In my former test environment I was running a few
HP D530 desktop’s. Those machines were perfectly compatible with ESX 3.5U2. I’m now participating in the ESX.Next beta and the D530 desktops can’t run ESX.Next because the D530’s CPU is 32 bits. I had to find an alternate machine. This new machine must contain a compatible motherboard with a supported SATA controller and NIC. I’ve tried the HP7700 but the SATA controller and NIC aren’t detected. Finally I tried a three year old desktop (Fujitsu Siemens Scaleo P) that was getting a cold in my garage. My Fujitsu Siemens (ASUS) A8NE-FM with a dual core AMD Athlon processor functions perfectly (out of the box). This machine contains a CK804 Serial ATA Controller connected to a SAMSUNG_HD501LJ Local ATA Disk. The only downside is the nVidia NForce Netrwork Controller with a maximum speed of 100 Mb. Btw ESX.Next is running in WS 6.5 but you can’t start a virtual machine. WS 6.5.1 is ESX.Next compatible.