{"id":16,"date":"2025-06-28T21:14:03","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T01:14:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.varchitected.com\/?p=16"},"modified":"2025-08-25T19:07:31","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T23:07:31","slug":"%f0%9f%a7%aa-building-my-getting-started-home-lab-asus-nuc-15-pro-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/?p=16","title":{"rendered":"\ud83e\uddea Building My “Getting Started” Home Lab: ASUS NUC 15 Pro+ Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After a month of research, weighing hardware options, and diving deep into reviews, I finally made the decision to build my new home lab setup. As a VMware enthusiast, I wanted something that was compact but powerful enough to handle everything in VCF, all while fitting neatly into my workspace. That\u2019s when I landed on the ASUS NUC 15 Pro+<\/strong> with the Intel Core Ultra 9 285H processor<\/strong>-the perfect little powerhouse!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\ud83e\udde0 The Heart of the Build: ASUS NUC 15 Pro+ with Intel Core Ultra 9 285H<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This isn’t your typical NUC. While the specs officially list support for 96GB of DDR5 RAM (SODIMM)<\/strong>, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it actually supports 128GB<\/strong>-just what I needed. I picked up the Crucial 128GB Kit (2x64GB) DDR5 RAM, 5600MHz<\/strong>, which is more than enough to power my ESXi setup<\/strong> and handle multiple virtual machines simultaneously. It\u2019s fast, responsive, and easily handles the demands of a small private cloud setup at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything can be installed completely tool-less and it can be mounted to any surface. During initial testing, it generated very little heat and was very responsive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udcbe Dual NVMe Setup: Unmatched Speed and Capacity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to storage, I wasn\u2019t willing to compromise on speed. I opted for the Corsair MP600 Micro 2TB NVMe PCIe x4<\/strong> drive in the 2242 slot<\/strong> as my primary storage. The performance is stunning, and with PCIe 4.0 support, it\u2019s more than enough to handle everything I throw at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But I didn\u2019t stop there-who can resist the urge for more speed and storage, right? In the 2280 slot<\/strong>, I installed a Samsung SSD 9100 PRO 1TB<\/strong>. This is where the fun begins: I\u2019m using it for NVMe Memory Tiering<\/strong> in ESXi and to carve out some capacity for VMFS<\/strong>. Together, these two NVMe drives offer the perfect balance of performance and storage capacity, handling everything from VM storage to memory-intensive tasks-keeping everything in my virtual environment running smoothly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

\ud83c\udf10 Networking: Thunderbolt 4 Speed for Seamless Performance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t neglect networking either. To ensure I get maximum throughput, I added the OWC Thunderbolt 4 10G Ethernet Adapter<\/strong>. Fast networking is a must in any lab, and this adapter lets me transfer large files, run multi-node clusters, and test configurations without hitting any bottlenecks. With Thunderbolt 4 connectivity<\/strong>, I can rest assured that network speed will never be a limiting factor in my home lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I decided to give the OWC TB4 version a try myself. Unfortunately the OWC TB4 version wasn't compatible with the ESXi USB NIC Driver Fling. I ended up swapping it out for the TB3 version.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\ud83d\udd27 Why This Build?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Why the ASUS NUC 15 Pro+<\/strong> and these specific components? Simple: I wanted a setup that was compact yet powerful, with potential to expand to a 2-node or 3-node. The Intel Core Ultra 9 285H<\/strong> CPU gives me all the processing power I need, while the dual NVMe storage ensures I\u2019ll never run out of fast, responsive space. The Thunderbolt 4 adapter<\/strong> takes care of any networking requirements, ensuring smooth operations even with heavy workloads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the perfect mix of size and performance for getting started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking back, I realized that the ASUS NUC 15 Pro+ with the 285H doesn\u2019t have enough cores to support VCF Auto, which means I can\u2019t fully unlock the potential I was hoping for from the ASUS unless I run a 2nd box with different hardware.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\ud83e\uddea Final Thoughts: Lab Ready, Future-Proof, and Compact<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
This lab is built to last. Whether I\u2019m testing VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF)<\/strong>, experimenting with ESXi features<\/strong>, or just refining my skills, this setup is ready for it all-well, except for VCF Auto, but that\u2019s a topic for another day. The ability to leverage NVMe Memory Tiering<\/strong> to increase the amount of Memory for additional workloads is a game-changer, and the enhanced speed and connectivity make this NUC<\/strong> the center of my lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m eager to see how this setup performs over time, and I’ve already started rolling out VCF. Stay tuned for more updates as I continue optimizing and tweaking this lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For anyone thinking about building their own home lab, I highly recommend the ASUS NUC 15 Pro+<\/strong> setup. It\u2019s compact, powerful, and the perfect platform to elevate your VCF <\/strong>knowledge to the next level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After a month of research, weighing hardware options, and diving deep into reviews, I finally made the decision to build my new home lab setup. As a VMware enthusiast, I wanted something that was compact but powerful enough to handle everything in VCF, all while fitting neatly into my workspace. That\u2019s when I landed on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,7,25,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asus","category-homelab","category-nuc","category-vcf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22,"href":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16\/revisions\/22"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}