Recently, the EV Club of Connecticut had an amazing guest speaker, and I'm so glad I'm able to share it with my readers. I find it pretty amazing what a 72 watt computer can do with 8 video feeds. There are limitations of the system in its current beta state, and there is a spirited debate in the autonomous driving community over the appropriateness of the name Full Self Driving. All that aside, you'll hopefully still find a lot of this discussion of considerable interest, one that has garnered one of Kim's tweets over 300K views. Enjoy the wide variety of practical and technical questions that Kim answered with ease, in such a comfortable and candid manner.
Free Supercharging:If you find this article of value and decide to order a Tesla, please consider using thists.la/paul68544referral link when placing your order so you and I both get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging. If you order Solar, it's a $250 award after system activation.
Disclosure:My family owns no stock in Tesla. Tesla doesn't advertise at TinkerTry, or anywhere else, and this is not a sponsored post. We financed the purchase of two Tesla Model 3s, replacing my 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid in December of 2018 and replacing my wife's 2005 Honda Civic EX in December of 2019. These big moves to an all electric household were an expression of our mutual desire to go green, avoid gasoline, be safe, have fun, and save money in the long run. Mostly for my job, I drive a lot, 25,000 miles in 2019 for example, and I thoroughly enjoy sharing what I've learned with you. I hope you can tell!
and it's been in daily use on my home ever since. After moving from a 16V to 24V transformer when first getting started, it's been largely a decent experience, and it's most definitely improved my peace of mind when receiving packages.
What's changed that caught enough of my attention to pre-order the 2nd generation the day it was announced, the new Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2? Here's my personal pics for the most intriguing new features:
Head-to-Toe HD+ Video (1536p)
3D Motion Detection (radar powered)
Bird's Eye View
+HD Audio
Given I'm already a subscriber to Ring Protect Plus since I already have monitored fire, smoke, panic/intrusion and water alarm, I used Ring's direct order site to login and get my 10% discount. For bloggers like myself, this is kind of unfortunate, as there's no affiliate links that generate independent author income when buying from Ring directly, and it certainly undercuts Amazon's prices. Amazon bought Ring for 1 billion in 2018.
Unboxing the Pro 2, noticing that the whole backplate is now a heatsink, and the now-curved sides of the Pro 2 appear to hover in front of the surface it's mounted on by roughly 1/8" / 3 mm.
Measured overall watt usage is 5 to 6 watts at idle and 8 watts when in active use.
Screw holes for wall mount are the same as the origin doorbell
Test out latency (from button push to notification)
I'm glad to have a much wider field of view, better image and sound quality, and the now-expected smooth integration into the ever-growing family of Ring products.
I'm also glad to have presumably better detection of motion by humans rather than leaves and other movements, but only time will tell if this is actually the case for the front of my home.
I do wish this flagship doorbell had a button with a much more premium feel, especially for a product that retails at $249.99. The button feel is much like the original, with a bit of play that exudes more plasticky cheapness than quality.
I'm not a fan of the moves Ring has made with the cooperation with police, but I'm glad they've allowed options to largely opt-out, as well as added new IP login notifications and multi-factor logins, similar to c|net's opinion on these potential concerns.
The world of IoT / Smarthome devices is still very sticky, with little choice to mix-and-match across vendors. In other words, if I object to Rings policy changes in the future, replacing my entire Ring Alarm and Ring Video systems would be both expensive and time-consuming. I don't place any connected-cameras from anybody inside my home.
It's too early to say for sure how I'll feel about this purchase until I have some more experience with using it for day-to-day package delivery monitoring. I'll add some observations below this article over time. My initial impressions are that it was worth the price for me since the video quality, time-lapse image quality, and sound quality are all significantly improved.
I can also say that the much improved 150° field of view still isn't quite wide enough. I'd prefer the 180° some competitors offer, especially since my deliveries are often left leaning up against my front door, despite my large delivery box intended for deliveries that's on my front step. I have a Ring Stick Up Cam aiming at my delivery box from another angle too, this really helps given I get a lot of home deliveries, especially during the pandemic.
Warning
If you're replacing an existing Ring doorbell, don't do what I did by deleting it, as it also deletes all videos that were taken from that camera. Well, at least those you didn't download to your phone's photo library.
My previous Ring's reliability as a plain old doorbell chime has been getting a little iffy lately, but that could very well be becomes I'm somehow getting sporadic duplicate IP assignments on my eero Pro's guest Wi-Fi, used for my 4 Ring Chimes. This is especially the case since my home's wall chime is no longer connected, as I found it problematic. I have a case open with eero support to get to the bottom of that issue, as it's happened on the guest Wi-Fi for my ecobee thermostats too. It might have something to do with my use of bridged mode, we'll see.
We have resumed recommending Ring's products with this caveat: If you have concerns about Ring's privacy policies, make sure to familiarize yourself with its privacy statement.
You may remember me recently writing about how I'm less than-thrilled that no worthy successor to the announced-in-2015 Xeon D-1500 has arrived yet, it's been a 6 year wait. The misses for me include 2018's Xeon D-2100 that was just too power hungry even at idle, 2019's Xeon D-1600 that was just a very minor speed bump, and even 2021's AMD EPYC (Zen 3 Milan) 7000 Series CPUs that are also probably a bit too power hungry overall. Admittedly I've not had my hands on AMD EPYC for first-hand testing. None of them seem to be cut out for the sort of 24 watts at idle that I've been spoiled by for these past 6 years of always-on VMware vSphere. Even with 10G networking attached and M.2 NVMe SSD, my Xeon D-1541 8 core system's power draw is around 40 watts at idle.
While I'm relieved that Wiredzone and I managed to be able to help get full VMware ESXi support for the popular Xeon D SuperServer Bundle extended through to 2021's vSphere 7.0 Update 2, I'd certainly like to have something newer in my home lab at this point. Many folks interested in going past 128GB of RAM in at least one of their home lab's vSphere cluster nodes.
Why am I not mentioning Intel Core i5/i7/i9 or Intel Xeon W consumer/desktop CPUs, nor the AMD Ryzen 5000 Series? It's simply because for me, I want 10G onboard and full VMware ESXi support including inclusion on the VMware Compatibility Guide. The attributes have been essential for my home lab, with several networking and GPU tickets opened with VMware that I couldn't have accomplished with an unsupported platform, done under my licensed VMware vSphere Essentials license.
Yesterday, Intel made a big splash with their announcement of the 3rd Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processor (code-named “Ice Lake”), touting up to 80 cores and 4TB of RAM in a single-socket!
While this is very exciting news for my day job, I can't wait to hear more about the Next Generation suited for the home lab. What is emerging is that lower-energy-use CPUs are focused on edge deployments, and it's not much of a stretch to consider your home to be an edge deployment. The challenge will be whether vendors choose to go with some very quiet and/or fanless designs that would really help with the significant-other-acceptance-factor.
It's merely an announcement that samples are being provided.
Here's the Intel announcement that features some mentions of a new Xeon D, I've includes those mentions in the excerpts below. Note the very specific use-cases mentioned, which concern me as far as how likely any OEMs are to be making anything other than loud 1U compact chassis.
What’s New: Intel today launched its newest 3rd Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processor (code-named “Ice Lake”), including new network-optimized “N-SKUs” along with verified solution blueprints that accelerate time to market. New “N-SKUs” deliver an average 62% more performance1 on a range of broadly deployed 5G and network workloads over the prior generation. Intel also announced it has started sampling next-generation Intel® Xeon® D processors designed for space and power-constrained environments at the edge.
About Next Generation Intel Xeon D Processors: Code-named “Ice Lake-D,” these processors are designed to support denser, size-constrained and ruggedized designs at the edge. Intel is now sampling these processors and working with customers and partners including Cisco for networking products, Supermicro for FlexRAN-based vRAN solutions and Rakuten Mobile for next-generation RAN products to serve higher capacity needs.
It's early yet. It's important to notice that this press release below from Intel doesn't mention any dates. You should also consider the December 2020 news, Intel to Outsource 'Atom & Xeon Based SoCs' to TSMC. Remember, Intel called the initial Xeon D-1500 a SoC too.
I'll be continuing to monitor CPU releases throughout 2021 and beyond. For me, it's personal, I would really like to kick the tires on some fresh gear soon. After some first-hand experience with new platforms, I'll of course let you know works out best for my needs. Based on the popularity of the quiet, powerful, versatile, and affordable Bundles, I suspect my needs for a quiet and efficient always-on home lab isn't exactly unique in the world of hungry-for-innovation home lab virtualization enthusiasts.
Energy-efficient cooling, designed with sustainability in mind
Energy-efficient products are important to the environment and to our customers and our commitment to sustainability is embedded into everything we do. With a uniquely designed chassis, the new servers feature ducted fans and adaptive cooling for more efficient power consumption that improves energy efficiency by up to 60% over previous generation.1 Coupled with multi-vector cooling, PowerEdge automatically directs airflow to the hottest part of the server for optimized cooling. Direct Liquid Cooling, available on select servers, features a proprietary leak-sensing technology to find and resolve issues faster.
SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 6, 2021 – Intel today launched its most advanced, highest performance data center platform optimized to power the industry’s broadest range of workloads — from the cloud to the network to the intelligent edge. New 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors (code-named “Ice Lake”) are the foundation of Intel’s data center platform, enabling customers to capitalize on some of the most significant business opportunities today by leveraging the power of AI.
About Next Generation Intel Xeon D Processors: Code-named “Ice Lake-D,” these processors are designed to support denser, size-constrained and ruggedized designs at the edge. Intel is now sampling these processors and working with customers and partners including Cisco for networking products, Supermicro for FlexRAN-based vRAN solutions and Rakuten Mobile for next-generation RAN products to serve higher capacity needs.
I'm so grateful to my readers and the many tips they provide!
Given I've been helping out with the EV Club of Connecticut lately, including occasionally finding guests and establishing a new YouTube and Twitter presence, volunteering to attend with our Model 3 sure seemed like a great way to spend a sunny Saturday! A chance to speak to non-EV owners is a lot of fun for me, especially when kids are there with their equally-curious parents. I answered so many questions about my 40,000 miles these past 2 1/3 years of EV ownership, with one person spending about half an hour asking me super nerdy technical questions. That's right up my alley!
It was pretty great that Ford provided a new Ford Mustang Mach-E for this special occasion, and it's noteworthy that it had a manufacturer plate. Local Ron Blumenfeld is an experienced Chevy Bolt driver (seen pictured in red), and he was also the driver of the Mach-E loaner, he gives us his initial impressions of the Mach-E in the video below.
With Ron's prior consent, the Fairfield Fire Department and I had a look under the Mach-E's hood, checking out the emergency disconnect under the easily-removed plastic shield. Whether it's computers or cars, I quote enjoy seeing how things work, and how different companies go about designing things. We talked at some length off camera about how extinguishing EV fires works, and we discussed Ford's recent NHTSA crash test results were looking good, with more details here.
You'll also spot Michael Terranova in the photos below, the very same enthusiast and inspiring public speaker who bravely spoke at the EV Parade in Fairfield last fall at this spot. He made quite an impression.
Enjoy some photos and video of this special event below, then search for a Drive Electric Earth Day Event near you, to go get your EV questions answered too. Hurry, there's only a few that haven't happened yet!
There is no planet B. Drive EV.A nod to CleanTechnicaMichael Terranova and his mom Mary, checking out the Tesla Model 3 interiorFord Mustang Mach-E, front trunkCLN AIR plate from Pennsylvania!Fairfield FD
While this video below wasn't recorded at the same Earth Day event, you might it helpful, another contender in the same Compact SUV (CUV) category as the Mach-E and Tesla Model Y.
The car caught fire. Firefighters were able to put the fire out quickly, but as lithium battery fires can re-ignite, they continued to pour water on the battery pack to cool it for 4 hours, using 23,000 gallons. Reports that it took all that water to put out the fire were incorrect. Fire damage was extensive.
... several sections that each tackle the following topics:
The current situation with electric cars
How to find the best electric car
The benefits of an electric car
The disadvantages of an electric car
Whether you should go with an electric or hybrid vehicle
The future of electric cars
Free Supercharging:If you find this article of value and decide to order a Tesla, please consider using thists.la/paul68544referral link when placing your order so you and I both get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging. If you order Solar, it's a $250 award after system activation.
Disclosure:My family owns no stock in Tesla. Tesla doesn't advertise at TinkerTry, or anywhere else, and this is not a sponsored post. We financed the purchase of two Tesla Model 3s, replacing my 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid in December of 2018 and replacing my wife's 2005 Honda Civic EX in December of 2019. These big moves to an all electric household were an expression of our mutual desire to go green, avoid gasoline, be safe, have fun, and save money in the long run. Mostly for my job, I drive a lot, 25,000 miles in 2019 for example, and I thoroughly enjoy sharing what I've learned with you. I hope you can tell!
