tools for every lab
- Password vaultVaultwarden for every lab credential
- DocumentationBookStack wiki for runbooks and notes
- Logging and monitoringOne place for logs and performance dashboards
Network and storage
How the lab is connected and where data lives
- Inter-VLAN routing, MTU 9000 on every data VLAN
- TrueNAS Scale on its own storage VLAN · NFS 3 · 16K recordsize · 2× SLOG · LACP
- Nightly MikroTik exports, committed only when something changed
- CA-signed certificates on all 8 controllers, managed over Redfish
Backup and recovery
What protects the lab, and proof it restores
- Nightly file-based backup, full restore tested
- Nightly jobs for the core VMs
- Immutable for 7 days, single-use credentials
- Veeam repository with daily Btrfs snapshots, restore tested
Automation and tooling
How the lab gets built, and the scripts behind the posts
- Gitea with AD sign-in for lab configs and scripts
- Public scriptslab-tools: every script from these posts
- Windows Server 2022 and Ubuntu 24.04, with customization specs
- Builds and serves the ESX kickstart ISOs
- Physical hosts installed and checked hands-off; nested version in testing
- Deployed on vcmgmt, with the 9.1.0.0 GA binaries downloaded from the online depot
- Offline depotOne local depot for every lab build
Labs
The environments the blog series are built on
- VCF 9.1 deployed: vCenter, NSX, VCF Operations and Automation, backed up to the NAS
- VVF labVMware vSphere Foundation
- Nested VCF 9.0Nested hosts on vSAN OSA
- Nested VCF 5.xNested ESX 8.0 hosts
VCF management domain
4-node vSAN ESA cluster, VCF 9.1 deployed Live
| Boot | 400 GB SAS SSD |
| CPU | 2× Gold 6230 |
| Memory | 256 GB · 4× 64 GB |
| HBA | Dell HBA330 |
| NIC | CX4 LX NDC · 2× 25GbE (10G links) |
| vSAN | 3× 1.6 TB NVMe |
| Tiering | 1× 1.6 TB NVMe |
| Boot | 400 GB SAS SSD |
| CPU | 2× Gold 6230 |
| Memory | 256 GB · 4× 64 GB |
| HBA | Dell HBA330 |
| NIC | CX4 LX NDC · 2× 25GbE (10G links) |
| vSAN | 3× 1.6 TB NVMe |
| Tiering | 1× 1.6 TB NVMe |
| Boot | 400 GB SAS SSD |
| CPU | 2× Gold 6230 |
| Memory | 256 GB · 4× 64 GB |
| HBA | Dell HBA330 |
| NIC | CX4 LX NDC · 2× 25GbE (10G links) |
| vSAN | 3× 1.6 TB NVMe |
| Tiering | 1× 1.6 TB NVMe |
| Boot | 400 GB SAS SSD |
| CPU | 2× Gold 6230 |
| Memory | 256 GB · 4× 64 GB |
| HBA | Dell HBA330 |
| NIC | CX4 LX NDC · 2× 25GbE (10G links) |
| vSAN | 3× 1.6 TB NVMe |
| Tiering | 1× 1.6 TB NVMe |
Nested lab hosts
Physical hosts running the nested VCF 5.x and VCF 9.0 labs
| Boot | BOSS · 2× M.2 SATA |
| CPU | 2× Gold 6230 |
| Memory | 256 GB DDR4 |
| HBA | Dell HBA330 |
| NIC | BCM57414 · 10/25GbE |
| Hosts | Nested ESX 8.0 |
| Boot | BOSS · 2× M.2 SATA |
| CPU | 2× Gold 6230 |
| Memory | 256 GB DDR4 |
| HBA | Dell HBA330 |
| NIC | BCM57414 · 10/25GbE |
| vSAN | OSA, nested on SAS SSD |
Shared services
Lab management vCenter and TrueNAS NFS storage
| Boot | HPE boot card |
| CPU | 2× E5-2698 v4 |
| Memory | 512 GB DDR4 |
| HBA | Smart Array P440 ×3 |
| NIC | P225p · 2× 25GbE |
| Drives | SAS + SSD arrays |
| Boot | PCIe boot card |
| CPU | 2× E5-2698 v4 |
| Memory | 256 GB DDR4 |
| HBA | HBA330 Mini · IT mode |
| NIC | CX-4 Lx · 2× 25GbE |
| Pool | 11× mirror + 2× SLOG · 17.6 TiB |
Retired hardware
Kit that has been replaced or decommissioned
| 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 |
| Was | TrueNAS, until Oct 2026 |
Network
MikroTik 10/40GbE data network with jumbo frames, plus a 1GbE out-of-band network
| Ports | 8× SFP+ 10GbE |
| Role | Inter-VLAN routing |
| Routing | HW-offloaded SVIs |
| VLANs | 41–61 |
| MTU | 9000 |
| Ports | 24× SFP+ · 2× QSFP+ |
| Role | 10GbE server access |
| VLANs | 41–61 |
| MTU | 9000 |
| Ports | 24× 1GbE · 2× SFP+ |
| Role | iDRAC / iLO (OOB) |
Lab Posts
- VCF 9.x Fundamentals: 10-part series
- Core Infrastructure: 6-part series
- VCF 9.0 Lab, Part 1: The MikroTik Network
- Lab Maintenance: firmware updates on a running VCF cluster
- VVF Lab series
- TrueNAS Scale (R620, now R730xd): 6-part series
- OMV 7 on a Dell R620: 5-part series
Scripts from these builds are free on GitHub: github.com/rstechhub/lab-tools
Last updated: September 2026