building home lab for VCP-DCV

jalopenopopper

Hi guys

After finally getting my CCNA certification, i have decided to go for my VCP. I have already purchased mastering vsphere 5.5 and now i would like to setup a home lab to get hands on experience. The only problem is i don't know much about servers and don't know what to look for. Can you recommend me a list of servers good for vcp studies i can get on ebay for under $200. From reading past forums i see that two of the more popular servers include the dell 2950 and hp dl380 g5. Are there any other good cheap servers like these that I should take a look at? Also what's the difference between the hp dl380 and the hp dl360? is there any other hardware i will need to purchase to setup my own lab?

jahaziel

If your getting a HP get a G6 at less. I believe g5 dont work with esxi 5.5. Now you don't need a server for VCP it just helps. I believe the fun of buying a server is doing your own research. The only difference between them is the hardware you get from the purchase.

Oh, and if you buy a server for vsphere make sure you have a raid controller not a software one. Thats the mistake I did.

Essendon

If you intend to go with nested virtualization (lets you have multiple virtual ESXi hosts), you'll need a G6 at a minimum. Whatever vendor you go with, ensure the processor does VT-x with EPT and get as much RAM as possible, 16GB is the norm these days.

The difference in the 380 and 360 is the RU size, with 2 RU and 1 RU respectively.

jalopenopopper

so between the 360 and 380 one just takes up more physical space? if that's the case i might as well save the money and go for the 360. Also is there any benefit of purchasing one vendor over another?

alias454

I have a DL380 G5 running ESXi 5.5 in my basement. However, I do not do nested virtualization so I cannot comment on whether it works or doesn't on the G5. some other notes about the HP is there is a specific HP vmware spin that comes with all the HP specific stuff. Also make sure to run the HP firmware updates, which can be found at the HP site to update the firmware. Otherwise, there is a specific issue that can cause a PSOD after a prolonged uptime. I don't remember the exact specifics but I vaguely remember that it had to do with the controller firmware and a memory leak. The big thing is to watch out for the RAID controller model. make sure you get the p410 at least. if the server you are looking at doesn't come with that you may be able to purchase one off ebay for fairly cheap.

As far as manufacturers it really is up to you and your preference. DELL, HP, IBM etc. I like the HP's because that is hat we mainly have where I work so I am familiar with them but we also run some DELLs and Cisco Blades.

Have fun and good luck

Regards

dave330i

If you have such a tight budget, go use the VMware Hands on Lab. Can't do the install, but install's pretty basic with ESXi.

kj0

dave330i wrote: »

If you have such a tight budget, go use the VMware Hands on Lab. Can't do the install, but install's pretty basic with ESXi.

If you need to practice the install, you can load up a single vm with ESXi, and then install vCenter, attach the host, and then you can remove it and head over to the HOL.