Home Lab Archives - ESX Virtualization https://www.vladan.fr/category/home-lab/ VMware ESXi, vSphere, VMware Backup, Hyper-V... how-to, videos.... Fri, 16 Oct 2026 06:03:22 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.3 XorMon 2.4.0 released – What’s New and Why You Should Care https://www.vladan.fr/xormon-2-4-0-released-whats-new-and-why-you-should-care/ https://www.vladan.fr/xormon-2-4-0-released-whats-new-and-why-you-should-care/#respond Fri, 16 Oct 2026 06:03:22 +0000 https://www.vladan.fr/?p=235966 Monitoring of heterogeneous environments has always been difficult – or at least it was before tools like XorMon came along. If you manage VMware, Nutanix, IBM Power, storage from several vendors, Oracle databases, LAN/SAN, backups and more, you know the pain of jumping between five different consoles. XorMon from Xorux solves that by putting everything […]

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]]> https://www.vladan.fr/xormon-2-4-0-released-whats-new-and-why-you-should-care/feed/ 0 ZSvirt.io – Open-Source KVM Virtualization That Actually Feels Enterprise (and Deploys in Minutes) https://www.vladan.fr/zsvirt-io-open-source-kvm-virtualization-that-actually-feels-enterprise-and-deploys-in-minutes/ https://www.vladan.fr/zsvirt-io-open-source-kvm-virtualization-that-actually-feels-enterprise-and-deploys-in-minutes/#comments Thu, 15 Oct 2026 08:41:01 +0000 https://www.vladan.fr/?p=235947 Another VMware alternative dropped into the open-source world in August 2026, and this one is worth a serious look. In fact, ZSvirt (zsvirt.io / GitHub: ZSvirt/zsvirt) is the community edition of ZStack’s production-hardened ZSphere engine, released under GPL-3.0 with no limits on hosts, VMs, or features for production use. It manages KVM-based infrastructure through a […]

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]]> https://www.vladan.fr/zsvirt-io-open-source-kvm-virtualization-that-actually-feels-enterprise-and-deploys-in-minutes/feed/ 1 Tiny11 Builder WinUI 0.1.1 is out – and it finally has a proper modern UI https://www.vladan.fr/tiny11-builder-winui-0-1-1-is-out-and-it-finally-has-a-proper-modern-ui/ https://www.vladan.fr/tiny11-builder-winui-0-1-1-is-out-and-it-finally-has-a-proper-modern-ui/#respond Tue, 13 Oct 2026 12:01:26 +0000 https://www.vladan.fr/?p=235937 Hey folks, Vladan here from ESX Virtualization. If you’ve been reading the blog for a while you already know I’m always on the lookout for ways to keep Windows VMs small, in the lab. Back in November 2023 I wrote about the original Tiny11 project and how useful a stripped-down Windows 11 can be when […]

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]]> https://www.vladan.fr/tiny11-builder-winui-0-1-1-is-out-and-it-finally-has-a-proper-modern-ui/feed/ 0 TMOG Task Manager – The Original Creator of Windows Task Manager Is Back With Something Better https://www.vladan.fr/tmog-task-manager-the-original-creator-of-windows-task-manager-is-back-with-something-better/ https://www.vladan.fr/tmog-task-manager-the-original-creator-of-windows-task-manager-is-back-with-something-better/#respond Fri, 25 Sep 2026 14:22:44 +0000 https://www.vladan.fr/?p=235903 Today's freebie is from a guy who 30 years ago designed the original Windows Task manager. If you’ve ever hit Ctrl+Shift+Esc on a Windows box and stared at the Task Manager wondering what’s eating your CPU or RAM, you’ve used Dave Plummer’s work. The same guy who wrote the original Windows Task Manager back in […]

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]]> https://www.vladan.fr/tmog-task-manager-the-original-creator-of-windows-task-manager-is-back-with-something-better/feed/ 0 StarWind Virtual HCI Appliance Free: Turn Your Servers into a Full HCI Cluster Without Spending a Cent https://www.vladan.fr/starwind-virtual-hci-appliance-free-turn-your-servers-into-a-full-hci-cluster-without-spending-a-cent/ https://www.vladan.fr/starwind-virtual-hci-appliance-free-turn-your-servers-into-a-full-hci-cluster-without-spending-a-cent/#respond Mon, 24 Aug 2026 12:36:25 +0000 https://www.vladan.fr/?p=235793 If you’ve been following my blog for a while (yes, we’re talking back to the early ESXi days), you know I love practical, cost-effective solutions that actually work in the real world — especially for SMBs, ROBO sites, edge locations, or anyone tired of expensive proprietary HCI stacks. Today we’re diving into something that fits […]