This is just a quick, fleeting article about my tinkering in my home lab tonight, featuring a video of me trying to lab test the ESXCLI method of updating my ESXi 7.0 Update 2 (VMware ESXi 7.0.2 Build 17630552) to ESXi 7.0 Update 2a (VMware ESXi 7.0.2 Build 17920168). See also the VMware vSphere with Tanzu Release Notes that includes these details on VCSA (note that a new ESXi build isn't available just yet, this is still the March 9 2021 build):
April 27, 2021 Build Information
ESXi 7.0 | 09 MAR 2021 | ISO Build 17630552
vCenter Server 7.0 | 27 APR 2021 | ISO Build 17920168
Thanks to Mahmoud Adel for commenting that I had used the VCSA build number during that impromptu video, so sorry about that mishap. Article above updated accordingly.
I'll keep watching for this ESXCLI command:
esxcli software sources profile list --depot=https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml
to show something new.
I'll also keep an eye out for an ESXi update to appear at any of these sites:
Late on Friday May 7th, pics like this lit up Twitter. How in the heck will I explain to my wife that a road trip to see a pickup truck is necessary?
I spotted this tweet late on Friday May 7th, showing the Cybertruck cruising around in New York City. It seems Tesla was finally delivering on Elon's promise of a Cybertruck appearance somewhere on the east coast. Luck would have it that his SNL appearance was bringing him to NYC anyway, what better week than for Tesla to drive that beast through Times Square for the follow-car to get some unique footage? Luck would have it that I live only 2 hours away. So my late night brain started thinking.
I knew my wife and I had some plans already for Saturday morning. So I didn't say anything. But once I found out from Owen Sparks that Elon confirmed directly to him that the truck was there through Sunday, suddenly a roadtrip looked reasonable. Owen is the high school student who attended the EV Club of CT's Model 3 Police Cruiser event back in 2020. He's gone off to college now, he was tied up in Rhode Island. Since he couldn't get to NYC, I offered to livestream my visit to him, and anybody else that cared to watch. He accepted. The mission now needed to be accomplished, and our lawn's excessively tall grass will have to wait to be mowed some other day.
I confess that we have no need for a Cybertruck in my immediate family, my wife and I tend to keep our cars for over 10 years. We are quite happy with our two EVs. I also know how important this sector of the automotive industry is, especially here in the US. It's about time pickup trucks go electric, and the high torque and instant power delivery will very likely win over nearly every single person who test drives one, regardless of the brand. It's also fun for me to contribute content to the EV Club of Connecticut's nascent YouTube Channel, where you'll also find our recent Ford Mustang Mach-E and VW ID.4 videos.
We stopped by after the Tesla Tarrytown - Grand Opening & EV Car Show. Special thanks to Tesla Owner's Club of Connecticut's Will Cross for the heads-up that this was happening!
To my surprise, my wife actually said yes. She was willing to accompany me on this short trip to the big city, her first in years, and my first in about 15 months. I just had to agree to not talk about electric cars and trucks the whole way there and back. Deal! She was vaccinated back in January, and I completed my 2nd dose 3+ weeks ago. Of course we wore masks during our entire brief NYC stay.
As we drove, heavy rain started, but we stopped by the Grand Opening of the new Tarrytown NY Tesla location on our way to a brief Supercharge in Tarrytown, and we needed to get some food anyway. Special thanks to Will Cross from the Tesla Owner's Club of Connecticut, who gave me the heads-up that this event was happening.
Breathing through a mask came in handy in NYC it turned out, since the Chelsea Market / Meat Packing District sure had a lot of burning weed smell from passersby, perhaps in celebration of some very recent changes in the law. Interestingly, neither of us can recall seeing anybody walking on the streets or in the Tesla store without their mask on, although a nose hanging out was spotted once or twice.
It was quite nice to see life starting to return more back to normal, with the skies cleaning just as we arrived, with comfortable temperatures. I still dodged people that got too close instinctively, but the anxiety that's tied to my 14+ months of (late evening) supermarket for the families is subsiding. It was good day, especially once we found that Chelsea Market bathrooms were opened to the public, with a well-spaced and protected entrance and exits.
I wasn't as familiar with this neighborhood of New York City, and I noticed some interesting new architecture as drove in, and as we walked, including a repurposed Google building.
Oh dang, that looks good on the streets of NYC. Too bad I didn't crouch down to obscure the pile of garbage behind that shiny new Model Y.
Edison Park used this wheel cover before parking my Model 3 to a spot about 25' away.
When I was in Manhattan at 1 and 2 Penn for my roles at VMware (and once for my role at Dell), I'd usually park at LM 29 Park, LLC, 211 W 29th St, New York, NY 10001 near Penn Station. That location was just too far away for this trip. So I found a lot only 0.4 miles away from Tesla at 860 Washington St, New York, NY 10014. Tesla's valet mode is wonderful for such occasions where entrusting somebody else with your car is essential, since they generally don't allow self-parking in NYC garages, and certainly not in car elevator situations like this one. We were able to lock our valuables in the frunk and glove box, set the PIN for Valet mode on the app, then hand over the "key", the Tesla branded NFC key card, in a card holder so the attendant could hang it from his key hook. This mode only allows modest acceleration and low speeds, and disallows opening the glove box, frunk, or any personalize menus on the screen. More details here. Nice!
This Edison Park Fast, 161 10th Ave, New York, NY 10011 was the only parking lot in the area with decent reviews. I didn't need EV charging, especially since I never planned to be parked for more than 2 hours anyway. I tipped the driver at pickup, once I saw that the car was in the exact condition in which we left it.
My Silver Model 3 had a White Model 3 friend right next to it.
We arrived at 6:06pm, an hour before closing. There was good crowd control and decent inter-pod spacing while on line, with Tesla employees checking us in via name and email address. The line moved fast too, as each group had about 10-15 minutes to check out the Cybertruck. While we were in line, I got online via the Tesla showroom Wi-Fi, also testing out my AT&T LTE too, both seemed to test out at great speeds down and up. Unfortunately, the YouTube app kept failing to keep the Live event connected, I kept having to reconnect. Even worse, it insisted on a Portrait orientation during each of my numerous attempts to go live. It's also capped at a mere 720p, I'm so sorry about all that. But gladly, finally, my (dual SIM) iPhone's Verizon 5G held up, and the rest of the Live event went fairly well. I got some video at some unusual angles, including the below the front (new camera!) and rear (trailer hitch panel!), which I later learned was kind of a big deal.
Again, this was a mad rush to grab what I could, in hindsight, focusing on more photos and 4K video probably would have been better. Live and learn.
While we stood there in front of this behemoth, I asked my wife what she thought of it. She simply said "it's big."
For this article only, I agree to allowing the use of my photos if you are sure to provide photo credit to Paul Braren, as well as linking back to this article as the source. There is no other acceptable use.
Not quite as widely spaced as I would have preferred, but not as bad is it appears, and we were only waiting for about 20 minutes.While waiting in line, we could see inside. C'mon, I had to create some sort of linkbaity image to the tweet announcing the livestream. At least I spared you from a shouty ALL CAPS thumbnail!Let's get those requisite, self-indulgent selfies done first. Yes, the mask is the only reason my ears stick out like that. Sure.Had to get that angle just right. Enough with the selfies already.After thirty years of blissful marriage, you would think I'd know better than to cajole my wife into using her phone to take a picture of me livestreaming. I have no defense, it just seemed a good idea at the time. It wasn't. Very cringeworthy.Tried to use my 2.5X lense wherever possible, to reduce distortion. This required stepping back to the far corners of the store and waiting for a clear shot.Close cropping helps reduce the distracting background. Sure wish that rope wasn't in the way.This is a prototype, but generally Tesla tends to meet or exceed whatever they display at announcement in terms of specs and looks. One notable difference is that there will be no door handles on the actual production Cybertruck.iPhone 12 Plus Max having issues with proper exposure of stainless steel. Green line is a lense-coating artifact induced by the headlight bar. C'mon Apple, we need an algorithm for automatic Cybertruck photo artifact elimination.In-camera editing to darken things up, looks a bit better. 2.5X zoom.1.0X zoom. Giant tires appear to shrink, kind of like the recent photo of the Carters.0.5X zoom. Giant tires appear to vanish.One of the very few photos in existence of the underside of the front bumper. Sorry it's not clearer, it's a still frame from my livestream that limited me to 720p video. It's clear enough to see the front-facing camera. I do wonder how long that can possibly stay clean, a concern the GMC Hummer will also have.Here's a view from behind, you can clearly see the cover for the trailer hitch.No side-view mirrors on this prototype. Only a side-view cameras cleverly tucked into the wheel arch cover above the front fenders. Image grabbed from my 720p video.Time for the next group to enter, perhaps the last group of the day. So glad we barely made it on time!We stopped to eat take-out at Pepe's Pizza in Waterbury Connecticut on the way home, arriving around 10pm, with the car ready for its next adventure by 3am. Overnight charging is a wonderful thing, setting out each day ready for whatever.
Free Supercharging:If you find this article of value and decide to order a Tesla, please consider using thists.la/paul68544referral link when placing your order so you and I both get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging. If you order Solar, it's a $250 award after system activation.
Disclosure:My family owns no stock in Tesla. Tesla doesn't advertise at TinkerTry, or anywhere else, and this is not a sponsored post. We financed the purchase of two Tesla Model 3s, replacing my 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid in December of 2018 and replacing my wife's 2005 Honda Civic EX in December of 2019. These big moves to an all electric household were an expression of our mutual desire to go green, avoid gasoline, be safe, have fun, and save money in the long run. Mostly for my job, I drive a lot, 25,000 miles in 2019 for example, and I thoroughly enjoy sharing what I've learned with you. I hope you can tell!
Over the last year since the unveiling and leading up to the start of production, Tesla has been modifying the electric pickup truck.
Unlike most automakers who unveil concept vehicles and later production versions that are extremely toned down, Tesla tends to bring production vehicles to market that closely resemble their original concepts.
The Cybertruck has been on a bit of a publicity tour recently. Just last month, it was seen outside Tesla’s gigafactory in Austin. Unlike that footage, though, this is a good opportunity to watch it in traffic.
The Tesla Cybertruck that’s currently featured in the Petersen Automotive Museum hints at new cameras, a robust underbody armor, and a new finish that’s quite different compared to the all-electric pickup unveiled onstage by Elon Musk last November.
It's no coincidence that this particular Rivian R1T was apparently in Albany NY and Hartford CT earlier this week, yes, both are state capitols. See also Governor Lamont and SB 127 co-sponsor Will Haskell checking out the R1T on May 13th here.
In the spirit of helping EV adoption, special thanks are owed to the Tesla Owner's Club of Connecticut for creating the cross-branded Take Action page: EVfreedomCT.com
It seems New York is in a similar struggle, see also their recently launched page: EVfreedomNY.com.
So by invitation only, I was asked if I wanted to have a look at the same R1T at a very special location, right inside the construction zone of the epitome of sustainable building called the Hotel Marcel. See also my recent interview with the architect, and a new video that details exactly how this building is powered below.
Of course I said yes to the invitation, and it just so happened I had that Friday off from work anyway. Attendance by many other curious members of the EV Club of Connecticut was excellent, as you'll also see pictured below. While there were some sensible restrictions on what we could share in photographs, unlike my recent visit to the Cybertruck, we were allowed up close and inside too. In case you weren't aware, Rivian backers include Ford and Amazon, you can read an early what-we-know article about the R1T here.
It's not that all EV brands are competing with Tesla, a narrative so often told by mainstream press. That's a bit silly given EVs are still less than 2% of the US market, so there is plenty of room for huge growth by all EV makers, newcomers and veterans alike. We really need a lot more companies making EVs to get real progress in the movement toward more sustainable transport. Remember, only EVs get to have more and more clean energy sources as the years go by, see also more about the huge new Wind Farm going up far off the coast of Martha's Vineyard.
Instead, I offer this perspective:
all EV brand are competing with gas cars and trucks
all-electric hotels are competing with gas powered hotels
Setting out, listening to an appropriately-themed podcastThis must be my exit from I-95 in New Haven, that's the old Pirelli Tire building now becoming an extremely efficient hotel, right near IKEA's food court. That would make a great charging stop!Brand new Model Y in front of me, also turning left into the IKEA parking lotModel Y and Model 3 size comparison.That's a lot of EVs. All EVs actually. Click/tap twice for a closer look.Solar above, Tesla at left, Hotel Marcel at center, early production Rivian R1T at right.Leslie shares the rules.Unique pass-through storage compartment.That's a Rivian employee at left whose name I didn't get, I'm so sorry. That's Leslie Hayward at center, and Kaitlin Monaghan at right.All 5 Rivian employees, all sharing using the EV1 as their ride.Most of the EV Club of Connecticut Leadership Team.Here's nearly everybody who attended.Tell tale signs of kneeling for some pics.Time to head back home to Wethersfield Connecticut, on this most glorious of spring days.
