Need help to build virtualization lab

jibbajabba

Check out the T5500 as well

Shdwmage

This is what i bought. It's been a good machine to build labs on. More than sufficient RAM and processor power. I actually have it on all the time running Sophos Home UTM.

jace5869

Yeah. I want a 1U/2U server for labbing. Something beefy and then looking for best option for home use that would be similar to a Lenovo TS140. Will probably get two of those. One for personal use and one to run clients in my lab for testing several Win7/Win8 clients, imaging, deployments separate from my server.

jace5869

Shdwmage wrote: »

This is what i bought. It's been a good machine to build labs on. More than sufficient RAM and processor power. I actually have it on all the time running Sophos Home UTM.

I was looking at that. I got him down $10 from inital price.
Is it loud?
Would it be easy to replce fans with more quite ones?
Have you attempted any RAM upgrades? If so, would I need to install them in pairs, threes, or fours, or is it not too picky.
Did you set up any type of RAID?

Shdwmage

The one with 72gb has all of the RAM slots filled. It's loud when you first turn it on, but I've never taxed it enough to hear the fans, even when beating on it with my labs. So once its running its quiet.

Jon_Cisco

jace5869 wrote: »

Intel L5520 cpu

HP Proliant DL160 G6 1U 2X Xeon QC L5520 2 26GHz 4XTRAYS 72GB DDR3 000491532004 | eBay

Hi Guys,
I am considering picking up one of these just to force myself into virtualization while I am starting to learn servers and operating systems.

I just have a quick question about hard drives. I have never used a rack mount server or hot swappable drives (except in servers I had no access to at work). Is the front interface essentially a shuttle that I can use to attach any SSD drive to each bay?

If I am correct in what I have read so far I will need to buy:

1 - SSD drive for the VMs which I believe goes into the server bay directly.

2 - USB stick that can boot and run the operating system.

3 - Optionally I will want an external drive for backing up the VMs

I apologize in advance as I know these are pretty basic questions. I'm probably a year ahead of myself on this but everyone has to start somewhere.

Shdwmage

I bought an adapter to mount the SSD as a regular hard drive. SATA works fine. I have 2 SSDs (1 64gb and 1 250gb) and a 4 tb and a 500gb drive in the respective bays. I use the big drive as a back up and then the other drives for whatever

Jon_Cisco

Shdwmage wrote: »

I bought an adapter to mount the SSD as a regular hard drive. SATA works fine. I have 2 SSDs (1 64gb and 1 250gb) and a 4 tb and a 500gb drive in the respective bays. I use the big drive as a back up and then the other drives for whatever

thanks. This is overkill for my current study but I think I can get two good years out of it as I finish up school and break into IT. I'm gonna go for it.

Jon

Shdwmage

Oh I agree, mine is extreme overkill for what I need it to be ...

I'm torn between using VMWare and Hyper-V on mine. Its setup all using VMWare because its what I use at work and need to be familiar with it, but I've debated on putting 2012 r2 on it just so I can practice for my 410 exam with the new hyper-v.

I'm running Sophos Home UTM on mine as well as Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter. (Go dreamspark!) I also have a couple of desktops emulated on it as well.

All together I have between 700-900 dollars wrapped up into this machine. I plan on using it for a lot more than just labs long term. I may put my own webhost on it, and probably a ventrillo or TeamSpeak server as well. I figure it will be good for a great many things. I may also throw a media server on it as well.

jibbajabba

You can run Hyper-V inside VMware I believe

Shdwmage

You absolutely can run it inside of VMware with some fanagaling. I have it running now, but I never want to fire up a machine on it. I'm to lazy lol.

Xavor

I have 2 HP 1810-24g. I chose them because they're fanless and have a lifetime warranty.

vtagion

Shdwmage wrote: »

The one with 72gb has all of the RAM slots filled. It's loud when you first turn it on, but I've never taxed it enough to hear the fans, even when beating on it with my labs. So once its running its quiet.

maybe all you do is run a local intranet wordpress site on yours... I have 3 of these and yes, they are loud when they first boot up, but mine spin up (loud) all the time. I don't have a day go by that these things are quiet. (conference calls are always fun when it sounds like a jet is taking off from my home office). Be warned, these things run HOT and LOUD.

Do I still love them and would I buy them again? yes