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]]> https://www.vladan.fr/starwind-virtual-hci-appliance-free-turn-your-servers-into-a-full-hci-cluster-without-spending-a-cent/feed/ 0 How to update your ESXi 7.x or 8.x to the latest ESXi 8.0U3k via command line https://www.vladan.fr/how-to-update-your-esxi-7-x-or-8-x-to-the-latest-esxi-8-0u3k-via-command-line/ https://www.vladan.fr/how-to-update-your-esxi-7-x-or-8-x-to-the-latest-esxi-8-0u3k-via-command-line/#comments Tue, 04 Aug 2026 09:42:16 +0000 https://www.vladan.fr/?p=235765 For those enthousiasts which are still running ESXi in their labs, or for SMBs which needs to upgrade their VMware vSphere Infrastructure, this is this quick guide which allows you to upgrade couple of ESXi hosts easily enough via a “depot.zip” file. The VMware-ESXi-8.0U3k-25595708-depot.zip is the latest file which has all cumulative patches inside, is […]

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]]> https://www.vladan.fr/how-to-update-your-esxi-7-x-or-8-x-to-the-latest-esxi-8-0u3k-via-command-line/feed/ 4 Winhance: The Free Windows 11 Enhancement Utility That Actually Delivers Control Back to Users https://www.vladan.fr/winhance-the-free-windows-11-enhancement-utility-that-actually-delivers-control-back-to-users/ https://www.vladan.fr/winhance-the-free-windows-11-enhancement-utility-that-actually-delivers-control-back-to-users/#respond Fri, 05 Jun 2026 09:41:41 +0000 https://www.vladan.fr/?p=235633 If you have been running Windows 11 for any length of time, you already know the story. The OS arrives packed with telemetry, pre-installed apps you will never use, aggressive advertising, and a growing list of AI features that many power users and enthusiasts prefer to keep at arm’s length. Manual debloating with PowerShell scripts […]

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]]> https://www.vladan.fr/winhance-the-free-windows-11-enhancement-utility-that-actually-delivers-control-back-to-users/feed/ 0 StarWind Virtual Backup Appliance Free – Stay Protected With Immutable Backups https://www.vladan.fr/starwind-virtual-backup-appliance-free-stay-protected-with-immutable-backups/ Wed, 03 Sep 2025 06:03:53 +0000 https://www.vladan.fr/?p=234602 Today, we'll have a look at a StarWind Virtual Backup Appliance (VBA) Free, a great tool from StarWind that brings enterprise-grade backup storage capabilities with immutability, to your home lab, small business, or proof-of-concept (PoC) environment. In this post, we’ll explore its deployment options across various platforms, zoom in on its immutable backup capabilities, and […]

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]]> Proxmox 9 (BETA 1) is out – What’s new? https://www.vladan.fr/proxmox-9-beta-is-out-whats-new/ Fri, 25 Jul 2025 14:54:51 +0000 https://www.vladan.fr/?p=234196 Proxmox 9 BETA 1 is available since few days, and it is actually possible to upgrade from previous release. Not just clean install. I tried, and it works -:). But let's start first with what the version 9 brings. First of all, the new BETA 1 is based on the upcoming Debian 13 “Trixie.” If […]

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]]> Microsoft MVP, VMUG Advantage, VMware vExpert, Nutanix NTC, and Veeam Vanguard – FREE NFR Starter Pack from Devolutions! https://www.vladan.fr/microsoft-mvp-vmug-advantage-vmware-vexpert-nutanix-ntc-and-veeam-vanguard-free-nfr-starter-pack-from-devolutions/ Tue, 22 Jul 2025 05:54:01 +0000 https://www.vladan.fr/?p=234184 Yes, this is a very good news for all my Microsoft MVP, VMUG Advantage, VMware vExpert, Nutanix NTC, and Veeam Vanguard collegues and peers. A FREE NFR license of a bundle from Devolutions which allows you to use those those in your lab for FREE. The bundle, called Starter Pack, covers Four products and it is […]

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