vSphere/AD/SoHO Network Server ~ $500ish

[IrishGoodbye]

Hey All,

As the title says, I'm looking for a home server with some pop. I want to host a good amount of VMs, and do some networking and personal testing. It should have solid RAM and at least 3 NICs. I'm not going to use a SAN. My friend recommended the pic (additional NIC not shown). It can be either a blade server or a regular desktop server. Please let me know if you have any strong builds ideally around $500.

Thanks!

 

[saratoga172]

I just built a vm box not too long ago. For the $500 range I would suggest amd. Something like their fx8320 is a great option and about $50 cheaper than the i5 you chose. It's also a true 8 core system rather than the quad you picked. You can also pair a mobo with it that costs about $70-80. That'll bring your savings to about $80 between proc and mobo.

Hard drives look pretty good. You'll want to raid 5 them or use the savings and get a 4th to raid 10 them. You could also look at swapping them out for a couple velociraptor drives...non raid on that setup though.

I would say you probably don't need the ssd in there since with a vm box you'll likely have the system up and running most of the time.

Also I'd search for cheaper ram. Don't need extreme performance in the ram. Something mid range and lots of it. 16 is good or 32 if you can swing it. The 32 will shine with an 8 core proc.

Just a couple suggestions. I can post more specifics for the build I did a couple months ago if you're interested later.

 

[imagoon]

The AMD box is also less power efficent and and in certain VM instances slower so take that as you will.

If you have a Microcenter around you can pickup the i5-3570k + Asrock board.

425470 	INTEL BOX INTEL CORE I5-3570K	1 	189.99 	189.99
297325 	CORSAIR 16GB 2X8 1600 D3 DIMM C10	1 	119.99 	119.99
391599 	ASROCK Z77 PRO4-M 1155 MATX	1 	69.99 	69.99
940791 	CORSAIR CX 600W 80+ BRNZ ATX PSU	1 	64.99 	64.99

Granted I brought in my drives. 3 x 2TB WD RED drives are doing fine in it so far but that might be larger than you are looking at if this is not for "NAS" use also. Adding a NIC can be done via a PCIe add in.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

If you're using this for VMWare testing, you need to be following their HCL (Hardware Compatibility List) to the letter, or you're in for disappointment.

You'll get a lot more bang for your buck by buying an old used X5500 series Xeon based Server from HP or Dell via Ebay, and get something you know will work.

 

[imagoon]

If you're using this for VMWare testing, you need to be following their HCL (Hardware Compatibility List) to the letter, or you're in for disappointment.

You'll get a lot more bang for your buck by buying an old used X5500 series Xeon based Server from HP or Dell via Ebay, and get something you know will work.

Only if you want support. What I listed worked out of the box and is fine for a home lab.