Documenting the steps taken:
1. Did a test on VMware workstation to understand the concept on setting up VMware ESXi
2. Sacrificed a 1TB SSD for this because I was on budget
3. Downloaded the latest ESXi ISO file (v.6.7)
4. Setup the bootable USB containing the ESXi ISO file
5. Start the installation
6. But.... learnt that v.6.7 no longer supports home environment
7. Downgraded to v.6.5 and repeat steps 4 & 5
8. Faced an issue again where there were no network adapters detected (nfs41client not load)
9. The existing NIC card does not work as we need a network card that supports gigabit connection and has the appropriate driver.
10. Looked up on VMware compatibility guide and bought a Broadcom NetXtreme 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Desktop PCI-E Network Card - BCM5751 NIC (BCM5751)
11. Finally it works.... VMware ESXi 6.5 is now running on my desktop
12. Encountered a glitch where I was not able to click on "enter" during login
13. Upgraded to v.6.5.0U3a even though the glitch was not consistent
14. Signed up for an evaluation with VMware for permanent license
15. Gave my ESXi a name via networking --> default tcp/ip stack
16. Enabled virtualisation technology VTx in the BIOS in order to start deploying the VMs
17. Finally done with this whole journey which took a week.
Note:
The free version of ESXi only allow the use of 2 physical CPUs and 8vCPU per VM. However, it supports unlimited cores per CPU and unlimited physical memory
VMware Compatibility Guide: https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php
Running this setup on a donated HP desktop and the damage done on my wallet were on RAM and NIC card.
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