Home lab server nested virtualization, containers, virtual machines, cloud, licensing

A home lab Q&A session talking about questions I have had regarding home lab environments. Questions like how to get started, what hypervisor to use, containers or virtual machines, and other topics of interest.

Video sponsor: Cameyo Virtual Application Delivery platform. One of the coolest application delivery platforms I have seen:

My blog:
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Introduction to Homelab Q&A - 0:00
Transitioning to a dedicated environment - 2:15
Thin client options - 2:43
What did I start with? - 3:07
Moving to dedicated server-class hardware - 3:31
Nested virtualization - 3:48
What nested virtualization is and what it does - 4:05
Saving on hardware investment - 4:38
Using snapshots with nested virtualzation - 4:52
I am still using nested virtualization - 5:32
More efficiently using your server hardware - 6:10
What is the best hypervisor to use? - 6:18
Free and open source? - 6:52
Why I run vSphere - 7:03
VMUG Advantage a great value - 7:38
Hypervisor you choose is up to you - 8:15
Any hypervisor allows you to learn - 8:20
Virtual machines or containers? - 9:00
VMs an containers serve different purposes - 9:12
Containers and Virtual machines are complimentary technologies - 10:00
What applications are better suited for containers? - 10:51
Examples of user cases for containers - 11:10
VM use cases - 11:40
Containers allow you to make more efficient use of your lab hardware - 11:57
Should you use the cloud along with your home lab? - 12:37
Licensing - 14:38
Microsoft Evaluation Center - 14:47
VMUG for vSphere licensing - 15:22
Proxmox free and open source hypervisor - 15:39
Windows Pro and above licensing for Hyper-V - 15:45
Wrapping up the Home Lab Q&A - 16:06


My home lab rack of gear:

Details on my supermicro servers:

[michaelmartin]

As a VCAP, regardless how you setup your physical lab, VMUG Advantage is a must if you wish to increase your vSphere skill set. $200/year. A vast majority of the vSphere stack is at your disposal and you may set it up as if you are building a full SDDC. NSX and vRealize included. I buy older servers and just cobble the parts together to make them run.

[georgelabonte]

Great video. More videos going in depth on containers, VMs, etc would be great. Thanks!

[robc]

awesome video and even better channel!! Your videos are something I am always watching for. Containers and Linux are what my learning path is currently focused on.

[valve_girl]

Amazing! Thank you for your Informative Videos!

[NeedInput_Johnny]

Thank you for a great video and knowing I had access to Hyper-V this whole time is a nice bonus. Learning WinServer at home is great and learning how to create an Azure hybrid environment would be even better. Any plans on explaining how to do that on the cheap? Those Azure licenses are all over the place.

[nence]

Excellent information... priceless $$$

[jimberry]

This was GREAT! Question, should I expect a noticeable performance hit on Nesting Virtualization?
Also, just wanted to share regarding licensing: I subscribe to the Microsoft Action Pack which gives a bunch of server, desktop, and developer licenses for $495 a year. Example: 16 licenses for Windows 22 Server. Win 11 enterprise (16); Etc. These are perpetual licenses that don't expire.

The yearly renewal ensures you get the latest products when they come out. Tons of other data center stuff, SQL server, etc...

It also comes with a $100 a month Azure credit and Office 365 E3 subscription for up to 5 users. Toss in 10 support calls for any Microsoft product. It must be used in a non-production environment and you must be a business. But the business qualification was super simple to do. I went to my local town hall and paid one time $35 fee to get a local business certificate just for this. There were no tax implications. Hope some find this helpful. There are many other features too. Both this and VMUG advantage have me covered.

[sachinnautiyal]

What is the desktop computer hardware requirement to install VMware and create a home virtual lab to practice on various servers ( Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, Antivirus etc: )

[dungtrananh]

Dear sir, can you make a video brief compare between vRealize Operations and Turbonomic on-premise? Much appreciated.

[NetBandit]

Tell me about those VMUG coupon codes. How cheap can we get it?