VMware Homeserver – ESXi on 6th Gen Skull Canyon Intel NUCIntel has launched the Skull Canyon NUC which completes the 6th Gen NUC family with a powerful Core i. CPU and a redesigned chassis. I will take a look at its capabilities as homeserver running VMware ESXi.

As I’m sure most of the active VMware users and enthusiasts are aware, vSphere 5.5 was released to the masses last weekend. I eagerly downloaded a copy and have. Install Linux On Boot Camp Mac Mini. VMware is the global leader in virtualization software, providing desktop and server virtualization products for virtual infrastructure solutions.

NUCs are not officially supported by VMware but they are very widespread in many homlabs or test environments. They are small, silent, transportable and have a very low power consumption, making it a great server for your homelab. Gen NUCs in the old layout are also available with an i. CPU which have been reviewed here.

VMware has made vSphere 6.5 generally available on November 15th, and this includes the core hypervisor platform ESXi 6.5. In the What's New and Release Notes.

VMware and QLogic provide drivers for various QLogic Fibre Channel Adapters, Converged Network Adapters, iSCSI and Intelligent Ethernet Adapters. When you try to install VMware ESXi on some whitebox hardware that is not officially supported by VMware then your attempt might come to an unpleasant end after the. This is a guide which will install FreeNAS 9.10 under VMware ESXi and then using ZFS share the storage back to VMware. This is roughly based on Napp-It’s All-In-One. How to upgrade a ESXi 6.0 to ESXi 6.5 via VMware Update Manager (VUM). Detailed post with video upgrading my lab host via VUM.

Features. Quad Core i. HQ Skylake CPUUp to 3. GB of DDR4 SODIMM memory. M. 2 slot with PCIe x. NVMe Support. External SD Card Slot.

• ESXi 6.0 Update 2 . Check for additions and updates to these release notes.
• The NUC itself is not supported by VMware and not listed in the HCL. However, some essential components are listed. ESXi runs out of the box starting with the.
• ESXi and vCenter Server 5 Documentation VMware vSphere ESXi and vCenter Server 5 Documentation VMware vSphere Basics VMware vSphere and Virtualizing the IT.

Intel I2. 19- LM Gigabit Network Adapter. Thunderbolt 3 port with USB 3. USB 3. 0 Port. To be used with ESXi I recommend to buy additionally: USB Flash Drive (ESXi Boot)3. Complete Manual Of Suicide Online.

GB Memory (2. 13. MHz, 1. 2. V/1. 3. V DDR4 SODIMM)M. 2 NVMe SSD (2. Compared against 6th Gen i. NUCs, the main differences are: Quad- Core CPUThunderbolt 3 (4.

Gbps) with USB Type C connector. M. 2 2. 2x. 42/8. M) slots for SATA3 or PCIe X4 Gen. NVMe or AHCI SSDs. No 2. 5. However, some essential components are listed.

ESXi runs out of the box starting with the following releases: ESXi 6. ESXi. 60. 0- 2. 01. Build 3. 38. 01. 24) released in January 2. ESXi 5. 5 Update 3 (Build 3. September 2. 01. 5To clarify, the system is not supported by VMware, so do not use this system in a productive environment. I can not guarantee that it will work stable.

As a home lab, or a small home server it should be fine. I'm running Intel NUCs in my homelab for 3 years without any issues. Network (Intel I2. LM)On previous NUC versions it was required to create a customized Image in order to install ESXi on a NUC.

The 6th Gen NUC is equipped with an Intel I2. V Ethernet controller which is listed in the HCL. Ethernet controller Network controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection I2. LM . There is no need to install any additonal packages. ESXi 5. 5 does not have NVMe driver, however if you want to run ESXi 5. NUC, drivers are available for download here.

Non- Volatile memory controller Mass storage controller:   . Unfortunately, there is currently no driver available for ESXi so it's not possible to use the SD Card slot at the moment. SD Host controller Generic system peripheral: Class 0. Tested ESXi Versions.

VMware ESXi 5. 5. VMware ESXi 6. 0. Assembly. The assembly of the Skull Canyon NUC is basically the same as assembling the regular one.

Loosen the 4 screws at the bottom of the case and remove the cover to install memory and M. The internal layout exposes why the NUC is wider than the old ones. Additional space for a large fan to cool down the i. CPU. Installation. When you try to install VMware ESXi 6. Skull Canyon Intel NUC (NUC6i.

KYK), the installation fails with a fatal error as explained here. The problem can be solved by temporarily disabling the Thunderbolt controller during installation. No customization is required to install ESXi 6. Skull Canyon NUC. I highly recommed to use ESXi 6. NVMe driver included only in ESXi 6. If you want to run ESXi 5.

NUC, drivers are available for download here. The simplest way to install ESXi is by using the original ISO and Rufus to create a bootable ESXi Installer USB Flash Drive. Performance. The performance of a single NUC is sufficient to run a small homelab including a v. Center Server and 3 ESXi hosts or even a NSX Lab. It's a great system to take along for demonstration purposes. The following chart is a comparison of all 6th Gen NUCs based on Pass.

Mark: Power consumption. NUCs in general have a very low power consumption. The Skull Canyon NUC is a very powerful machine, delivered with an 1. W power adapter, which is twice as on regular NUCs. During normal usage the average consumption is about 3. W. With that, the average operating costs are at about 5- 6 Euros per month: 3.

KWh * 0,2. 5 (EUR) = 5,7. EURConsumption measured with Voltcraft Energy Monitor 3.