Building another server...

gorebrushgorebrush Member Posts: 2,743 ■■■■■■■□□□
Hi all, I guess this is the best place to ask.

I currently have a single ESX 5.5 server in my rack, the spec: -

i5-4570S
32GB RAM
Z87 ASRock Xtreme4 (So VT-d works)
HP Smart Array card has been passed through successfully, and there's 4x2TB disks in RAID-10 coming off it.

I want to add more memory to my ESX Lab, because I want to pursue CCIE SP (32GB isn't quite enough) and use it as a general lab for VMWare/Servers/etc etc.

I've got a few options: -

1. Intel NUCs. About £1000 buys two of these, and a Cisco SG300 that I want to add in as well - but this adds 4 real cores, and 32GB of more memory. The problem is I'd have to buy more NUC's in order to expand any further.

2. Another machine like I have now. Bit cheaper, but already limited to 32GB RAM so I'd have 64GB in total.

3. Socket 2011 based machine - DDR4 and up to 128GB on a single board, a bit more expense, but I can throw 128GB of RAM at a machine and 6-cores...

What have you got in your labs?

Comments

  • EssendonEssendon Member Posts: 4,546 ■■■■■■■■■■
    What will you do for an array when you have multiple physical machines? Use the first one or buy a small array?

    I only have a 2-way 8-core DL380 G6 with 48GB RAM and ~2TB SAS disks, enough grunt for a home lab though there's no denying disk's been a bottleneck (noticed this the most when I was doing my VCAP-DTA). But it gets me by for most things.

    As for more machines, what do you need for the SP?
    NSX, NSX, more NSX..

    Blog >> http://virtual10.com
  • kj0kj0 Member Posts: 767
    Done a fair amount of research (Need to keep the wife happy) and so far, best bang for the buck is the http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G3ED7D4/ref=s9_simh_gw_p147_d14_i5?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-3&pf_rd_r=0K2END25BEG78S97EDM1&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2084660942&pf_rd_i=desktop

    EPT, Quiet, up to 32gb (that model), 4x1gb Nics, etc. just need RAM (we have one at work for a different project and it's quite amazing)
    Then a Synology DS-Slim with 4x 250gb Samsung Evo850 drives.
    TP-Link 1gb manged switch.
    2017 Goals: VCP6-DCV | VCIX
    Blog: https://readysetvirtual.wordpress.com
  • gorebrushgorebrush Member Posts: 2,743 ■■■■■■■□□□
    Essendon wrote: »
    What will you do for an array when you have multiple physical machines? Use the first one or buy a small array?

    I only have a 2-way 8-core DL380 G6 with 48GB RAM and ~2TB SAS disks, enough grunt for a home lab though there's no denying disk's been a bottleneck (noticed this the most when I was doing my VCAP-DTA). But it gets me by for most things.

    As for more machines, what do you need for the SP?

    I was going to use a VM hosted in the first box as the array. The 4 disk array is just file storage. Is this sufficient?

    To be honest I just need more RAM - that's the main goal, because the CSR's and XRv's will need at least 32-48GB minimum (10xCSR and 4xXRv)

    Other than Cisco, I was going to use it for possible VMware lab as well.
  • gorebrushgorebrush Member Posts: 2,743 ■■■■■■■□□□
    kj0 wrote: »
    Done a fair amount of research (Need to keep the wife happy) and so far, best bang for the buck is the Amazon.com: Supermicro 1U Rackmount Server Barebone System Components SYS-5018A-FTN4: Computers & Accessories

    EPT, Quiet, up to 32gb (that model), 4x1gb Nics, etc. just need RAM (we have one at work for a different project and it's quite amazing)
    Then a Synology DS-Slim with 4x 250gb Samsung Evo850 drives.
    TP-Link 1gb manged switch.

    One of those and 32GB RAM = £800

    I think I managed to get to £1200 for a 6-core, 64GB RAM machine, but that 1U option looks sweet!
  • kj0kj0 Member Posts: 767
    gorebrush wrote: »
    One of those and 32GB RAM = £800

    I think I managed to get to £1200 for a 6-core, 64GB RAM machine, but that 1U option looks sweet!

    There's a few options available in that 1Ru factor. They are really, really quiet machines.
    Yeah, the exchange rate is a little high at the moment - Just an option to consider though.
    2017 Goals: VCP6-DCV | VCIX
    Blog: https://readysetvirtual.wordpress.com
  • gorebrushgorebrush Member Posts: 2,743 ■■■■■■■□□□
    Yeah I'm just not sure which way to go. I'd really like to add 64GB in one hit, with option to go to 128GB.

    I really like the E5-2620v3 CPU, 85W TDP, 6 core, Hyperthreaded, 768GB Max, Socket 2011, but I don't know, it's not cheap :D

    However, I also like teh E5-2603v3, 6 core, no threading, 1.6GHz base, £170. Nice and cheap CPU, I dont think I need CPU cycles.