A truck built for whatever you call a road. Your electric adventure awaits.
Starting at $67,500 with 300+ miles of range.
Across the hottest and coldest places — from 130F to -25F — our battery system has been developed to explore. At launch, the R1T will deliver 300+ miles. In January 2022, a 400+ mile R1T will be available. After launch, we’ll announce the timing for a 250+ mile R1T.³
Connecticut EV owners are still fighting for their right to buy EVs in their state. Recently, I reported on how local dealerships were doing their best to get the bill blocked. Yesterday, Rivian showed up to lend more support. The EV Club of Connecticut and the Tesla Owners Club of Connecticut shared their experiences.
Today marks my 10th year anniversary since launching TinkerTry. Many good things in life and career came to me as a direct result of me sharing my experiences and thoughts with my readers, and I'm so glad to have this outlet for my excess energy. It's fair to say a lot has happened in my life and in the world in this decade. Today, I'm going to focus on the tech:
My most popular article has 2,687,532 views, peaking at 2,827 views on July 30 2015 alone. That is insane, and it's not about VMware. I suppose I'm grateful to Microsoft for making something that should be simple so complicated for so many years, but I'm glad for all of us that's it's become more intuitive to change network locations in Windows 10.
My least popular article might be of high value to those who find it, but apparently only 69 humans ever read it. Can't win them all.
I re-invest advertiser dollars into improving my visitors experience visiting TinkerTry, including paying to:
Well over a thousand happy SuperServer Bundle buyers are out there, with less than half a percent return rate. They've proven to be reliable for many years. Given the current global chip shortage, along with huge delays at Intel and AMD in offering powerful and efficient single socket CPUs, I'm grateful for that.
SuperServer Support
Both TinkerTry and Wiredzone pitched in to see to it that Supermicro submitted their Xeon D-1500 mini towers to VMware for inclusion on the VMware Compatibility Guide, right through 2021's vSphere 7 Update 2. It's one of very few homelab-suited machines where you can actually contact VMware support and open a support ticket. This helps me sleep well at night.
Insteon Home AutomationI have 15 Insteon devices in active, daily use.
My Insteon home automation devices have all held up quite nicely since I started in 2008, and blogging about them in 2013 here. I'm grateful for that kind of longevity, as I don't really want to spend weekends fiddling with failed components. I have 15 devices I control by time of day or wireless keypads around my house, saving power while increasing convenience and safety.
Heat Pump Water Heater
I've been pleasantly surprised by how popular this article has become, which gives me hope for a much more sustainable future. This migration to electricity instead of gas for heat-pump based whole-home heating is also very much a thing right now. My wife and I have 2 grown sons in their mid to late twenties, so we're now empty-nesters. We have some decisions to make about our 25 year old home, and our future together. Stay tuned!
Electric Vehicles
Far and away the biggest improvement my wife and I have made to improving our safety while reducing our costs and our carbon footprint was dumping our failing 2005 and 2006 Honda Civics for Tesla Model 3s. With 46,000 miles of EV miles now behind us, we can safely say so far, these were the best purchase decisions we've ever made. See also a wide variety of articles and videos I've created about the EV ownership experience, and this just-published Tesla Police Vehicle Saves Westport Tens of Thousands of Dollars.
eero
2015 eero replaced by Wi-Fi 6 capable eero 6 Pro in 2021. Very solid product, would recommend to anybody. Not perfect when used in bridged mode with wired backhaul for all access points, but close.
ecobee
Solid product that I reviewed in 2015, made my house more comfortable. Remote sensors are crucial, especially when working from home with a door closed. Now I can get the temperature closer to what I want in the room(s) we occupy.
ecobee
One of my 2 original 2015 ecobee thermostats failed earlier this year, after a reliable 6 year run. It seems to read 86 degrees no matter what the room temperature is. Six years isn't bad, and at least ecobee actively supported and updated their product line. I don't regret skipping the pricey and stagnant Google Nest products.
1U Supermicro SuperServers
I'm just not a fan of loud fans, sorry. They all went back. I've been good with nearly 6 years of the mini-tower form-factor, with much quieter, larger fans.
VMware vSphere 7 Update 2
This particular rollout has been a bit bumpier than usual, mostly for enterprises really. I continue to do all I can to help get home lab enthusiasts to VCSA 7.0 Update 2b and ESXi 7.0 Update 2a sooner than later, including politely nudging VMUG Advantage EVAL Experience too. They're doing their best, but there are some contractual limitations to how often they can update their code repository.
GPU Passthrough
After over 5 years running my Windows 10 VM as my primary workstation under VMware vSphere, I finally had to throw in the towel earlier this year and give it up. The only GPU I could get to work was too slow to keep up with my fulltime work-from-home and 4K content creation. My VMware ESXi upgrades has become increasingly fraught with peril, threatening to take out both my vSphere and my primary workstation if increasingly "brittle" from GPU issues stung me yet again. So unfortunately, I'm now fulltime leaving both my Xeon D-1541 ESXi 7 SuperServer powered up, along with my Xeon D-1567 Windows 10 SuperServer.
Tesla Wall Connectors
I've had some challenges with Tesla keeping charge rates cool and slow, with my early Wall Connector with 14-50 Plug and my early 3rd Gen Wall Connector both throttling charge rates within a few months. Not a big deal though, Tesla replaced them both under warranty, and both remained completely safe to use until they were swapped out. I also had the Mobile Connector the car came with to charge from our garage's other parking spot. I cannot overstate how convenient it is to charge at home, always ready for whatever the next day. Have a look at my simple garage setup and see for yourself.
These products are stuck forever in my drafts folder, littered with hundreds of bad ideas, and a handful of bad products that I'll never get around to publishing anything about, many of which I was able to return. My focus remains on investing my time in writing mostly about known-good products that I've tested first-hand and purchased with my own dollars.
You will see a lot of cross-over in these topics below, which I find interesting.
Home Labs
Stagnation, with single-socket AMD Ryzen still too power-hungry, and Intel single-socket SoC designs getting outsourced to TSMC for now, delaying launch even further.
Internet
Starlink is the story of this decade for sure, with much slower and pricier Viasat feeling rather threatened. So many folks now quite fond of working-from-home with no commute, so much so that many would rather quit than return, now comes the demand to be able to live and work from anywhere. On the bright side, less commuting means less carbon footprint, a good pandemic side-effect, accelerating our world's transition to an even more digital future.
7-Eleven installing 500 DC fast charging stations.
Sheetz and Target and Wawa already have Tesla Superchargers, and Electrify America for all other EVs has many Walmart locations.
Car dealerships behaving badly right here in CT, doing whatever they can to keep the sales of newcomers like Rivian, Lucid, and Tesla out of state. Similar stories in New York and even in Texas, where the huge new Tesla gigafactory is being completed this year to ramp up Model Y and Cybertruck production based on new 4680 cells and an innovative stamping process. It's like those die-cast toy cars of your youth, only scaled-up.
This decade of my existence has had many highs and lows, which I'm well aware is probably true of pretty much every reader on the planet. Despite all that we've been through, I remain an optimist, especially when it comes to a more sustainable future. With solar and wind now cheaper than coal, I feel we've reached a tipping point, for the better. It's also encouraging to see the increasing mind share that EVs are finally gaining here in the US, particularly with the recent announcement of the Ford F-150 Lightning. Also great to see both the Cybertruck and Rivian R1T first-hand, and an honor to get to enjoy this long and fun thread about the electrification of pickup trucks with the Tech Breakfast crew, and so many others I know from the IT Profession too. TCO is a strong argument whether it's about computers, cars, or trucks.
Taking years to start being quoted in other virtualization focused blogs was a big deal to me, and very much still is. I hope 2022 will rekindle that excitement, once better CPUs arrive and chip constraints are hopefully eased somewhat. Meanwhile, I'm still using my reliable 5 and 6 year old Xeon D systems on a daily basis, sticking with M.2 NVMe drives for those daily-driver workloads.
Most of all, I'm confident I'll still be an optimistic about all of our futures 10 years from now. See you in 2031, and hopefully many times before then!
Image from EV Club of CT, tap/click to visit the source article.
I'm not a pickup truck person. But a whole lot of North Americans are. The Ford F-Series has been the best-selling pickup truck in the US and Canada since 1977, and they've been selling about 900,000 per year in the past 3 years. The potential for some serious carbon emission and cost-per-mile reductions are huge, especially in fleet use. Look at it this way. The Tesla Model 3 Performance EV is likely to save Westport Connecticut's police department enough money to buy another in just 4 years with the savings over a Ford Explorer. Imagine what fleet of commercial electric pickup trucks at $40K a piece could do!
Below you'll find quite a collection of articles and videos I've recently come across that I've been discussing with some EV owners, and even some ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) pickup truck owners from Texas. Figured there was value in putting my readings and viewings into one article, especially since I haven't seen anything like this elsewhere.
Enjoy learning about EVs and EV pickups, it's OK to be excited. Today's EVs are NOTHING like the Prius featuring 1997 tech. The age of compromises by going electric are behind us. Today's EVs are better vehicles in every way including price, especially when you account for the total cost of ownership. You don't have to be a tree-hugger to want one.
2021 Rivian R1T
by Drew Dorian and Roberto Baldwin at Car & Driver
The futuristic R1T is an all-electric pickup truck from new American startup brand Rivian, and it promises between 250 and 400 miles of driving range and lightning-quick acceleration. The company says that the revealed truck is no concept vehicle—what you see here is what will enter production as the 2021 R1T.
The Tesla Cybertruck looks like it was dropped off by an alien race, but it has the capabilities to challenge all of the top-selling pickup trucks. With a sharp-edged exterior that is made of scratch- and dent-resistant stainless steel, Tesla's all-electric truck is seriously tough.
Complete gallery view of all Ford PR photos below. Kind of funny, one shows a tailpipe. Have a little fun and leave a comment, identifying the offending photo's filename!
According to GM President Mark Reuss, the Silverado 1500 Electric will be built at the company's Factory ZERO assembly plant in Hamtramck, Michigan. This is the same factory where the GMC Hummer will be put together.
The Silverado EV will be new. The pickup is "designed from the ground up to be an EV" and will run on GM's all-electric Ultium Platform, so it will be similar to the Hummer - just not a copy in a different body.
I'm just so happy that the dawn of EV pickups is finally (almost) here! The faster we transfer to sustainable sources of energy, the better for all of us. Competition in a nascent industry is good, and I welcome it.
I'd say the Ford F-150 Lightning is looking very promising, with that V2G (Vehicle to Grid) feature really being something to brag about, intended for occasional use. This is especially true now, given what Texas just went through.
I do feel the range is just a little low at each price point, despite the overstated effects of the 1,000 lb load, especially when compared to the Cybertruck at similar price points. I also worry a bit about the 150 kW max charge rate vs Tesla's 250 kW, and the expected 41 minute DC fast charge time to get from 15% to 80%.. There's also the heavy reliance on Electrify America's charging network, which has had a rough start working with the Mach-E. Finally, given how few Mustang Mach-E EVs Ford has been able to deliver, I wonder how long the ramp up will be before we see meaningful numbers of Lightnings out there, especially if battery constraints inhibit sales. It's not demand I'm worried about, it's the ability to deliver.
Given my wife and I gave up our last gas cars ever, 2005 and 2006 Honda Civics in favor of Model 3s, I'm admittedly biased here, but I can also say that after 48K miles of combined road experience, we have no regrets financially or emotionally. In my opinion, Tesla's Cybertruck will showcase the upcoming 4680 cell with faster DC charging. Based on public information about the new charge curves for the 4680 cell, I'm estimating that it will be well under half an hour for a typical 10% to 80% charge when road-tripping. Other Tesla-only innovations include the huge die-cast stamping of the entire front and rear chassis, along with the surprisingly good aerodynamics of this relatively cheap-and-easy to make-and-maintain paint-free angular design. Seating for 6 adults in all trim levels vs Ford's 5 in the higher trim levels. Considerably higher towing and payload capacity and nearly twice the cubic feet of space in the bed. All uniquely Tesla it would seem at least as it currently seems on paper.
