Want to build a server-like machine ....

[Zargon]

I have a 890 amd board thats listed as marginaly compatible, because the storage controller isnt, but I got around it by getting an old PERC card on ebay.

the LSI cards are pretty nice for the $$$

 

[Agent11]

yea you can get a perc card with sas/sata6gbs for like $70 on ebay, only draw back of the perc is it is slow in JBOD mode(slower than spec), but performs well in raid.

Edit: it is compatable with Vmware ESX 5.0 U1

Scroll down to the very bottom, the H8SGL is the one on the far left.

Note that there are other models that are compatible with Vmware ESX 5.1, that may be worth looking into although newegg does not seem to carry them.

Also worth consideration

Supermicro X9DRL-3F socket 2011 Vmware ESX 5

This open box is actually really tempting if I didn't have too many projects going already I would snag it myself. It's a 2 socket motherboard though, so the free *hypervisor license issue applies. Nice deal on a very nice board.

 

[Phaetos]

I think it is most likely a matter of being slow to validate motherboards. You could give supermicro a ring before you buy it though to make sure.

Sent them an email ...

 

[Phaetos]

yea you can get a perc card with sas/sata6gbs for like $70 on ebay, only draw back of the perc is it is slow in JBOD mode(slower than spec), but performs well in raid.

Edit: it is compatable with Vmware ESX 5.0 U1

Scroll down to the very bottom, the H8SGL is the one on the far left.

Note that there are other models that are compatible with Vmware ESX 5.1, that may be worth looking into although newegg does not seem to carry them.

Also worth consideration

Supermicro X9DRL-3F socket 2011 Vmware ESX 5

This open box is actually really tempting if I didn't have too many projects going already I would snag it myself. It's a 2 socket motherboard though, so the free vmware license issue applies. Nice deal on a very nice board.

Ok, the newegg lists it as a -O, didn't know if that was different than the -F that is on that list or not.

What license issue is that?

Edit: http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere-hypervisor/gettingstarted.html Only thing I see here is a 32GB RAM limit. Am I missing something else?

 

[Phaetos]

Just thought of something else I will need. A gig switch, probably more than 8 ports, my little Cisco wireless router is full already.

 

[Agent11]

Meant to say hypervisor :/ But now that I dig a bit hypervisor doesn't seem to have any limit on cpu's either. I think mfenn was mistaken.

SUPERMICRO MBD-H8SGL-F-O note that newegg seems to list the model differently than supermicro does. When you click the link for manufacturers product page it goes to H8SGL-F

The -F is slightly more expensive, but it isn't much. H8SGL-O So you would probably want the -F one.

What features do you need? This switch has everything but PoE, something with more gig ports and all the bells and whistles can get really expensive.

NETGEAR 16 Port Gigabit Smart Switch w/ 2 Combo ports - Lifetime Warranty (GS716T)

May be worth checking ebay for one.

 

[Phaetos]

Meant to say hypervisor :/ But now that I dig a bit hypervisor doesn't seem to have any limit on cpu's either. I think mfenn was mistaken.

SUPERMICRO MBD-H8SGL-F-O note that newegg seems to list the model differently than supermicro does. When you click the link for manufacturers product page it goes to H8SGL-F

The -F is slightly more expensive, but it isn't much. H8SGL-O So you would probably want the -F one.

What features do you need? This switch has everything but PoE, something with more gig ports and all the bells and whistles can get really expensive.

NETGEAR 16 Port Gigabit Smart Switch w/ 2 Combo ports - Lifetime Warranty (GS716T)

May be worth checking ebay for one.

That's a nice little switch, but more than I need. I have no need for GBIC's.

Edit: Now I'm confused on the mobo's. I couldn't find a difference.

