Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Chapter 1: ESXi on Arm on Pi
About This Book
What You'll Learn About ESXi on Arm on Pi
Who This Book Is For
Introduction to ESXi on Arm on Pi
Introduction to Virtual Machines
Introduction to ESXi
Introduction to Arm
Introduction to Pi
Introduction to ESXi on Arm on Pi
Limitations on Using a Pi for ESXi
Executables
Pi Hardware
Storage
RAM
NIC
Licensing ESXi on Arm
Chapter 2: ESXi on Arm on Pi Use Cases
Learning Environment
Corporate sandbox
Home Lab
Home Assistant
Game Server
Lightweight VDI Host
Web Development
Edge Server
vSAN Witness
Micro vSphere Cluster
Firewall for Small Office
Automation environment for PowerCLI and Terraform and packer
Kubernetes
Chapter 3: ESXi on Arm on Pi Build Kits
Requirements
Low-Cost Naked Build
Argon One Kit
Argon One Kit M.2
Argon One Kit Expansion Board
Cluster Build 1
Chapter 4: Installing ESXi on a Pi
Hardware Preparation
Install Pi on microSD card
Update Pi eeprom
Prep microSD with UEFI
Install ESXi on the Arm
Modify Pi boot order
Post Installation Configuration
Chapter 5: ESXi Client for Management
Installing the Client
Managing ESXi using the ESXi Client
Creating a Virtual Machine
Monitoring ESXi using the ESXi Client
Going further
Chapter 6: vCenter Server for Management
Introduction to vCenter Server
Installing the vCenter Server on x64 ESXi
Installing the vCenter Server on VMware Workstation
Managing ESXi using vCenter Server
Creating a Virtual Machine
Monitoring ESXi
Chapter 7: Storage Options for ESXi on a Pi
Datastores
NFS
iSCSI
Local Storage
Thumb drives
SATA HDD
SATA SSD
NVMe in Encloser
Performance Comparison of Storage Options
Chapter 8: Virtual Machines on ESXi
Virtual Machines
VMware Tools
vMotion
Cloning virtual machines
Why Windows will Not Work
Ubuntu
Red Hat
SUSE
FreeBSD
Chapter 9: Kubernetes on ESXi
Installing K3s
Sample K
Chapter 10: Going Further
3rd Party Monitoring - Grafana
3rd Party Monitoring - ControlUp
Stateless ESXi on Arm
Additional NICs
High Availability and ESXi
vSphere Distributed Switch
Conclusion
Synopsis
Gain foundational knowledge of ESXi technology and understand why it is such a dominant force in the datacenter. This book also looks beyond ESXi to other vSphere technologies, such as virtual machines (VMs), vMotion, and vCenter Server.
Knowing how these technologies complement ESXi running on a Raspberry Pi will help you get the most out of ESXi on Arm technologies. This marks a significant change for ESXi, and has created new learning opportunities and use cases for both seasoned ESXi users and users completely new to the virtualization space. For those already familiar with ESXi but new to the Raspberry Pi, you'll develop an in-depth understanding of this device and why it has become such a popular platform for technologists.
Once you've learned the fundamentals, you'll be introduced to enterprise, edge, and personal use-cases for this technology. Then, you'll be walked through the process of installing ESXi on a Pi, as well as managing and monitoring it. You will also come to recognize its strengths and limitations and become familiar with the storage and networking options that are currently available. Lastly, given the fact that the sole purpose of running ESXi on a Pi is to run VMs on it, you'll receive detailed step-by-step instructions for installing popular OSes including Ubuntu, CentOS, and Raspberry Pi OS.
What You'll Learn- Build a fully functional ESXi server on a Raspberry Pi
- Select the correct hardware for particular use cases
- Create and optimize virtual machines running on a Pi
- Run Kubernetes on a Pi running ESXi
Who This Book Is For
Those new to the datacenter who want a low-cost way to work with one of the most powerful datacenter technologies to experienced datacenter professionals who need to use ESXi on Arm to complement their enterprise's long-term strategic goals.