Tesla is the market leader for powertrain and charging network technology, and they've gained a lot of experience working out EV powertrain kinks since the introduction of the Model S way back in 2012. They've delivered nearly 2 million EVs to date, and their real-world experience lowers the risk vs. all newcomers to the EV market. Again I'll mention the importance of having a solid fast-charging network in place, especially for road-trippers. Let's hope that the build-out of Electrify America (with VW's dollars) accelerates as quickly as these EV pickups. Hopefully an easy-as-Tesla-Supercharging experience becomes just as prevalent across all EVs makes soon too.
Paul Braren's photo of the Cybertruck's visit to New York City in May 2021.
I realize the Cybertruck's attention-getting looks aren't for everybody, but that shock factor for anything new is just human nature. Seeing Cybertrucks around will quickly become normal, as will seeing a variety of other EV pickups. It's about time!
Why no mention of the Hummer EV, Lordstown Motors Endurance or Bollinger B1 or B2? I remind you of the title here, mass market EV pickups. My thinking was those EV pickups that have a good range and at least a moderate likelihood of selling in significant numbers in the coming years.
This article captures the fun of driving up and down Mount Washington in my EV, with my short, fun 4K video below. Now imagine how effortless, quiet, and smell-free it will be to climb up steep grades in your EV pickup, even when towing!
Police Chief Foto Koskinas at left, Officer Sampson at right, and the first-of-its-kind 2020 Tesla Model 3 Performance at the Westport Connecticut Police Station.
I don't want to detract from the power of this article with a lot of words. The headline speaks for itself, and the article carefully backs up those claims:
This story about the big savings have been picked up by many sites, and a particularly prominent tweet by @mayemusk, and a very helpful tweet by Connecticut's neighbor @TeslaNY.
I'm not surprised. Let's just think about the speed enforcement use-case. Much of the time waiting for speeders is spent at idle, and in this use-case, their Ford Explorers get just 10 mpg on average. With an EV, idle is no big deal: there is no engine left running. Bursts of power are used to get up to speed, but only for a very few seconds. The aerodynamics of all Teslas are pretty incredible, and the safety is the best in the world. The battery lasts for 2 shifts, then it's charged during the 3rd shift.
Note, Tesla's warranty is 50,000 miles standard / 100,000 miles powertrain. The projected costs are likely quite accurate, with very few service surprises likely. There are nearly a million Model 3 are on the road already, and many have gone well past 100,000 miles. There are numerous examples of documented service histories available online, here's an example where just $390 was spent for service & parts in 50,000 miles.
This careful analysis article was published about 15 months after this car was put into service, and was reviewed by the Town of Westport for accuracy prior to publication. I also recorded some 4K video as Police Chief Foti Koskinas showed us around this very special Model, highlighting some of it's unique attributes including a frunk that's accessible by paramedics without gaining access to the rest of the vehicle. It's a nice follow-up to my original, in-depth footage taken in February of 2020.
These findings are pretty compelling, don't you think? Feel free to drop a comment below! See also my response to the comments below this article.
Seth Kent | December 10, 2019 at 4:58 pm |
A Tesla is essentially a luxury item and a novelty; what a wasteful and obnoxious mismanagement of our tax dollars. The benefits are not even remotely this clear cut. Being first at something, even in the guise of being progressive, is not always a positive move.
The police department of Westport, Conn. acquired a Tesla Model 3 for police duty and put it into service in February 2020. According to the Westport Police, this Tesla was the first in the U.S. to be fully tricked out for law enforcement. Barry Kresch, president of the EV Club of Connecticut, worked with purchase, customization, and operating expense data provided by the Westport PD to ascertain the cruiser Model 3’s operating costs to date and project total cost of ownership (TCO) for four years, the normal cycle for Westport’s patrol fleet. The analysis was subsequently reviewed and confirmed by the city.
Free Supercharging:If you find this article of value and decide to order a Tesla, please consider using thists.la/paul68544referral link when placing your order so you and I both get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging. If you order Solar, it's a $250 award after system activation.
Disclosure:My family owns no stock in Tesla. Tesla doesn't advertise at TinkerTry, or anywhere else, and this is not a sponsored post. We financed the purchase of two Tesla Model 3s, replacing my 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid in December of 2018 and replacing my wife's 2005 Honda Civic EX in December of 2019. These big moves to an all electric household were an expression of our mutual desire to go green, avoid gasoline, be safe, have fun, and save money in the long run. Mostly for my job, I drive a lot, 25,000 miles in 2019 for example, and I thoroughly enjoy sharing what I've learned with you. I hope you can tell!
I was recently having a discussion with the leadership at the VMUG Organization, and given my 10 year anniversary of blogging happened this month, we decided together that it'd be a good idea for me to publish some short tips videos about blogging. I have a problem with being succinct (just look at any of my articles), so what better way to practice brevity than to limit my time on camera for each clip? I'm always open to trying new things.
Below you'll find my notes that I had jotted down, to prepare a little for what I'd try to capture on camera. Instead, weeks later, I wound up improvising, capturing shorter versions of the details below. Between the words and the videos you'll hopefully glean some nuggets of information that help you in your journey into blogging, whether it's about home labs, home tech, IT, or whatever you like to do. Just be you!
Disclosure: TinkerTry.com, LLC ad space has been purchased by VMUG via BuySellAds within the last 12 months. While we came up with the 5 topics together, VMUG had no say in what is written here in this article or what I said on camera.
I also get at least one invite a week for guest blog posts by folks I do not know at all, and have no reason to trust.
I get several invites a year to put some tracking code into my site for good money, but that would hurt my reputation and rankings, and my ability to sleep well at night.
Unlike most ephemeral-article sites, I actually go back and make corrections, based on new information and/or incorrect details. This is why I appreciate reader comments, helping make my articles better for everybody.
With BSA, they used to take 30% commission if I used offsite purchase buttons such as in the Virtualization category. It was 20% if they were hosted on-site. Then they removed onsite buttons, and re-arranged the categories including virtualization, so I had to stay on top of asking to be added again.
Disqus has been a good commenting engine, adding a lot of value to the articles. Their eventual, inevitable push to adding advertisements meant I had to pay to avoid the way-off-topic ads.
Same goes for Google Search Engine, paying to avoid the ads.
Disqus' article recommendation engine is decent, useful since I dumped WordPress and some handy article recommendation plugins long ago, too much whack-a-mole to stay on top of security concerns.
LLC formed to handle any YouTube and BSA and other sources of revenue.
Also helpful to have custom email for a more professional appearance when communicating with others.
Skimlinks ultimately wasn't a good choice for revenue earning for a site like mine, especially once they lost partnerships with Amazon and Newegg.
Skimlinks automatic redirect code didn't work out as it messed up VMware store URLs, so I went with manually creating f a v e . co URL shortening, but that resulted in problems with Google search, so eventually, after many many hours of a manual effort to purge my entire site of all such links, I'm back to pretty much only having affiliate links for Amazon.
I'm currently editing with Microsoft Visual Studio Code for now, it's good, but it's proven to be less than ideal for seamless sftp and/ grammar/spell checking.
This one was tough. Setting up YouTube and Twitter with the same branding and logos and such is a challenge for anybody artistically challenged, like myself. Even favicons were tricky for me.
I'm so grateful to have had one of my son's help: he has the skills and the Mac tools to create the logos, and to share them in the SVG (scalable vector graphics) format.
Notice how my TinkerTry logo doesn't blur when zooming or out. It's the little things.
As of January 2021, there were 5,879 registered Teslas in Connecticut. CT DMV data, Page 4. While it's said that states that allow direct sales enjoy almost 3x higher EV adoption, it's perfectly legal to own and operate a Tesla in any US state. Dealerships wish you'd believe that you're not protected by lemon laws if you choose to buy directly from a manufacturer. Not true. Dealerships claim to somehow be protecting consumers by lobbying to prevent direct sales by Rivian, Lucid, and Tesla. But it's pretty clear how at least one dealer really feels, protecting their sales, not their consumers, through their recent action. Not particularly interested in encouraging such behavior? Read onward.
Oh well since I can’t go to a physical CT location guess I’ll give up on buying a Tesla?
Too bad u can’t buy online or drive 30 minutes to a different state right?
Jon, don't give up! 😉 If you've test driven alternatives and decide that Tesla is your EV of choice as it currently is for 79% of American EV shoppers, then by all means go for it! Note that test driving in the past meant all CT residents had to go out of state. For future service needs, your closest service center is likely to be Tesla Milford Service, but most routine (but rarely needed) service can be done by Tesla Mobile Service who actually come to you instead, at work or at home!
Hopefully in-state deliveries will be available someday, something that CT citizens very much want, and it's interesting to note that states with direct sales have more jobs, explained here too.
This can be done in Milford Connecticut Service Center, where they currently have a limited selection of Model 3 and Model Y EVs for folks interested in leasing. Best to schedule a test drive online to choose a location is closest to you, with non-CT showroom locations offering test drives whether you wish to lease or buy. Or if you prefer, you could just drive down to Milford and see if any test drives happen to be available when you arrive. Contact Tesla Milford herewith any questions about test drives, with their Google Map location here.
Tesla.com, choose options, the non-negotiable price is for the same for everybody in every US state, with no dealers, so no dealer markups, or to get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging by instead use the link below instead. You can see my family's actual Tesla invoice here, which came in right at the average new-car price in the US. Once ordered with your $100 deposit, you will get an email as your estimated delivery date gets closer, including the VIN of the car that was made to your order or found in already-made (but new) inventory. Provide your tesla.com account with requested details including address, payment details, and proof of insurance online, making your delivery day experience even simpler. While waiting, you can get accustomed to the car's features and settings watching this friendly overview video.
Since your home's address is Connecticut, your delivery location of Tesla Westchester - Mt. Kisco will be automatically chosen, no matter which area of the state you're from. You'll need somebody to help get you to their Mt. Kisco location. When you arrive and check-in, you'll soon see your new Tesla appear in your iOS or Android Tesla app, or you can use one of the two provided key cards as an alternative way to get in, put it in drive, and with a big grin, drive your new Tesla back to Connnecticut.
Q: Is Connecticut Sales Tax collected?
A: Yes. Tesla collects the tax at delivery, gets the $ to Connecticut on your behalf, at the Connecticut rate of 6.35% for EVs under %50K and 7.75% for vehicles over $50K, details here, with a copy of our family's Model 3 Standard Range Plus purchase agreement here.
Q: Are temporary plates provided?
A: Yes, Tesla of Mt. Kisco takes care of this automatically, it's a 60 day intransit paper plate that's valid in all 50 states, and they'll automatically ship your new Connecticut plates to your home address within 60 days of taking delivery. No waiting at DMV, no need to visit online either. No annual emissions inspections either!
Q: If my Tesla MSRP is under $42,000 thus is eligible for CT's CHEAPR rebate, how do I get my $2000 check in the mail?
A: Tesla Mt. Kisco will take care of the paperwork for you, just mention your EV's eligibility to your delivery specialist to be sure. The check gets mailed directly to your home address.
Q: Why not take delivery at Tesla showrooms in Massachussetts or Rhode Island, who, like the rest of New England, allow direct sales?
A: Last I checked in late 2018, it was technically still possible to pick up in MA, but you'd be paying sales tax to both MA and CT. Remember, automatically-assigned-delivery-location Mt. Kisco Tesla already knows how to do all the paperwork, they've done it over 5,879 already!
If you find this article of value and decide to order a Tesla, please consider using thists.la/paul68544referral link when placing your order so you and I both get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging. If you order Solar, it's a $250 award after system activation.
Disclosure:My family owns no stock in Tesla. Tesla doesn't advertise at TinkerTry, or anywhere else, and this is not a sponsored post. We financed the purchase of two Tesla Model 3s, replacing my 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid in December of 2018 and replacing my wife's 2005 Honda Civic EX in December of 2019. These big moves to an all electric household were an expression of our mutual desire to go green, avoid gasoline, be safe, have fun, and save money in the long run. Mostly for my job, I drive a lot, 25,000 miles in 2019 for example, and I thoroughly enjoy sharing what I've learned with you. I hope you can tell!
TinkerTry Home Lab Testing of Synology DS1618+ and DS1621xs+.DSM 6.2.x at left, DSM 7.x at right. Click/tap twice to zoom in.DSM 7 has made getting started even easier.
which generated many reader comments where it became evident that others felt much as I did. We wanted a version of this NAS where we didn't have to choose between 10G or M.2. Instead, we want to have both! See also at TinkerTry:
I now have a DS1621xs+ in the TinkerTry home lab to test as well! Stay tuned for more information on how my initial tinkering is going. My valued readers and I would love to read your comments dropped below this article, particularly regarding your thoughts and experiences with the new DSM 7.0.
Disclosure- I now have a Synology DS1621xs+ provided by Synology for long-term evaluation at no charge. Synology exerted no influence over the content of this article, and no stipulations. Synology has not advertised on TinkerTry via BSA. "TinkerTry.com, LLC" may earn a small income from readers who use the shopping links below.