Edit2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...9SIA29J0S46228 that switch should do ....

or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127464

 

[Agent11]

MBD-H8SGL-F-O
Support for Intelligent Platform Management Interface v.2.0
IPMI 2.0 with virtual media over LAN and KVM over LAN support
Vmware ESX 5.0 U1


MBD-H8SGL-O

 

[Phaetos]

MBD-H8SGL-F-O
Support for Intelligent Platform Management Interface v.2.0
IPMI 2.0 with virtual media over LAN and KVM over LAN support
Vmware ESX 5.0 U1


MBD-H8SGL-O

Ahh ... thanks. Probably will get the -F anyway.

 

[mfenn]

What license issue is that?

Edit: http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere-hypervisor/gettingstarted.html Only thing I see here is a 32GB RAM limit. Am I missing something else?

Meant to say hypervisor :/ But now that I dig a bit hypervisor doesn't seem to have any limit on cpu's either. I think mfenn was mistaken.

Hmm, you're right. I guess they loosened that up for 5.1. :thumbsup: Mine says:

"Product: VMware vSphere 5 Hypervisor Licensed for 1 physical CPUs (unlimited cores per CPU)"

 

[mfenn]

Regarding storage, you will want something with a hardware RAID controller if you want RAID at all (not strictly necessary for a lab machine). VMware does not support software RAID or mobo FakeRAID.

SuperMicro sells motherboards with LSI controllers onboard, but they're expensive. You'd be better off getting a used Dell PERC (rebranded LSI) card on ebay. Here's a search for PERC H200's.

 

[Phaetos]

New question ...

Does the processor come with a fan unit, or do I need an aftermarket one?

 

[Phaetos]

Regarding storage, you will want something with a hardware RAID controller if you want RAID at all (not strictly necessary for a lab machine). VMware does not support software RAID or mobo FakeRAID.

SuperMicro sells motherboards with LSI controllers onboard, but they're expensive. You'd be better off getting a used Dell PERC (rebranded LSI) card on ebay. Here's a search for PERC H200's.

Good suggestion, but I'm not doing RAID at this point.

 

[Phaetos]

next question ....

Why the separate power supply and not a case with PS? It seems to cost less for a case w/ PS, over buying a case and PS separate.

 

[Agent11]

Well, the quality of the power supply would be in question then, unless it was from a reputable manufacturer with detailed specs that you could look at.
The total on the psu+case I linked was $80, cheaper than that I would be skeptical of quality.

 

[Phaetos]

Well, the quality of the power supply would be in question then, unless it was from a reputable manufacturer with detailed specs that you could look at.
The total on the psu+case I linked was $80, cheaper than that I would be skeptical of quality.

Fair assessment. I'll go with it then.

 

[Phaetos]

Thanks to Agent and mfenn for the help is determining what would be the ideal solution to what I am trying to accomplish. Good people.

 

[Chapbass]

Just to verify here:

You're doing this with the intention of going for certs on the client side of things, right? NOT going for your VCP?

If you're going for your VCP then you could look into multiple smaller hosts (to test things like HA/FT/DRS/etc) but if its all MS stuff then it wont matter.

 

[Phaetos]

Just to verify here:

You're doing this with the intention of going for certs on the client side of things, right? NOT going for your VCP?

If you're going for your VCP then you could look into multiple smaller hosts (to test things like HA/FT/DRS/etc) but if its all MS stuff then it wont matter.

No VCP at this point.

 

[imagoon]

425470 	INTEL BOX INTEL CORE I5-3570K	1 	189.99 	189.99
428847 	CORSAIR 600W CX2 ATX PSU	1 	72.99 	72.99
505321 	CORSAIR 32GB 4X8 D3 1600DIMM CL10	1 	214.99 	214.99
	Match Competitor			
531822 	KINGWIN 120X25MM BB CASE FAN BLK	1 	4.99 	4.99
531822 	KINGWIN 120X25MM BB CASE FAN BLK	1 	4.99 	4.99
531822 	KINGWIN 120X25MM BB CASE FAN BLK	1 	4.99 	4.99
391599 	ASROCK Z77 PRO4-M 1155 MATX	1 	59.99 	59.99
				
257022 	ANTEC THREE HUNDRED TWO ATX CAS	1 	64.99 	64.99
 Subtotal »
	617.92
Tax » 	47.89
  	
 Sale Total » 	$665.81
  	
MasterCard (XXXXXXXX) »	$665.81

My exact setup currently running 3 exchange servers in DAG, AD, DHCP, DNS, file server and running a plex server.

