Hardware for Hyper V

MHTECH

Hey all.

I want to install server 2012 onto a stand alone machine to run Hyper-v with multiple VMs.
Can I get away with building a desktop PC with around 32GB ram or more, what kind of CPU would I require?

Or do I need actual server hardware ?

Thanks in advance.

cruwl

It can run fine on desktop or laptop hardware. 32Gb of ram is pretty good. You will want a pretty large SSD or 2 as well.

any good desktop 4 core+ CPU is pretty good. Your largest bottleneck will be your hard drive speed and how much ram you have.

bohack

MHTech,

The bottle neck is always IOPs on the hard disk... You will want to look at this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG3vXlo2q7M it will show you how to build a personal Hyper-V lab nested under VMware Workstation. I recommend an SSD hard drive. 16 GB of RAM will be fine! You can even run 2012 R2 servers nested under Hyper-V under VMware! There is a tutorial series I put together on Hyper-V the first of a 7 part tutorial starts with https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CqPdglY4JY. It will show you how to build a Windows Failover Cluster with Hyper-V.

Good luck and don't stop learning...

Jon

deathdynamics

Dell Optiplex 2970 (2 quads, 32 GB RAM, 4x73GB 15k SAS) purchased shipped for under $150 on eBay. Installed ESXi 5.5 trial and nested Hyper-V hosts with a couple tweaks to the .vmx files; able to failover clustering labs for 70-412.

srabiee

I agree that nesting the lab on a desktop using VMware Workstation is the way to go. At least 16GB of RAM, 32GB is preferred. SSD's will make things run much faster, but isn't a necessity. Nesting will allow you to run multiple Hyper-V hosts or multiple ESXi hosts in a cluster, which is going to be crucial when studying for the MCSA, MCSE, and VCP exams. Alternatively you can purchase multiple physical servers, but nesting can save you a lot of money and headache. As someone else mentioned, plenty of articles and Youtube videos on this topic.

I just recently built a new PC for my nested lab at home. AMD FX 8-core CPU, 32GB RAM, multiple SSD's coupled with large HDD for multiple tiers of storage. That's it really. Small Micro ATX case, $35 Nvidia video card with DVI, no optical drive. Should be plenty fast and last me years of labbing and studying for future certs. I'm not a big fan of AMD CPU's, but a true 8 cores for $130, I just couldn't resist. Again, should be perfect for labbing.

As a side note, those NetworkedMinds videos on YouTube are a fantastic resource. I subscribed. Keep up the good work Jon!

knownhero

srabiee

Could you link your build please? I'm NOT a hardware guy at all and I really want to have my own stand-alone PC that does this.

Judderman88

I’ve got an HP 6005 MT PC with 16GB RAM, 1 x250GB HDD for the host OS and 2 x 250GB HDD’s for the VM’s. Works fine for me although I will move to SSD drives when time and money permits

nascar_paul

srabiee wrote: »

I agree that nesting the lab on a desktop using VMware Workstation is the way to go. At least 16GB of RAM, 32GB is preferred. SSD's will make things run much faster, but isn't a necessity. Nesting will allow you to run multiple Hyper-V hosts or multiple ESXi hosts in a cluster, which is going to be crucial when studying for the MCSA, MCSE, and VCP exams. Alternatively you can purchase multiple physical servers, but nesting can save you a lot of money and headache. As someone else mentioned, plenty of articles and Youtube videos on this topic.

I just recently built a new PC for my nested lab at home. AMD FX 8-core CPU, 32GB RAM, multiple SSD's coupled with large HDD for multiple tiers of storage. That's it really. Small Micro ATX case, $35 Nvidia video card with DVI, no optical drive. Should be plenty fast and last me years of labbing and studying for future certs. I'm not a big fan of AMD CPU's, but a true 8 cores for $130, I just couldn't resist. Again, should be perfect for labbing.

As a side note, those NetworkedMinds videos on YouTube are a fantastic resource. I subscribed. Keep up the good work Jon!

Sometimes I hate this place! Cause now I've GOT to do this! Thanks ALOT! As soon as I sit for my N+, I'm all about this build for next month!

srabiee

knownhero wrote: »

srabiee

Could you link your build please? I'm NOT a hardware guy at all and I really want to have my own stand-alone PC that does this.

