VMWare EXSi 5.5

I am going to start learning VMware. I recently purchased an HP Proliant DL360 G6 with 12GB RAM and 2 250GB HDDs. Do I need to add more RAM? What would be the best way to install VMware EXSi? What would be a good starter server OS?

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ssnyderu2

I am no VM Ware expert, but you could run a few VM's with that. I just used a bootable CD to do the install. If by "what would be a good starter server" you are wanting to know what VM's you should setup, then it would depend on what you want to learn. My setup has 2 copies of Server 2012, Windows 7 and Ubuntu.

GreaterNinja

To install esxi 5.5 on my lenovo ts 140 I needed 6 or 8 gb of ram. You should be good with 12gb.

joelsfood

ESXi 5.5 requires 4 gigs of ram to install, but it doesn't use all of that. 12 gigs is definitely enough to build a good nested lab to start learning.

I think my nested ESXi box had 4 gigs when I installed it, and then it has maybe 2 gigs now.

jibbajabba

joelsfood wrote: »

ESXi 5.5 requires 4 gigs of ram to install, but it doesn't use all of that. 12 gigs is definitely enough to build a good nested lab to start learning.

I think my nested ESXi box had 4 gigs when I installed it, and then it has maybe 2 gigs now.

12 Gigs for a good nested lab ?

So you need 4GB for ESXi, you need a vCenter, Active Directory, NFS / ISCSI, virtual machines etc..

12GB will be a frustrating experience unless you can use other external systems for AD / Storage etc.

joelsfood

You can do a full nested setup on 12GB. As mentiond, you change the ESXi ram after install (Autolab does the same thing for installs on systems with less than 16gb). You can do AD, iSCSI, VC and esxi in three VMs (2012 R2 iscsi/AD, VCSA, ESXi). Or even iunstall vcenter on the 2012 box and use two VMs. You won't get to test everything in the world, but you can certainly get started learning, and then add more ram (or VMs on your desktop/laptop to augment the server), as needed to grow your lab.

OctalDump

steelodon wrote: »

I am going to start learning VMware. I recently purchased an HP Proliant DL360 G6 with 12GB RAM and 2 250GB HDDs. Do I need to add more RAM? What would be the best way to install VMware EXSi? What would be a good starter server OS?

Not a bad box to play with. It has 12 ram slots, and ram isn't too expensive, so upgrading to 32GB would give you plenty of room. Also it takes dual 5600 xeons, so 12 core with hyperthreading for 24 logical processors. Not too shabby at all.

For guest os, Windows 2003 is fairly low foot print and demonstrates many features you might want to play with. Anything Linux. You could get Win 2012r2 on there, but you'd probably want to bump the RAM up beyond 12GB. The thing to remember is that you want to train more with the Hypervisor than with guest OS. Although, longer term, a box with many VMs can be very handy for learning other OS or platform etc.

alias454

FWIW we still run some of those in production

I just setup my new home lab server, which is an upgrade from the old G5 DL 380. Moved up to a G6 DL 380 with dual quad cores, 84GB's of RAM and 1.5TB for local datastore use. I need more free time I think

12GB will allow you to run a few VM's but memory for that is pretty cheap on ebay so grab up some and upgrade it. BTW, plan on your electric bill going up a bit.

Regards