Virtual Machines
I was lucky enough to find a spare machine, extra stick of 8gb DDR4, and a used SSD at work. This adds up to a total 16 GB of memory. They were kind enough to lend me the machine for my studies. It was being thrown out anyways.
VMware ESXi
VMware ESXi is a type-1 hypervisor that can be used to host and run multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single physical server. A hypervisor is a software layer that allows multiple operating systems to run on a single host computer by virtualizing the hardware resources of the host.
ESXi can run a wide variety of operating systems and applications within virtual machines. This includes popular operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, Linux distributions, and FreeBSD, as well as specialized operating systems such as VMware's own vSphere Hypervisor and other server applications like databases, web servers, and email servers.
It also provides advanced features such as high availability, load balancing, and distributed resource scheduling, making it a popular choice for enterprise-level virtualization.
In summary, VMware ESXi can run a wide variety of operating systems and applications within virtual machines, making it a versatile and powerful platform for virtualization.
To practice on VMware ESXi, you can follow these steps:
Install VMware ESXi on a physical server or create a virtual machine to host ESXi. You can download the ESXi installation ISO file from the VMware website and follow the installation wizard to install ESXi.
Once ESXi is installed, you can access it through the web-based management interface called the vSphere Client. You can download the vSphere Client from the VMware website and connect to your ESXi host by providing its IP address or hostname.
To create virtual machines on ESXi, you can use the vSphere Client to create a new virtual machine, configure its hardware settings such as CPU, memory, and storage, and install an operating system of your choice.
You can also create virtual networks, virtual switches, and virtual storage devices on ESXi to simulate complex networking and storage scenarios.
To practice more advanced features of ESXi, such as vMotion, High Availability, or Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), you may need to set up a cluster of ESXi hosts and configure these features across multiple hosts.
Finally, you can experiment with different ESXi settings and configurations, test different operating systems and applications, and practice troubleshooting and problem-solving skills by simulating different scenarios and issues.
Overall, practicing on VMware ESXi involves setting up virtual machines, virtual networks, and virtual storage devices, as well as exploring and experimenting with advanced features and configurations, to gain hands-on experience with this powerful virtualization platform.