Disk Station Manager 7.0-41882 Release Candidate download.
DSM 7 is one of the largest overhauls Synology DSM (Disk Station Manager) has ever had, and is claimed by Synology to be more responsive too.
Tonight, I had a look for myself, using DSM 7.0 Release Candidate on my DS1618+, recording some footage of me informally kicking the tires, comparing DSM 7 to the DSM 6.2 UI on my DS1621xs+. According to the press release below, the final generally available bits will appear on June 29 2021, but for my XS series DS1621xs+ NAS, I'll need to wait until Q4 2021 until I can run DSM 7 on it too. Once Synology has a generally available DSM 7 for both my NASs, I'll start putting some of my important data back on them, hopefully having a chance to test VMware VM backups using NAKIVO, Veeam, and Synology.
I can safely say that DSM 7 is different enough that much of the existing documentation on setting up NFS or iSCSI for use with VMware is now somewhat obsolete. This is a pretty dramatic usability boost too, with considerable workflow streamlining from any prior DSM release. My initial impressions are favorable, as you'll hear me express in my very first lab test featured in my DSM 7.0 upgrade and configuration video below, where'll see just how straight-forward and easy it has become to create my first storage pool and volume.
I enjoy informal usability testing, especially when I've heard the UI has been optimized to actually be faster than prior releases, even on older systems. This is generally no easy task as feature sets grow, check out the videos below.
Before updating, your Synology NAS should be running DSM 6.2 or above versions.
Reserve extra time to complete DSM 7.0 update. The DSM update takes 10 to 20 minutes, while package update may take more than an hour. The actual time depends on the computing power of your model, the number of media indexing files, and the number of packages installed.
If you're performing a clean installation, make sure to complete the installation with find.synology.com or Synology Assistant 7.0-50029 or above.
I've pulled together some highlights from today's Synology Press Release below, choosing the sections that detail the new DSM 7.0 UI, since that's the focus of this article.
Taipei, Taiwan—June 23, 2021—Synology today announced the imminent release of DiskStation Manager (DSM) 7.0 and a massive expansion of the Synology C2 platform with four new cloud services. Focusing on enhancing security, system management capabilities, and improving data collaboration, DSM 7.0 is an enormous step forward for Synology's NAS and SAN product lines.
Close to the source, how Synology edge solutions solve data management challenges
...
Over eight million of Synology's data management solutions have been deployed worldwide1, each powered by the DSM operating system. As the world's largest NAS OS, DSM uniquely combines storage interoperability, backup and data protection capabilities, and robust synchronization and collaboration solutions together to address increasingly distributed workplaces and sources of data. Synology-developed add-ons, such as Synology Drive, Active Backup suite, and more, feature more than six million monthly downloads.
DSM 7.0, the next leap forward for the platform, will be released on June 292. Launching together with the massive new update includes brand new hybrid-cloud services, such as Active Insight, a large-scale device monitoring and diagnostics solution, Hybrid Share, which combines C2 storage flexibility and synchronization capabilities with on-premises solutions, and C2 Identity, a hybrid cloud directory as a service to simplify cross-site domain management3. Together with platform improvements such as supporting up to 1 PB volumes for super-large tasks, DSM 7.0 also introduces security improvements in the form of Secure SignIn. This brand-new authentication system makes two-factor effortless and straightforward to use.
Availability
New C2 solutions and DSM 7.0, which has concluded over 7 months of public testing, will be available soon.
Source: Synology sales metrics across all markets.
For select Plus, value, and J series products. XS, SA, and FS series devices will receive updates later in Q4 2021.
New C2 services will gradually roll out starting from July 13.
Active Backup centralizes backup tasks for VMware, Hyper-V, Windows endpoints, Office 365 and G Suite to Synology NAS – and lets you manage from one simple console. Fast and reliable recovery delivered to keep running services, VMs, and files instantly available. ...
On July 9, Revel let me know their preferred/best urgent support contacts for EV charging issues, in summary:
Revel Superhub Payment/Payter Issues - call EVGateway at (949)945-2000
Be ready to read the Station ID of your charger
Revel Superhub Tritium Charger Issues - call or text Revel at (855)690-9180
Revel Customer Service - for other non-immediate inquiries or feedback, email support@gorevel.com
I have confidence that Revel and its technology partners will be able to work through these typical launch-day issues that I've reported below, and that this facility will be a better experience for visitors in the near future. Most EVs made since 2018 have DC fast charging abilities for on-the-go rapid charging, and AC charging capabilities for overnight garage charging. When you have a garage. Brooklyn residents who street park may now have a reasonably practical way to replace their street-parked gas car with an electric car, with most charging completed at Revel's public facility in about an hour. This is the first Superhub of its size and kind anywhere in the US, and could be the first of many. The positive repercussions of having such Superhubs in cities across the US could be big.
Click/tap twice to really zoom in. You can count all 23 operational stalls in this pic. The trash bin and nearby bench [off camera] will be very handy when charging. The location is spacious, well-lit, and each stall's width is quite generous too. All good things.
The idea of being able to DC fast charge any brand of EV in minutes rather than hours is quite tempting, no matter where it's located. Can a DC fast charger offer decent charging speeds of any brand of EV? It's a challenge, at least here in the US, with CCS and Tesla DC fast charging generally found at different facilities or parking lots. Wouldn't it be grand if all EV brands could be equally viable options for urban dwellers.
Tesla's vast network of Superchargers (Urban peaks at 72 kW, V2 at 150 kW, and V3 at 250 kW) has proven itself worthy of handling long road trips without the stress of worrying whether it'll work. Just plug it in, charging starts, and it's automatically charged to the credit card on file in the tesla.com account, something owners had already set up at delivery day anyway. It's that easy. And the speeds are typically between 20 and 45 minutes for most Teslas, even older Model S, X, and Model 3 Standard Range that can't utilize the top speeds of V3. I've done 54 Supercharges at 20 locations, and only 3 times have I had to move to an adjacent stall due to a stall not working or only charging very slow charging. Just a momentary inconvenience, never panic or fear. Here in the northeastern US, we're blessed with a very high density of Superchargers, having traveled 44,000 miles from Ottowa to Maine to Virginia. One quite notable exception is metro New York City. Read onward.
Enter Revel. Known for moped and eBike rentals, now they're making a go of creating a ride-share service that uniquely offers it's employees a Model Y to drive, for riders to enjoy the EV experience as an alternative to Yellow Cabs or traditional rideshare services like Uber or Lyft. Their fleet of Model Ys will overnight at this DC Fast Charging Superhub to recharge. What's unique is that Revel apparently saw the opportunity for some extra revenue by opening this superhub to the public, 24x7, regardless of what brand of EV they drive. Here's TechCrunch's take on last week's grand opening of this first-of-its-kind facility.
Whether Revel is able to launch their new rideshare service is very much an unfolding story, with an alternative perspective on the political drama and daring tactics detailed here.
Brooklyn has 2.59 million people living in just this one borough of New York City. If you live there, it's quite likely you only have street parking, common in many cities. This makes overnight charging an impractical path toward EV ownership. Some of the older neighborhoods were built up in horse and buggy times, featuring no driveways and no garage. I've personally made the 110 mile drive to Brooklyn a few times a year for either work or for visiting folks I know there, using our 2018 Model 3 Long Range. Parking is a challenge, as expected. Arriving with at least 20% battery to keep the Sentry Mode running can sometimes be another challenge, especially in winter.
If you live in Brooklyn, you just drive to a Supercharger every few days or weeks, depending upon how much you drive, right? Well, it turns out that Superchargers in this area are Urban Superchargers, maxing out at 72 kW. Amazingly, this anemic Supercharging extends all the way to Jersey City, Manhattan, and Queens. Every location seen in my screenshot of the Tesla's Supercharger locator map. This means most chargers from roughly 20% to 80% are closer to an hour in duration, 2 to 3 times slower than the 20-30 minutes of most V3 or V2 Supercharges, which I explained at TinkerTry back in early 2020. There are also hefty parking fees to contend with in Brooklyn as well. And finally, higher charge rates, with 39 cents per kWh
From decades of experience in IT, I'm fully aware of how difficult it can be to fully test any complex system, so that the day the equipment starts handling production workloads is without issues. This is especially so when multiple vendors are involved. So when I heard that Revel was running their first week with free charging, I figured that'd be a popular way to get both some publicity and some charger kinks worked out, with upset over inevitable issues being far less likely when no money is involved.
In this instance of Revel trying to launch an ambitious, public, open 24x7 location for DC fast charging of any EV brand, my spidey senses foresaw some initial launch bumps in the road, they're pretty much inevitable. Just check out some of Kyle Connor tests and Tom Moloughney's tests featuring many new EVs including Porshe Taycan, Ford Mustang Mach-E, and VW ID.4.
Back on June 26, I started reading about their Superhub opening soon, I reached out to Revel's PR contact via email. Again I reached out in the early afternoon of July 7, to see if I could confirm that payment processing had actually begun, knowing it had now been a week since the start of a free week of charging. Without a response (perhaps my email from @tinkertry.com got caught up in spam on their end) I also tried to make contact with @_GoRevel via Twitter DM, and with support@revel.com.
On July 7th, I realized it was likely the very first day of payment processing operations starting at Revel's Superhub, making the evening drive down held much more appeal to me personally. I enjoy being an early adopter, documenting issues, and providing constructive feedback. This is just something I enjoy doing both personally (this blog), and professionally.
With some actual first and second-hand knowledge of the issues, I submitting a Revel Support Request using their webform at 11:05am today.
When my wife and I arrived around 7:45pm, there was a non-uniformed but very polite and helpful Revel employee on hand who introduced himself, and fielded many of my questions as I parked in a non-charging spot. He wasn't authorized to go on camera, so consider this list of learnings just his personally, unofficial opinions:
the food court and bathroom facilities aren't open to the public just yet, he sounded unsure when they might be
the 2 Nissan Leafs I saw arrive seemed to charge without incident, but didn't stay long so I'm really not sure, they talked with the employee at some length as well
I asked if the fleet of Revel Model Y will use some or all of these stalls overnight, he confirmed yes, but was unsure what time they'll be charging using the long row of stalls along the fence, not the back-to-back stall area that is open to the public 24x7, with the entrance gate at 467 Marcy Ave, Brooklyn NY 11206 always opened.
There are 23 stalls currently, with 2 stalls offering CHAdeMO (despite Tesla stickers on the holster) or CCS Combo 2, and the other 21 stalls offering Tesla or CCS Combo 2 charging. There were spaces for 2 more stalls, but the Tritium charging cabinets were not yet in place.
At night, it's a known issue that their automatic LED floodlights go on for a few minutes when detecting motion, then off again a few minutes later. It's a ambient light detection issue, and Revel is working to get this fixed.
Camping Mode doing an extreme cool-down to bring my battery level down before charging.
The logistics problem we faced was that we had to find a way to run our Model 3 battery down from about 38% to 20%. This actually wound up taking a lot of time. Using my OBD reader, we found that cranking the HVAC to Lo and the fan to 10 was the best way to drain the most watts possible from just HVAC alone: 3,600 watts, to be exact. We also turned on the rear seat heaters, and stopped by the local Home Depot to get some stuff and use the facilities, leaving the Model 3 in Camping Mode to ensure the HVAC stayed on. Cruising the highways at decent speeds was also something we also tried later on, but lots of traffic on 278 even at 9pm thwarted that plan quick too. Quickly we found that we lost nearly 2 hours just to get started on recording the experience. I'm super thankful to my wife for coming along with me, helping be my co-pilot and videographer through this zany adventure.
I had hoped to arrive at 20% to be able to more easily compare with my experience with V3 vs V2 Supercharging from 20% to 80%. But as Kyle pointed out, the charge profile is the less interesting part when a CHAdeMO to Tesla connector is involved (part 1036392-10-D), as the charge profile is flat the whole time. This is in contrast with Tesla Supercharging, that starts off real fast for a few minutes before a rapid taper, peaking at up to 250 kW, which equates to roughly 1,000 miles of charge per hour on a Tesla Model 3 Long Range.
Click/tap twice to zoom in and see the detailed charging CHAdeMO stats.
Here's my experience.
At the first stall to the left when you enter the Superhub, I backed in, but it wouldn't accept my Apple Pay with my preferred AMEX card. So I moved one spot over, just in case it was just a card reader issue, in hopes of getting a smooth start-to-finish video.
At the second stall, charging began, but within a couple of minutes, it slowed quite a bit, extending our estimated time from about 55 minutes to over an hour and 20 minutes. Not a good thing to see this late at night, and we're still 110 miles from home. Likely the slowdown had nothing to do with another car starting to charge nearby, but we couldn't be 100% sure, so we moved to a completely different area to try again, in hopes of faster charging.
