VMware Hypervisor Project

Project Concluded:   August 15, 2018

DB Reference:   dc_sys_vsphere

Last Updated:   September 26, 2023

login page of VMware ESXi.

Introduction

Having only one physical server but want to have share its performance? Thats where virtual machines could be very useful. In this project, I have installed and configured VMware ESXi 6.7 Hypervisor.

screenshot of ESXi management interfface of k1 host

Specification & Structures

As of April 2023, the system has the following specification:

Hardware: 1 * Supermicro X10QBL server with quad Xeon E7-8895v2 + 768G Memory

Hardware: 1 * DELL PowerEdge R740 server with dual Xeon Platinum 8269CY + 384G Memory

Hypervisor: VMware ESXi 6.7

Detailed Description

Prior to commencing my project, I evaluated performance of several options such as VirtulBox, VMware Workstation, and Kubernetes. As I anticipated that the content of services I would be dealing with might not be easily dockerized, I decided to opt for a complete virtual environment. Eventually, I selected VMware ESXi (6.7), an enterprise-grade hypervisor.

At the beginning, there existed only one hypervisor (X10QBL). However, in 2021, a new high-performance hypervisor (R740) was introduced and subsequently implemented as part of the Genetic Analysis Project. Both hypervisors, were then added to AD1 domain for a centrailized management.

screenshot of ESXi management interfface of k2 host

The management interface, VMware vSphere, was installed but it later became inoperable for reasons unknown. Since there are now only two hypervisors in use, there is no longer a pressing need to deploy vSphere. Nevertheless, I am planning to reinstall it on a physical machine and upgrade the ESXi version in 2024.