Sure. Here's what I purchased:

CPU: AMD FX-8320 (8-core) ...... $136 on Amazon
MB: ASRock 970M Pro3 MicroATX (AMD 9-series) ...... $57 on Newegg (after MIR)
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 32GB DDR3 1600 (8GBx4 Kit) ...... $215 on Amazon
PSU: Corsair CX430M Modular ...... $42 on Amazon
GPU: MSI GeForce GT 720 1GB ...... $37 on Amazon (after MIR)
SSD1: Silicon Power 120GB S60 ...... $50 on Amazon
SSD2: Silicon Power 240GB S60 ...... $83 on Amazon
HDD1: Western Digital Blue 1TB ...... $50 on Amazon
HDD2: Western Digital Green 3TB ...... $98 on Amazon
Case: Cooler Master N200 Mini-Tower ...... $50 on Amazon
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper T2 ...... $21 on Amazon

A few things about this system. The CPU cooler is optional, as the AMD CPU comes with one. I wanted the system to be extra quiet, so I ordered a much better one for $21.

The AMD 9-series chipset for FX CPUs does not include onboard graphics, so you will need a PCI-E graphics card. Any cheap graphics card will do really, even something pulled out of an old system. I wanted something newer and fairly fast with DVI out, so I went with the GT 720. Although I found older cards like the GT 210 and older Radeon cards for $25 ~ $30. I don't game anymore, so no real need for a fast GPU.

If you choose an AMD FX 6- or 8-core CPU, then the AMD 9-series chipset is the one to go with. The 9-series chipset has native support for the higher-core FX CPUs, and will save you some headache as compared to an older 7-series board. The ASRock 970M Pro3 is the only MicroATX 9-series board. MiniITX boards do not exist for AMD FX CPUs as far as I know.

I wanted a case with a smaller footprint that was still built really well, quiet, and had a few amenities. I am partial to Cooler Master, so I went with them. Splurged a little bit and spent $50 on the case. I found cases that would have easily done the job for around $30 though.

RAM is expensive right now, but I didn't feel I could get by with only 16GB with the type of clustering and servers that I plan on building out, so I went with 32GB. $215, but again, this system should do the job for many years to come. My advice is to not go cheap in this category.

The 120GB SSD will be the local disk for the PC/hypervisor, and the 240GB disk will be use for the fast tier of storage within the virtualized environment The 1TB HDD will be another tier of storage within the virtualized environment.

The 3TB WD Green is for data backups. This one is totally optional if you want to save on costs. Use an old external USB HDD if need be. Or, because this is a personal lab, it isn't the end of the world if you forgo backups altogether on this machine.

If you opt to not purchase a modular PSU, you can find one for $10 ~ $15 cheaper of the same quality and wattage. I find that modular PSUs make my life easier when putting the case together though.

I hope this helps.

stryder144

Seriously, srabiee? Did you really need to post the build out of that computer? Ugh...now I am planning a build out based on some of the products you've listed. Thanks a lot!

srabiee

lol! sorry

bohack

Don't skip on the SSD, buy a good SSD hard drive for your gold storage which is where you'll run the VM's from. I suggest the Samsung EVO 850 250 TB drive Amazon.com: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-75E250B/AM): Computers & Accessories. It should be all you will need for VM storage. If you want to future proof it buy the 500 GB Amazon.com: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-75E250B/AM): Computers & Accessories, however judging from your prices and specs the 250 GB drive is all you'll need.

srabiee

If I end up needing more SSD space, I'll throw another 240GB S60 in there in RAID-0.

The Silicon Power S60 are actually really good drives. SATA3, 550MB/s max. Read speed, 500MB/s max. Write speed, up to 85,000 IOPS. Independent tests and reviews seem to indicate that they are hitting close to those speeds. Definitely not top of the line, but I would wager best bang for the buck.

greg9891

That sounds like a great idea i think I will build somthing Similar to crate some vms to study with .............Thanks

srabiee

Decided to pick up a WD Green 3TB HDD for backup duties. $98 on Amazon, added to the list. This one is optional. Many people have external USB 2.0 and 3.0 HDDs that will work just fine for storage purposes. I opted to go internal with my backup disk, either way should work fine. I also have a small mobile external USB 3.0 HDD for portable backup purposes. I generally use that one for general data backups, and backup imaging of mine and my wife's laptops.

bohack

Srabiee,

I'm going to have to investigate further... Those IOPS are what the Samsung puts out. Thanx for the follow up.

Jon