Charge attempt #3 was failed when I realized I was in one of the two CHAdeMO-only spots. This is a good reason to now provide payment before the car is plugged in, just as the Tritium screen indicates. Lesson learned!
Attempt #4 is the charm, next to CHAdeMO-only spots, using the using Visa on Apple Pay via my Apple Watch, it authorized in just 3 seconds, then charging automatically began 23 seconds later, nice! It's all on camera, see also video below. It then took 53 minutes to get from 26% to 81%. It didn't matter if HVAC system was left running or not, charging speeds didn't change.
Other folks saw "Service Error 101" on the Payter screen on some of the un-numbered stalls, I was able to replicate this on camera in the video below.
So to sum up, I can use my data from my V3 vs V2 Supercharging sessions, and extrapolate from my data from my Revel charge. For my 2018 Tesla Model 3 Long Range in hot weather, to get from 20% to 80% battery charge:
Tesla V3 Supercharger ------------- 25 minutes - May 31 2020 Meriden CT
Tesla V2 Supercharger ------------- 28 minutes - Jun 06 2020 W. Hartford, CT
Revel Tritium CHAdeMO to Tesla -- 58 minutes - Jul 07 2021 Brooklyn, NY
Here's my collection of reported issues from other Tesla owners who were trying to get charging started last night:
Communications issues of some sort were reported by others when trying to swipe any card.
We found that using my Visa card in my Apple Pay worked, using my watch to make the contactless payment. My AMEX card in my Apple pay didn't work, Payter card reader said "try another card".
Another Tesla owner used his Apple card in his Apple Pay, using his iPhone to make the contactless payment. His other cards in his Apple Pay failed.
Support is needed 24x7, especially during these first days, and it needs to be clear to visitors how they should go about reaching out to support.
A Revel employee or knowledgeable contractor on site for at least these first few days and nights would have greatly enhanced the experience.
Not made clear how much $ my credit card was charged during or after the charging was finished. I'll need to review all my video footage carefully to see if perhaps I missed seeing an indication. Admittedly, I was busy helping others get their charging going, based on the knowledge I had gained from others who had similar struggles.
It's a bit odd to have a bulky CHAdeMO Adapter to add Tesla charging on 21 of the 23 stalls, but I realize it's wishful thinking that closer collaboration with Tesla might be possible someday for less bulky adapters and/or faster DC charging speeds for Tesla owners at any non-Tesla facilities. It's amazing that a place where CCS is used for all EVs exists, it's called Europe. Maybe someday the US will have a more uniform infrastructure, one can always hope.
The cables are nice and long, but they're also quite hefty and stiff. The leash can also be a bit hard to extend, I'm guessing even more so in cold weather. I think some of the more petite customers may struggle a bit to get their charge cable situated, and they'll be some inevitable clumsiness when shorter customers try to hang the cable back up on the hook.
The blue-backlighted LCD Payter device's screen didn't always stay backlit, and was generally quite hard to read even at night, as seen in some of my (upcoming) video footage. This made documenting the "try another card" difficult. Kind of a funny aside - using my iPhone near the Payter NFC reader caused Apple Pay to auto-launch on my iPhone, which stopped my iPhone's video recording.
These seem to be mostly just the usual early adopter struggles that can be expected for any new offering, but the lack of support after hours were what made this a more stressful evening for some of the travelers than it needed to be. Particularly for local homeowner/Model 3 driver Brian, who offered to go on camera to explain that his confidence was high this pay-for-charge visit would go well, based on 3 excellent experiences visiting this same facility during the free opening week.
I'm guessing that getting approvals to beginning ride-share service in New York City are dominating Revel's resources at the moment, understandably. This could be why they don't quite yet have a clear path to getting support for visitors at this time, and based on some Twitter DMs, it seems mostly likely that visitors who need support will have to install the Revel app to request support via a (future) button tap for Superhub visitors, hopefully immediately. Whether they'll be able to seamlessly handle both Tritium "Out of service" screens that arose after charging began, and/or issues with payment processing, remains to be seen.
As for slower DC charging earlier generation EVs like the Nissan Leaf and Chevy volt, I don't know whether they had Tritium issues on payment launch day, but it's a good guess that they probably had the same sort of Payter contactless payment challenges we witnessed at over a dozen of the 23 stalls now open. So for these early days, set aside some extra time to experiment alternative payment methods, and arrive with plenty of spare charge and time to get to a nearby Tesla Supercharger if you have to.
Revel responded on Twitter at about 11am July 8 2021
Just as I was publishing the article, Revel responded with this confident tweet, but I hadn't even had a chance to share the issues I was having yet. At least I've established communications, a good thing. Also a good thing that EV charging experts Kyle Connor from Out of Spec Motoring and Tom Moloughney from State of Charge both plan to visit the site again soon, tweeted here and here. I'll add links to their work to this article, and I know they'll be able to a much more professional job of taking the time to get great footage of their experiences here, something I was sorely lacking on this short after-work trip on this super hot evening.
I too am eager to see if Revel is able to work out their kinks quickly.
My comprehensive video of the entire experience has now been added to the video section above. Forgive my attempt at thumbnail humor:
Superhub Revel-ations DC fast charging challenges on opening night
@_GoRevel has now responded to my polite DM and is reviewing this article for its constructive feedback. Again, I'll emphasize, this article and the videos are all intended to help Revel provide an improved customer experience for future visitors to Superhubs.
In response to the support ticket I opened, Revel has provided some new information that may be helpful to future Brooklyn Superhub visitors. It's a start.
Jocelyn (Revel)
Jul 9, 2021, 12:02 AM EDT
Hi Paul,
Thank you for reaching out and bringing this to our attention. We're so glad to hear you stopped by our new Revel Superhub!
Many charging and payment issues can be resolved by unplugging from the vehicle, replacing the charging plug back in its holster, then restarting the charging process. If this doesn’t work, you can try a different charger. Our team does not have any visibility into payments, so if you have a payment issue that cannot be addressed by the site attendant, you can contact EVGateway at (949) 945-2000. Make sure to have the Station ID of your charger ready for timely assistance.
If you have any other charging hub inquiries that may need immediate attention, you can call or text our Revel Customer Service team at 855-690-9180. For other non-immediate inquiries or feedback, you can email us at support@gorevel.com.
We greatly appreciate all your feedback and will be forwarding this to our Superhub team.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to us should you have any additional questions or concerns.
Revel Customer Support
A trial of pop-up EV charging stations in the United Kingdom has proven successful, showing a possible way to expand urban charging infrastructure without adding clutter.
A British company called Urban Electric announced the trial last year, placing prototype pop-up charging "hubs" along streets in Oxford, England.
Activated by an app, the 7-kilowatt charging hubs retract into the street when not in use, freeing up space.
Urban Electric hopes to provide at-home charging for people who don't have driveways or garages, and park their cars on the street. That's the case for 43% of UK households, according to the company.
Free Supercharging:If you find this article of value and decide to order a Tesla, please consider using thists.la/paul68544referral link when placing your order so you and I both get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging. If you order Solar, it's a $250 award after system activation.
Disclosure:My family owns no stock in Tesla. Tesla doesn't advertise at TinkerTry, or anywhere else, and this is not a sponsored post. We financed the purchase of two Tesla Model 3s, replacing my 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid in December of 2018 and replacing my wife's 2005 Honda Civic EX in December of 2019. These big moves to an all electric household were an expression of our mutual desire to go green, avoid gasoline, be safe, have fun, and save money in the long run. Mostly for my job, I drive a lot, 25,000 miles in 2019 for example, and I thoroughly enjoy sharing what I've learned with you. I hope you can tell!
Notice 44kW is indicated.Notice 37kW is indicated. When I looked at a Model Y charging, both the Tritium and the Model Y displays indicated 47kW.All my AC and DC charging history.
Windows 11 has had quite a bit of attention since it's release as a Windows Insider Preview, and much of the controversy has surrounded the ability to run it under systems without TPM 2.0 or with CPUs as little as 3 years old. All that aside, what about running it as a VM? Specifically, does it work fine under VMware vSphere, using the latest ESXi 7.0 Update 2a? Let's find out!
During this beta test phase, it seems Microsoft is pretty liberal about what is required when installing this in a VM. Thankfully, unlike when you try to install this on physical hardware like my Xeon D-1541 system, you don't even need to have TPM 2.0 and/or Secure Boot enabled for it to work in a VM. This may change once Windows 11 goes GA (Generally Avaialable).
This procedure has only been TinkerTry'd with VMware vSphere 7 VM, using this configuration:
Until a legitimate way to download the Windows 11 Insider Preview ISO comes along, this is the way I got my home lab to have a Windows 11 VM to kick the tires on.
To register for the Windows Insider Program, visit:
click Start, type "Insider" then the Windows Insider Program Settings page comes up
click "Go to Diagnostics & Feedback settings to turn on optional diagnostic data."
select "Optional diagnostic data", close the window
click Start, type "Insider", then the Windows Insider Program Settings page comes up
click the "Get-started" button
click "Link an account" to add your Microsoft account
select Dev Channel then close Window
click Start, type "Windows Update" and hit enter
click "Check for updates" button, you should see "Windows 11 Inside Preview" start to download and install automatically, with several reboots before it's ready
you're done with the installation, enjoy Windows 11!
The purpose of this blog post is to provide the guidance and the steps needed to configure and install a Windows 11 virtual machine with VMware vSphere 7.
With the Virtual Trusted Platform Module (vTPM) feature, you can add a TPM 2.0 virtual cryptoprocessor to a virtual machine.
A vTPM is a software-based representation of a physical Trusted Platform Module 2.0 chip. A vTPM acts as any other virtual device. You can add a vTPM to a virtual machine in the same way you add virtual CPUs, memory, disk controllers, or network controllers. A vTPM does not require a hardware Trusted Platform Module chip.
VMware vSphere 7.0 Update 2c was released on August 24 and isn't available for download on all 4 channels listed below quite yet, it's only on my.vmware.com so far. Don't worry, you can still get your lab updated to 7.0U2c now, read onward for details. I'll update this article accordingly once the new downloads of VCSA and ESXi 7.0U2c become available in the other channels too.
To get started with your lab testing, jump to the appropriate download section:
The main VMware download page with all the products to sift through is here, with guidance on what exact files to get from where detailed below! If you're still on 6.x and are more of a YouTube watcher/visual leaner and you want to see what the upgrades to 7.0 are like, here's the article featuring informal videos that should help build your confidence!
On Aug 24 2021, I noticed that ESXi 7.0U2c became available, so I began my lab testing using the ESXCLI upgrade method.
As always, be sure to update your VCSA first, here's my lab testing of that procedure using VAMI. Next, update your ESXi host(s) with the preferred Lifecycle Manager. Alternatively, use ESXCLI to upgrade which doesn't require VCSA, downloads and installs with one command, and doesn't require my.vmware.com credentials or software trials, or VCSA.
While I don't have video and/or a screenshot, at times I've also run into this error message. Error in method invocation [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/storage/core/software-update/updates/index' The directory does exist.
Some of these errors are mentioned in the VMware Communities post that was the basis for my eventual success with VAMI.
Despite this, my VCSA seems to work just fine once I managed to get the VAMI Update to work. I do have some other minor warnings in the vSphere Client that I might publish a video on if time permits, but those don't seem to have anything to do with how I updated. What surprised me was that my VCSA 7.0U2a instance was rebuilt from scratch under a month ago, so it was very nearly a fresh install. Thus, I found the errors surprising, but most went away by merely using vSphere Client to launch VAMI then clicking on Update, CHECK UPDATES, Check CD ROM, as pictured above.
Folks new to VMware sometimes get tripped up when trying to find the actual files they'll need to get started. Note that the fresh install full downloads do require you to use your MY VMware account, with free sign-up and 60 day trials, with information about potentially avoiding all that for existing vSphere 7.0 non-production labs here, which I've already tested!
If you are new to 7.x, you'll need new license keys and some preparation. If you have a vSphere 6.x license key in your lab that is working now, after the upgrade to 7.0, you'll be starting your 60 day trial, during which time you'll want to apply your license keys from any one of the 4 options listed below.
As always, you must do your homework including checking whether your VM backup solution supports vSphere 7 Update 2c yet. Likely that will take at least a month or two. Check with your backup vendor to be sure, for example, since there's been a few of these supposedly minor updates that have inadvertently broken backups, for example. As always, the focus of my articles is home or work lab testing, typically considered non-production environments.
Warning
Note, when 7.0 came out, folks noticed significant changes about the filesystem layout, and note there were warnings about using boot media that's less than 32GB in size:
Good thing the bootable media included with all SuperServer Bundles since 2016 have been 32GB.