    I might also just get a box with 32GB in for now and get another kit when the price has come down a bit. Decisions!
  • knownheroknownhero Member Posts: 450
    I'm currently looking to make a server for HYPER-V so I can do my MS studies. I'm very stupid when it comes to hardware and looking to spend like £600 on a server that can handle multiple VMs.

    Anyone have any suggestions?
    70-410 [x] 70-411 [x] 70-462[x] 70-331[x] 70-332[x]
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  • kohr-ahkohr-ah Member Posts: 1,277
    I have heard pretty great things about the Lenovo TS140 Xeon series.
    Expandable to 32 Gigs of RAM and doesnt use high wattage.
  • EssendonEssendon Member Posts: 4,546 ■■■■■■■■■■
    I dont know how much disk you need, but home labs run into disk bottlenecks first, RAM's a close second (varies, I know). Or get 2-3 similar hosts and use the first one as your array. Could go any way you like mate, depends on how much coin you got!
    NSX, NSX, more NSX..

    Blog >> http://virtual10.com
  • srabieesrabiee Member Posts: 1,231 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Do you have the option of purchasing more RAM and nesting your lab setup using a single machine? The motherboard may be the limiting factor (number of RAM slots), but that can always be replaced. A lot of us went this route to save money, space, and headaches. (but then again I haven't yet run into an issue of needing more than 32GB of RAM in my lab)
    WGU Progress: Master of Science - Information Technology Management (Start Date: February 1, 2015)
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    Bachelor of Science - Information Technology Network Design & Management (WGU - Completed August 2014)
  • ninjaturtleninjaturtle Member Posts: 245 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Essendon wrote: »
    I dont know how much disk you need, but home labs run into disk bottlenecks first, RAM's a close second (varies, I know). Or get 2-3 similar hosts and use the first one as your array. Could go any way you like mate, depends on how much coin you got!
    I totally agree! I've been looking for an array in the home lab for awhile now. I run a Synology DS1512+ with 3TB drives for a total of 15TB raw. I use that as my main storage for my production network though. That thing is filling up quick too.
    Current Study Discipline: CCIE Data Center
    Cisco SEAL, Cisco SWAT, Cisco DeltaForce, Cisco FBI, Cisco DoD, Cisco Army Rangers, Cisco SOCOM .ιlι..ιlι.
  • gorebrushgorebrush Member Posts: 2,743 ■■■■■■■□□□
    Well I have 4 x 2TB in RAID 10 - so I have 4TB of space there.

    I just use SSD's to host the VM's though so shared storage over a network isn't something I've looked at too much yet. I'm more interested in CPU and RAM.

    I can't expand my current machine because there is a hard limit of 32GB (And I am at that limit already).

    More research needed, I know I am going to need to spend a decent amount but I don't want to spend rediculous amounts either :)
  • kj0kj0 Member Posts: 767
    gorebrush wrote: »
    More research needed, I know I am going to need to spend a decent amount but I don't want to spend rediculous amounts either :)
    This is mostly my issue. Paying off a house at the moment doesn't help icon_sad.gif If I pass myVCP (When I finally get my results back) I will put my purchase request form in to my wife to upgrade my lab for VCIX :P - Need to sell my CCNA lab first.
    2017 Goals: VCP6-DCV | VCIX
    Blog: https://readysetvirtual.wordpress.com
  • dave330idave330i Member Posts: 2,091 ■■■■■■■■■■
    kj0 wrote: »
    This is mostly my issue. Paying off a house at the moment doesn't help icon_sad.gif If I pass myVCP (When I finally get my results back) I will put my purchase request form in to my wife to upgrade my lab for VCIX :P - Need to sell my CCNA lab first.

    I've done my VCIX using HOL.
    2018 Certification Goals: Maybe VMware Sales Cert
    "Simplify, then add lightness" -Colin Chapman
  • gorebrushgorebrush Member Posts: 2,743 ■■■■■■■□□□
    The HOL's would cover all the NV requirements for me, it was more for the Cisco labs I was after more power for but some VMWare later on would have been useful.
  • kj0kj0 Member Posts: 767
    dave330i wrote: »
    I've done my VCIX using HOL.
    That was just NV though, wasn't it? What about the VCAPs? (I presume they didn't actually have HOL when you did yours though.)
    2017 Goals: VCP6-DCV | VCIX
    Blog: https://readysetvirtual.wordpress.com
  • dave330idave330i Member Posts: 2,091 ■■■■■■■■■■
    kj0 wrote: »
    That was just NV though, wasn't it? What about the VCAPs? (I presume they didn't actually have HOL when you did yours though.)

    I used VMware workstation with 16GB for DCA, since HOL wasn't available at the time.
    2018 Certification Goals: Maybe VMware Sales Cert
    "Simplify, then add lightness" -Colin Chapman
  • ShdwmageShdwmage Member Posts: 374
    I ended up buying my rig off of ebay. I spent $600 on the machine and another couple hundred in hard drives. I have 72gb of ram and dual xeon processors. So it is way more than what I need, but for the cost I couldn't match it.
    --
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