Add in HDD's (I already had them) and you are golden. You can also update it a bit now since it is slightly dated at the moment. no performance issues unless I RAM starve exchange.

-edit-

Also dont bother with an SSD for the OS. If you are going to drop some coin on them, use them for the VM's. ESXi can boot from a memory stick (I use a 2GB chip) so doesn't gain anything from it unless you use a fake license and use SSD caching.

Also the people talking about thread counts and the like... you don't need to care for a lab. 32GB of RAM is going to RAM starve the VM's far far before CPU is going to be the issue. Even with all the machines running I barely keep the CPU above 25% on a busy day.

 

[Phaetos]

425470 	INTEL BOX INTEL CORE I5-3570K	1 	189.99 	189.99
428847 	CORSAIR 600W CX2 ATX PSU	1 	72.99 	72.99
505321 	CORSAIR 32GB 4X8 D3 1600DIMM CL10	1 	214.99 	214.99
	Match Competitor			
531822 	KINGWIN 120X25MM BB CASE FAN BLK	1 	4.99 	4.99
531822 	KINGWIN 120X25MM BB CASE FAN BLK	1 	4.99 	4.99
531822 	KINGWIN 120X25MM BB CASE FAN BLK	1 	4.99 	4.99
391599 	ASROCK Z77 PRO4-M 1155 MATX	1 	59.99 	59.99
				
257022 	ANTEC THREE HUNDRED TWO ATX CAS	1 	64.99 	64.99
 Subtotal »
	617.92
Tax » 	47.89
  	
 Sale Total » 	$665.81
  	
MasterCard (XXXXXXXX) »	$665.81

My exact setup currently running 3 exchange servers in DAG, AD, DHCP, DNS, file server and running a plex server.

Add in HDD's (I already had them) and you are golden. You can also update it a bit now since it is slightly dated at the moment. no performance issues unless I RAM starve exchange.

-edit-

Also dont bother with an SSD for the OS. If you are going to drop some coin on them, use them for the VM's. ESXi can boot from a memory stick (I use a 2GB chip) so doesn't gain anything from it unless you use a fake license and use SSD caching.

Also the people talking about thread counts and the like... you don't need to care for a lab. 32GB of RAM is going to RAM starve the VM's far far before CPU is going to be the issue. Even with all the machines running I barely keep the CPU above 25% on a busy day.

Interesting ... I did see on the new servers we got here, they came with built-in 2GB SD cards that we loaded ESXi on. Really didn't seem to boot any faster compared to running off a HD.

So what would you recommend for HD's then?

 

[imagoon]

Interesting ... I did see on the new servers we got here, they came with built-in 2GB SD cards that we loaded ESXi on. Really didn't seem to boot any faster compared to running off a HD.

So what would you recommend for HD's then?

Booting from a USB stick isn't about the speed, it is about not wasting storage on the ESXi OS which is only about 1GB.

I run several older 1TB WD Blacks mostly for VMs and several 2TB WD Reds for mass storage that is attached to my file server that is running inside it.

 

[Phaetos]

Gotcha. So one drive to hold the VM's, and other drive(s) to handle data duties.

 

[imagoon]

Gotcha. So one drive to hold the VM's, and other drive(s) to handle data duties.

Yeah for myself at least. Your needs might be a bit different of course. I would recommend 7200RPM drives if you can swing it because they do help with disk IO. RAM/Disk IO are going to be your main issues in most labs. CPU's now a days typically have no issues coping with several VMs running at once. Even my work ESXi cluster isn't CPU bound.

 

[Phaetos]

Ok, looks like I will tweak the HD's a bit then.