You will find all kinds of details in these articles, including dependencies and warnings.
So if you're going forward with lab testing this anyway, but you don't have a VMware support, then you absolutely must back up everything first!
License keys for vSphere 7 are another topic for another day, but one place that you can get 365 days of them for nearly every product VMware makes is the VMUG Advantage EVALExperience program, using TINKERTRY to get $20 off your $200 purchase. Absolutely worth every penny!
Note, VCSA 6.7 was 3.41 GB, but vSphere 7.0 was 6.42 GB, and 7.0 Update 2c is 7.20 GB! Yes, there's a lot of increased functionality, and keeping perspective here, this is a heckuva lot smaller than installing Windows Server and SQL Server used to be. VCSA is now a Photon OS based slim Linux variant that only includes the code that's actually needed.
To get started with your lab testing, jump to the appropriate download section:
Note, as of Aug 26 2021, there is no ESXi 7.0U2c ISO download page yet, so for now, you can download and install the below 7.0U2a version, then use Lifecycle Manager or ESXCLI method to update it to 7.0U2c.
If you get a sad-trombone moment and are faced with an issue with accessing the downloads such as Your evaluation has expired
Consider requesting a new vSphere 7 trial here: my.vmware.com/en/web/vmware/evalcenter?p=vsphere-eval
As of Aug 26 2021, it seems 7.0 Update 2c hasn't made it onto the vExpert Download section yet, but these instructions for downloading 7.0 should be similar enough to help you get by once it does come out.
Log in to the download page at: vexpert.vmware.com/my/downloads
then search for 7.0.2 at top right to find all new vSphere related downloads, or just search for each of these file names below:
The VCSA 7 appliance download you'll want is VMware-VCSA-all-7.0.2-17920168.iso.gz, but Windows users will also need something like 7-zip to extract the iso from the fully-downloaded gz file.
The generic (non Dell or HP) ESXi download you'll likely want for most home labs is called VMware-VMvisor-Installer-7.0U2a-17867351.x86_64.iso.gzType "7.0.1" in the search box at top right, then "7.0U2", to more easily find the downloads you are seeking.
EVALExperience is just one of many benefits to the VMUG Advantage program, click the image to read about many others.
This is the VMUG Advantage download site for existing members, and here is the sign-up site, taking roughly one business day to process your payment and give you access to the downloads. Sorry weekend impulse tinkerers, next time, place your order on Thursday morning, OK?
The EVALExperience VCSA and ESXi 7.0 bits are now available for download using the direct link below. I've recorded this video of the ordering and downloading process on Apr 7 2020, once 7.0 Update 1 arrives on VMUG Advantage, the process will likely be quite similar. You don't have to wait, since you can also upgrade your VCSA 7.0 to 7.0U2c manually using VAMI then use the preferred Lifecycle Manager method of updating your ESXi hosts to 7.0U2c, or you can use the ESXCLI method of updating ESXi 7.0 to 7.0U2c.
Your existing membership is your only cost, there is no additional cost for downloading any of the code you find in your portal. You'll now see a confirmation screen with the 2 license keys that you'll need to use in your lab once your installation is completed during the 60 day trial.
You can copy your serial numbers from here to a secure repository for use later, then click the Download button.
Keys were provided in STEP 5 above, but they can easily be retrieved any time by going in to your VMUG Advantage Order History, then clicking on the View Details button.
License keys and a button to re-download at a later date.
Not having access to VMware vSphere's best features that vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) enables are pretty severe restrictions these days, here's a good article Nakivo wrote about the limitations in Free VMware ESXi 6.7. I know some just have one system, or multiple systems they're cool with managing via the ESXi Host Client.
What I have little sympathy for are folks trying to get away with using this free version for a production environment. I actually talked to a bank once who was doing exactly that. Sigh.
Xeon D-1500 series and Xeon D-2100 series testing underway.
Of course, I've already begun testing new Update 2 release briefly, and I do plan to do a more thorough test on my Xeon D-1500 8 and 12 core SuperServer Bundles.
I am still considering re-doing my popular How to build your awesome virtualization home lab with VMware vSphere 6.0 (ESXi & VCSA), especially now that I've found an insanely fast and affordable Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite that does the forward and reverse lookup and FQDN that VCSA loves, with lovely names instead of ugly IPs for everything, and no certificate errors. This router also avoids that clumsy hosts-file-editing stuff and kludgey router domain name hoops I resorted to jumping through last time around. Setting expectations properly, I need to disclose that finding the time and the support to undertake such a large effort is going to be a challenge. A lot has changed in vSphere in the 6 years since I created that video, and during that same time I've changed day jobs 3 times too. If you have a keen interest in seeing such a step-by-step networking and vSphere deployment walk through, please:
In September of 2018, credit freezes became free in the United States for Equifax, Experian, and Transunion. Credit locks often are not. The reasons why credit report reviews and freezes are a good idea are explained well by the FTC and Consumer Reports, with key excerpts below. The credit bureaus sell your data for marketing purposes, but by law they have to allow you to view your credit report and lock it from viewing by others. After that massive Equifax data breach in 2017, and the very recent T-Mobile data breach, it should be clear that there's no better time to take care of your identity than now.
This article is intended to help provide you with convenient links to lock your identity down, greatly reducing the likelihood of somebody being able to easily steal it.
DISCLAIMER - If you run into issues, please reach out to the problematic bureau directly. Your security is your responsibility. I make no claims of being a security expert, this article is merely a collection of links and resources that I originally pulled together to help my family.
After receiving yet another letter about a potential breach of a family member's data, I set out to renew my family's efforts to lock things down. While the URLs below may change over time, the basic process will likely stay the same for years to come. As an IT worker, also spurring me to write this article was WSJ's recent story about T-Mobile Hacker Who Stole Data on 50 Million Customers: ‘Their Security Is Awful’. At this point, I think most everybody in the US needs to assume they'll be breached, which greatly increases the odds of an identity theft.
For me to take care of these credit reviews and credit freezes with my wife, we spent about two hours in all. Part of that time was spent very carefully keep everything carefully organized in a trust-no-one encrypted password manager, and making sure I could log off and log back into each account without issue. Given it takes less than 5 minutes to actually make the request to unfreeze/thaw each of these 4 bureaus reports, and under an hour for those requests to take effect, I feel it's well worth the minor inconvenience of having to temporarily unfreeze/thaw do this when financing something or asking for credit will outweigh the horrors of a identity theft clean-up. In most cases, the duration of the unfreeze/thaw can be specfied, so I generally won't have to remember to log back in to re-freeze these.
Fraud alerts, credit monitoring, and credit repair are topics that are out of scope for this article. The focus here is on reducing the chance of a breach in the first place, without incurring monthly fees. As a reminder, you should also set a yearly calendar alert now, to remind you to check on your credit report on all 4 bureaus once a year, for free.
This is something you should do annually, and it can be done even if a credit freeze is in place. Be sure to review all of the information, to look for any inaccuracies that could very well affect your ability to receive credit that you apply for in the future.
If you're not able to remember to review your credit reports annually, you may want to instead sign up for a paid credit monitoring service.
Transunion free credit report requests link to the valid https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action site for pulling your free credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and Transunion, but I got errors when trying to pull my Experian reports this way. I suspect that was just a temporary issue, but just in case it's not, I've listed all 4 direct links separately.
Whether it's freezing or locking your credit that you choose, it's widely recommended that you do this at all four credit bureaus. Each of the first three have these basic steps in common:
Create an account using an email address and password
Create some security questions and answers
Verify the account using an SMS message
(while this method is far less secure than App based multi-factor authentication, it's all they offer)
Answer a barrage of financial and personal questions that only you would be likely to know, to help establish your identity
Now that you're identified and logged in, create a PIN number that only you know and make the freeze or lock request which only takes seconds.
Once you've created these accounts at each of these bureaus, you'll be getting several emails per week, so go ahead and unsubscribe to avoid most of the clutter in your inbox
The fourth up-and-comer bureau that you should include is Innovis, and they require a request form be filled out, then you get a confirmation email that simply states
Thank you for ordering your Innovis Credit Report. You can expect to receive your credit report in the mail within 7-10 business days.
Once frozen, unfreezing(thawing) will require you to provide your email, password, and lock/unlock PIN, and typically takes under 5 minutes to do, using these same links above.
This topic is related in that it's the credit bureaus that sell your information to allow for those unsolicited credit card and insurance offers. These pose a risk if intercepted in the mail, such as when you change addresses and the new tenant or owner gets some of your old mail. I've seen a family member affected by this sort of theft, and the clean-up wasn't exactly fun or easy.
How about avoiding the sale of your data, along with the wasteful junkmail along with it? This FTC article has all the details on how to go about doing this.
Listen to this segment of the podcast about cell phone carrier vulnerability to impersonation.
Since SMS is often your second factor in two-factor (MFA) logins for banking for example, you really don't want somebody to take your cell number from you. Locking your cell number's portability lower the chances of unauthorized callers from impersonating you and requesting your number be migrated to another carrier. If you do this lock from these web pages below, you won't need to install the respective carrier's app.
Free credit freezes and year-long fraud alerts are here, starting September 21st, thanks to a new federal law. Here’s what you should know:
Free credit freezes
Security freezes, also known as credit freezes, restrict access to your credit file, making it harder for identity thieves to open new accounts in your name. Starting September 21, 2018, you can freeze and unfreeze your credit file for free. You also can get a free freeze for your children who are under 16. And if you are someone’s guardian, conservator or have a valid power of attorney, you can get a free freeze for that person, too.
How will these freezes work? Contact all three of the nationwide credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. If you request a freeze online or by phone, the agency must place the freeze within one business day. If you request a lift of the freeze, the agency must lift it within one hour. If you make your request by mail, the agency must place or lift the freeze within three business days after it gets your request. You also can lift the freeze temporarily without a fee.
Don’t confuse freezes with locks. They work in a similar way, but locks may have monthly fees. If you want a free freeze guaranteed by federal law, then opt for a freeze, not a lock.
Credit locks and freezes are similar. They both prevent others from accessing your credit information, eliminating the possibility that a fraudster could open a new credit account in your name...
However, there are some important differences to keep in mind when deciding which tool to use. A credit freeze offers more stringent legal protections, making it the better option for consumers, according to Christina Tetreault, a staff attorney on the financial services team at Consumers Union, the advocacy division of Consumer Reports.
That PIN was effectively my entire proof of identity. They didn’t need eMail, nor for me to first respond through the previous phone (which I had already decommissioned) and if the phone was claimed to be dead, lost or stolen they still need to be able to move forward. So everything boils down to your account PIN. I simply provided the few digits of my PIN, which they confirmed matched the one they had on file, then I read off long strings of numbers (my new phone’s ICCID and IMEI) and just like that, my new phone was live — with my phone number.
Once a bad guy has taken over your phone number, your actual phone will lose service. That’s
your first clue that life is about to become much more complicated... and not in a good way.
Tesla makes EVs that are fun. Crazy fun. On regular roads, accelerating to the speed limit effortlessly and quietly without any of that attention-getting tire screech almost feels illegal. This fun factor is a big part of the reason that over a million of the more-affordable Model 3s have been sold already, right up there with the top safety and Superchargers.
Click/tap to listen.
Tesla could have gone with merely matching the specs of existing compact sedans. But wisely, Tesla went further. Much further, including building out the required charging infrastructure to make it practical as a daily driver. I think Ian Pavelko captures this quite well in the recent Tesla Owners Online Podcast Episode 108 - European Electric Cannonball at this spot:
they could have built an electric Accord or an electric Toyota Camry and it would have suited the job for most of the population perfectly, but they didn't, they smashed it out of the park, they built one of the most fun sedans at any price point. ($39.9K to $56.9K)
This post and the accompanying video are not sponsored content. All items used in the production of this stable and smooth 4K 60 frames-per-second video were purchased. Some of the links in the equipment list below are income-earning affiliate links.
The thing is, I couldn't really learn about what a Tesla is really capable of unless I had a taste of it on the track. Our 2018 Tesla Model 3 Long Range AWD is incredibly sure-footed on all surfaces in nearly any condition. It quickly gained my trust it's ability to stay safe and stay in control. Take a look at this video clip to see what I mean.
So a track provides an optimal environment to up the fun factor even further: no other cars, animals, or meatbag humans around. Only a pace car to follow at a safe distance.
Our car is not a race car, and it's my daily-driver in all seasons. I'm not a professional driver. Is it safe to go fast? Given how wide this track is and how incredibly poorly I'd have to drive to somehow lose control here, I'd say yes. Quite safe. Of course I checked my tire pressure of my 186 mph rated tires before setting out, as a blowout would pose the biggest danger to me, and my precious passenger, my dad.
using tes-LAX app to see my OBD readings right at the completion of these 5 laps, my battery pack's temperature indicated a mere 121°F, a full 10 degrees less than during Supercharging. Hardly a big deal.
