--- title: "Homelab Network Upgrade: DACs, 40Gb/s vMotion & pfSense" description: "I have retired the WatchGuard Devices with the migration to PFSense running bare-metal in one of the Supermicro Nodes." date: 2022-01-06T19:25:40+00:00 modified: 2026-05-31T11:36:27+00:00 author: James Kilby categories: - Homelab - Networking - VCF - VMware - Storage - Synology - Ansible - Automation - Docker - Traefik - Artificial Intelligence - Hosting - Runecast tags: - #Homelab - #Networking url: https://jameskilby.co.uk/2022/01/lab-update-part-3-network/ image: https://jameskilby.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/ChatGPT-Image-Dec-17-2025-at-09_03_10-PM.png --- [Homelab](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/homelab/) | [Networking](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/networking/) # Homelab Network Upgrade: DACs, 40Gb/s vMotion & pfSense By[James](https://jameskilby.co.uk) January 6, 2022 · Updated May 31, 2026 • 📖1 min read(113 words) 📅**Published:** January 06, 2022•**Updated:** May 31, 2026 I have retired the WatchGuard Devices with the migration to PFSense running bare-metal in one of the Supermicro Nodes. I will likely virtualise this in the future. In terms of network/switching I have moved to an intermediate step here. vMotion and Storage are running over DAC’s while VMware management and VM traffic is still over 1Gb/s networking. This is working incredibly well. Due to the onboard network cards I am able to vMotion at 40Gb/s which for a home lab is game-changing. Storage is currently over 25Gb/s and the long-term plan is to get a 25Gb/s switch. The contenders at the moment are a Used Dell enterprise switch or possibly a QNAP box. ## 📚 Related Posts * [Home Network Upgrade to 25Gb/s with MikroTik Switching](https://jameskilby.co.uk/2024/09/home-network-upgrade/) * [MikroTik CRS504 Review: 100Gb/s Networking in My Homelab](https://jameskilby.co.uk/2022/12/100gb-s-in-my-homelab-sort-of/) * [Automated VCF 9 Offline Depot](https://jameskilby.co.uk/2026/04/automated-vcf-9-offline-depot/) ## Similar Posts * [ ![VMware Holodeck on Older CPUs: Fixing Compatibility Issues](https://jameskilby.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/40oOd8IipPvtrPJs-1198788743-768x737.jpg) ](https://jameskilby.co.uk/2024/01/holodeck-cpu-fixes/) [VCF](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/vmware/vcf/) | [VMware](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/vmware/) ### [VMware Holodeck on Older CPUs: Fixing Compatibility Issues](https://jameskilby.co.uk/2024/01/holodeck-cpu-fixes/) By[James](https://jameskilby.co.uk) January 18, 2024 · Updated June 1, 2026 How to deploy Holodeck with Legacy CPU’s * [ ![Homelab SSD Failure: How Synology RAID Saved My Data](https://jameskilby.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/BrokenHardDive-1200x630-1-768x403.jpg) ](https://jameskilby.co.uk/2022/11/homelab-bad-days-almost/) [Homelab](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/homelab/) | [Storage](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/storage/) | [Synology](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/synology/) ### [Homelab SSD Failure: How Synology RAID Saved My Data](https://jameskilby.co.uk/2022/11/homelab-bad-days-almost/) By[James](https://jameskilby.co.uk) November 21, 2022 · Updated June 1, 2026 I recently spent 3 weeks in Ireland with my wife Wendy and our son Nate. * [ ![Automated VCF 9 Offline Depot architecture diagram showing Traefik reverse proxy and Nginx file server stack](https://jameskilby.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/offlinedepot.png) ](https://jameskilby.co.uk/2026/04/automated-vcf-9-offline-depot/) [Ansible](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/ansible/) | [Automation](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/automation/) | [Docker](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/docker/) | [Homelab](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/homelab/) | [Traefik](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/traefik/) | [VCF](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/vmware/vcf/) | [VMware](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/vmware/) ### [Automated VCF 9 Offline Depot](https://jameskilby.co.uk/2026/04/automated-vcf-9-offline-depot/) By[James](https://jameskilby.co.uk) April 10, 2026 · Updated June 1, 2026 One Bash script turns a fresh Ubuntu VM into a VCF 9 Offline Depot: Traefik, Nginx, basic auth, and Let’s Encrypt wildcard certs via Cloudflare DNS. * [ ![How I Migrated from Pocket to Hoarder with AI Integration](https://jameskilby.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Screenshot-2025-01-29-at-23.30.47-768x411.png) ](https://jameskilby.co.uk/2025/01/how-i-migrated-from-pocket-to-hoarder-and-introduced-some-ai-along-the-way/) [Artificial Intelligence](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/artificial-intelligence/) | [Docker](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/docker/) | [Hosting](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/hosting/) ### [How I Migrated from Pocket to Hoarder with AI Integration](https://jameskilby.co.uk/2025/01/how-i-migrated-from-pocket-to-hoarder-and-introduced-some-ai-along-the-way/) By[James](https://jameskilby.co.uk) January 29, 2025 · Updated June 5, 2026 Update: Hoarder has now been renamed to Karakeep due to a trademark issue I’ve been on a mission recently to regain control of my data. * [ ![Runecast Remediation Scripts: Auto-Fix VMware Storage Issues](https://jameskilby.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Runecast-Solutions-Ltd.png) ](https://jameskilby.co.uk/2023/05/runecast-remediation-scripts/) [Runecast](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/runecast/) | [VMware](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/vmware/) ### [Runecast Remediation Scripts: Auto-Fix VMware Storage Issues](https://jameskilby.co.uk/2023/05/runecast-remediation-scripts/) By[James](https://jameskilby.co.uk) May 16, 2023 · Updated June 1, 2026 I am a huge fan of the Runecast product and luckily as a vExpert they give out NFR licences for my lab. * [ ![TrueNAS Logo](https://jameskilby.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Screenshot-2023-05-22-at-18.49.21-768x198.png) ](https://jameskilby.co.uk/2023/05/homelab-storage-refresh-part-1/) [Homelab](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/homelab/) | [Storage](https://jameskilby.co.uk/category/storage/) ### [Homelab Storage Refresh (Part 1)](https://jameskilby.co.uk/2023/05/homelab-storage-refresh-part-1/) By[James](https://jameskilby.co.uk) May 23, 2023 · Updated June 1, 2026 Table of Contents Background ZFS Overview Read Cache (ARC and L2ARC) ZIL (ZFS Intent Log) Hardware Background I have just completed the move of all my production and media-based storage/services to TrueNAS Scale. 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