Month: October 2025

VMware Cloud Foundation Home Lab Bom – Part 2

CaptainvOPs

Blog Date: October 2025

Continuing from my original blog post entitled: VMware Cloud Foundation Home Lab Bom,

I went over the mini pc components and x4 MINISFORUM MS-A2 9955HX systems. In this blog I’ll cover the rack, rack mounts for the MS-A2s, UPS, and the 10G switch.

I am quite pleased with the wiring now that I have everything tidied up, although I forgot what a PITA cage nuts are. I’ve installed a shelf at the bottom for a future migration of my old lab 2x SuperMicro boxes that will either be used to host VCF Holodeck, or perhaps I’ll use them for a dedicated workload domain backed by NFS storage. The CPUs were depreciated in ESXi 8, but they still have some life left in them. Reaching into the way back time machine, that kit was Current CaptainvOPS Homelab 2020.

For the additional rack, rack mounts for the MS-A2s, UPS, and 10G managed switch:

QTYItem DescriptionLinkTotal Price
1A Rockville RR20U 20U Rack with wheels.Amazon.com$189.95
2Rack Mount for 2 MINISFORUM MS-01 19inch 2U Dual-MountAmazon.com$166
1QNAP 16-Port Half-Width Rackmount 10GbE Managed Network Switch (QSW-M3216R-8S8T-US)Amazon.com$599
1CyberPower CP1500PFCRM2U PFC Sinewave UPS Battery Backup and Surge Protector, 1500VA/1000W, 8 Outlets, AVR, Short Depth 2U RackmountAmazon.com$358.95
110Gtek ๐Ÿญ.๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฑ/๐Ÿฎ.๐Ÿฑ/๐Ÿฑ/๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฌ๐—š-๐—ง ๐—ฆ๐—™๐—ฃ+ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฅ๐—๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฑ, CAT.6a Copper Transceiver, Auto-Negotiation SFP+ Ethernet ModuleAmazon.com$44.99
11U Rack Mount Cable Management Panel with Tidy Brush Slot for Cable EntryAmazon.com$31.59
11U Server Rack Shelf – Vented Rack Mount Cantilever Tray for 19″ Network RackAmazon.com$32.99
1(Optional) 2U Server Rack Shelf – Universal Vented Rack Mount Cantilever Tray for 19″ Network Equipment RackAmazon.com$43.86

Total = $1,467.33

That brings the Grand Total for this new VCF 9 Home lab to $8,409.73

Thankfully I spread these purchases out over a couple of months. I assumed this would come in around 8k, but I over shot a little. RIP to my wallet.

I have a UniFi router that’ll handle the BGP so I did not need a new one. In my next blog, I’ll go over my basic network setup for this new lab.

VMware Cloud Foundation Home Lab Bom – Part 1

CaptainvOPs

Blog Date: October 2025

It’s that time to give the home lab a big refresh, and purchase new hardware for VMware Cloud Foundation sandbox. As a VMware employee, I had access to internal labs that I could quickly spin up if I needed to test something with VCF. With every software company purchase, Broadcom has spun off the majority if not all of their newly acquired Professional Services division, and VMware was no different. Now back in Partner life, I needed to reinvest in my home lab. VMware Cloud Foundation is and expensive investment for customers, and as it turns out, it is not cheap for the home lab either lol.

Taking inspiration from William Lam’s VCF 9.0 Hardware BOM for Silicon Valley VMUG, I have modeled my VCF home lab BOM in a similar way.

QTYItem DescriptionLinkTotal Price
4MINISFORUM MS-A2 AMD Ryzenโ„ข 9 9955HX / BareboneMINISFORUM.com$3,516.00 + warrantyย $359.96
= $3,875.96
410Gtek ๐Ÿญ.๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฑ/๐Ÿฎ.๐Ÿฑ/๐Ÿฑ/๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฌ๐—š-๐—ง ๐—ฆ๐—™๐—ฃ+ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฅ๐—๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฑ, CAT.6a Copper Transceiver, Auto-Negotiation SFP+ Ethernet Module dual kitAmazon.com$152
4Boot Drive:
Kingston KC3000 M.2 2280 512GB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe 3D TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SKC3000S/512G		Newegg.com$283.36
4NVMe Tiering: SAMSUNG 990 EVO SSD 1TB, PCIe Gen 4×4, Gen 5×2 M.2 2280 NVMeAmazon.com$319.96
4vSAN ESA:
SAMSUNG 990 EVO SSD 2TB, PCIe Gen 4×4, Gen 5×2 M.2 2280 NVMe		Amazon.com$479.96
4Memory:
128GB Kit (2x64GB) DDR5 5600MHz C46 SODIMM kit		BestBuy.com$1,831.16


Total = $6,942.4

Your tax and shipping costs may vary. I am still looking for 10G switch, rack, and rack mount hit for these to keep things tidy. I expect my total costs to come in under 8K USD. I’ll update this blog with the additional hardware when it comes in.