Like many drivers, I needed to convince my skeptical and concerned significant other that I wouldn't endanger myself or anybody else, nor our car. This includes assurances I wouldn't be prematurely wearing the brakes, tires, motors, or main battery. Given the wide gentle curves, and plenty of room to brake fairly gently from high speeds, the oval track made more sense than the curvy road course.
When the opportunity to test on the track came up recently, arranged by the nascent Tesla Owners Club of (Eastern) New England, I jumped at the chance and registered. Dave and Mark helped make this fun weekend activity happen, a mere 3-hour drive away at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, NH. What better excuse to hang out with my dad than this, even better that 100% of my $100 for 6 VIP laps went to New Hampshire Chapter of Speedway Children's Charity!
Having flown in a glider that sustained 3G of force, I was actually skeptical about whether the 6 minutes of fun would be worth the 3-hours-each-way drive. Would it be fun enough for my dad and I to justify the drive? The answer will be pretty evident by the time you're done enjoying the 10 minute video I put together for you below.
Why did I go with the VIP option, and not just $40 for laps with several other cars? In the video, you'll see exactly why I needed to have no other cars around, keeping things even safer. This was also my chance to safely test out 0-60 and 0-100 mph acceleration measured on two GoPro cameras and my Dragy, in a controlled manner.
Click/tap to view source article by Jade Nelson at MotorTrend.
Speeds above 80 were only momentary, and braking was only for a few seconds for each lap, although a little harder than normal driving of course. These 10 laps were far easier on the car than I thought it would be. Simply no big deal. Good clean fun.
The thrill of seeing the joy my dad experienced turned out to be the surprise delight of this beautiful day, which was already super-fun anyway. How was seeing my mom and dad smile the next day as I showed them footage on their TV? Priceless.
Special thanks go out to the wonderful staff at New Hampshire Motor Speedway including Danielle and Mike. What fun it was to chat with both of you!
TechSmith Camtasia 2021 Video editor handles 4K/60fps, uses proxy files for better playback.
Telemetry Overlay Uses GPS telemetry data embedded in GoPro footage to create overlays. I was offered pre-release version 1.2.4 by the author, and I paid for full license.
tes•LAX - CAN Bus Explorer An app that displays realtime telemetry gathered from my OBDLink MX+ via Bluetooth.
Carl Braren & Paul Braren, Leadership Team Member of EV Club of Connecticut, member of Tesla Owners Connecticut and Tesla Owners [Eastern] New EnglandDavid, Co-Leader of Tesla Owners [Eastern] New EnglandMark Gabryjelski, Co-Leader of Tesla Owners [Eastern] New EnglandFrom left-to-right, Dave, Mark, Mark's Mom, and other members of Tesla Owners [Eastern] New England
This article captures the fun of driving up and down Mount Washington in my EV, with my short, fun 4K video below. Now imagine how effortless, quiet, and smell-free it will be to climb up steep grades in your EV pickup, even when towing!
Like sitting in the first car of a roller coaster, you have fewer reference points around you and a better view of the world coming at you. Rather than sitting in a midsize sedan, the view out is more akin to sitting in a McLaren even if the seating position isn't. Combine this with a low center of gravity and linear, zero-lag acceleration, and the Model 3 feels faster than it is every time you punch the accelerator or turn the steering wheel.
Free Supercharging:If you find this article of value and decide to order a Tesla, please consider using thists.la/paul68544referral link when placing your order so you and I both get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging. If you order Solar, it's a $250 award after system activation.
Disclosure:My family owns no stock in Tesla. Tesla doesn't advertise at TinkerTry, or anywhere else, and this is not a sponsored post. We financed the purchase of two Tesla Model 3s, replacing my 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid in December of 2018 and replacing my wife's 2005 Honda Civic EX in December of 2019. These big moves to an all electric household were an expression of our mutual desire to go green, avoid gasoline, be safe, have fun, and save money in the long run. Mostly for my job, I drive a lot, 25,000 miles in 2019 for example, and I thoroughly enjoy sharing what I've learned with you. I hope you can tell!
Fair to say I've done a fair bit of traveling and charging, both at home and on the go. Level 1/2 charging at 50 locations, and 102 Supercharges at 61 locations.
There may have been more hot takes than anybody could handle in this one, so the TBP crew split it in two! Show notes on both appear below.
I had the chance to enjoy my fourth appearance on this fun and informative podcast, you can play these 2 episodes in the embedded player below.
209: Sep 20 2021 - Tyler - Russ - Paul - Part 1: The News210: Sep 20 2021 - Tyler - Russ - Paul - Part 2: EV’s & Law Enforcement
Recorded in one shot on Friday September 17th, but hopefully these show notes will help. Sorry about some technical difficulties experienced with sound using Telemgram for Windows, this was my first time using it for a live session.
As an alternative to the players above, you'll have speed controls using the player at right. Even better, use your favorite podcast app, such as Overcast which lets you keep your hands on the wheel and attention on the road, using now-common steering wheel controls to skip back / skip ahead withing the episode, rather than the default of jumping to the previous/next episode.
The recent fun I had with my stock Tesla Model 3 was recorded in 4K 60 frames-per-second, hopefully you'll enjoy the second most difficult video to produce and edit that I've ever done.
I've taken memories of the podcast recording to pull together the portions where we talked about tech stuff I've written about, followed by a long conversation about EVs.
When talking about how we have little control over how our data is used in law enforcement, I also brought up my recently published high value, low readership article about how our data is used by credit bureaus, and what can be done to help:
We started talking about the grid's preparedness as well as charging options for the home. I had the fortune of meeting Chris Nelder and giving him a safe, electric ride to the airport. He just so happens to be quite the legend in the green energy world who also worked as a consultant on such matters as grid preparedness, and I've been listening to his super-brainy podcast ever since, the Energy Transition Show, which bends my brain in new directions and gives me hope now that coal is more costly than solar or wind.
Tyler asked about my thoughts on Lucid Air, I only gave cosmetic feedback, but for folks seeking the ultimate in range, it looks to be a top choice right now. Once Tesla gets their 4680 cells going, I suspect they'll exceed Lucid on range though.
In summary, partly as an active member of the EV Club of Connecticut leadership team helping out with their new @EVClubCT and YouTube Channel, I've had early access to EVs this year, check out my pics/video of:
Russ expressed his frustration that we don't just have one global standard, I'm with you Russ, see what I wrote here:
It's amazing that a place where CCS is used for all EVs exists, it's called Europe. Maybe someday the US will have a more uniform infrastructure, one can always hope.
Click/tap to view video.
Here's a bit about why it's complex, and how it's evolved, and now, Tesla is opening up its vast Supercharging infrastructure to other EVs that can also DC fast charge, which is pretty much every EV sold in the US today. More details here, and more about the complex history of charging connectors on Inside EVs here.
Meanwhile, here's my solution for thin, light, and easy to plug in residential garage charging using the cable my wife's Model 3 Standard Range+ came with, without getting grimy winter road salt or dirt all over her hands:
If you had a 2013 Ford F-150 that could go over 400 miles on a tank, and you needed to drive somewhere that is 300 miles away, would you stop and get gas on the way?
Tyler and I answered no, Russ said yes. This has me thinking that range anxiety will be very real for Russ, who drives frequently, and really needs charging in Lubbock TX badly.
I was asked/stumped by @RCantw3ll on @Tech4Breakfast podcast today.
I promised Russ to introduce him to EV charging reviewer Tom Moloughney, done! See tweet at right.
2013 Ford F-150 that can go 400 miles on a tank
Russ asked, if I needed to drive somewhere 300 miles away, would I stop and get gas? Paul & Tyler no, Russ yes.
Free Supercharging:If you find this article of value and decide to order a Tesla, please consider using thists.la/paul68544referral link when placing your order so you and I both get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging, and a quarterly chance to win a Model Y or Roadster supercar. If you order Solar, I'd get $400 and you get a $100 after system activation.
Disclosure:My family owns no stock in Tesla. Tesla doesn't advertise at TinkerTry, or anywhere else, and this is not a sponsored post. We financed the purchase of two Tesla Model 3s, replacing my 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid in December of 2018 and replacing my wife's 2005 Honda Civic EX in December of 2019. These big moves to an all electric household were an expression of our mutual desire to go green, avoid gasoline, be safe, have fun, and save money in the long run. Mostly for my job, I drive a lot, 25,000 miles in 2019 for example, and I thoroughly enjoy sharing what I've learned with you. I hope you can tell!
Click/tap twice to zoom all the way in. Fair to say I've done a fair bit of traveling and charging, both at home and on the go. Level 1/2 charging at 50 locations, and 102 Supercharges at 61 locations.
VMware vSphere 7.0 Update 3 video was released on Sep 28, 2021, as was the blog post vSphere 7 Update 3 - What's New. While there's no generally available release date announced yet, you can refer to the many new blog posts showing up today at core.vmware.com/blog, including the always-wonderful vSpeaking podcast, in this launch-day special episode What's New in vSAN 7 Update 3.
You don't have to wait until 7.0 Update 3 becomes GA, you can still get your lab updated to the very latest 7.0U2d now, see (VCSA and ESXi) updates and also this TinkerTry article for manual download details.
Don't forget to Register now for next-week's VMworld 2021 here, I'll be there!
What's new & changed in vSphere 7 Update 3? Join us as we walk through the major highlights of the best release of vSphere yet. Improvements to vSphere with Tanzu & Kubernetes capabilities, networking, AI & ML workload support, persistent memory, storage, the vSphere Client, timekeeping, and more.
vSphere 7 Update 3 is the ultimate update release to vSphere 7, making it the best vSphere ever. With every update there are hundreds of changes and improvements to add features, fix issues, improve user experience, and increase compatibility. We are announcing it today, and the software itself will be available soon.
Let’s go over the highlights!
So what are we doing about it? We are deprecating use of SD and USB drives as boot media. It’ll give you a warning that the boot volume is in a “degraded” mode because we’re doing things on the back end to help limit the writes to the device.
The above excerpts are just a tease, you really need to read the whole article, here's a peek at the ending:
Wrap-Up
vSphere has a YouTube channel! Come see the stuff we put out. If you subscribe you’ll get notified when our live streams start and new videos are posted. We do a monthly stream called “vSphere LIVE” where we talk about different things, and have experts answer questions right then. It’s fun and informative!
VMware runs a security advisory mailing list that we urge everyone to sign up for. That list is ONLY for security advisories, so that organizations can get a head start on protecting themselves if something comes up.
As always, we appreciate you as a customer. Thank you for the feedback and engagement. Please keep letting us know how we can improve vSphere for you. We hope you’re safe and healthy. Take care!
Skyline health check correlation for vSAN
The Skyline health checks for a vSAN cluster is an impressive list of detailed health checks to catch the most common issues such as misconfigurations and failures. New to vSAN 7 U3 is the ability to understand the relationship of one health check to another for fast and effective troubleshooting. Understanding relationships of multiple triggered health checks will allow one to address the root cause more quickly, which may correct most or all of the triggered alerts. The functionality is available via API as well, so it can be used in solutions such as vRealize Operations.
vSphere ESXi Boot Disk
A USB flash drive or SATADOM or local SSD can be chosen as the install image for ESXi, the vSphere hypervisor, which then boots from the flash device.
This usage model has been supported since vSphere 3.5 for USB flash devices and vSphere 4.0 for SCSI/SATA connected devices.
Installation to SATA and SCSI connected SSD, SATADOM and flash devices creates a full install image which includes a logging partition (see below) whereas installation to a USB device creates a boot disk image without a logging partition.
VMware Support Policy
In general, if the SSD’s host controller interface is supported by a certified IOVP driver, then the SSD drive is supported for ESXi provided that the media meets the endurance requirements above. Therefore, there are no specific vSphere restrictions against SATADOM and M.2 provided, again, that they adhere to the endurance requirements set forth in Table 1 above. For USB storage devices (such as flash drives, SD cards plus readers, and external disks of any kind) the drive vendor must work directly with system manufacturers to ensure that the drives are supported for these systems. USB flash devices and SD cards plus readers are qualified pairwise with USB host controllers and it is possible for a device to fail certification with one host controller but pass with another. VMware strictly recommends that customers who do not have a preinstalled system either obtain a USB flash drive directly from their OEM vendor or purchase a model that has been certified for use with their server.
vSphere Flash Device Support on The Cloud Platform Tech Zone This seems to contain the same exact information as KB 2145210 listed above, but I recommend you double-check both to see which has the more recently updated content.
