Study machine........ Dell t3500

greg9891

Hey guys I am thinking about getting a dell t 3500 to use for my vcp studies. It has 12 gb of ddr3 ram and a 4core 8 thread intel processor, 320 gb hard drive.

Also any thoughts on how I should allocate the ram? for vsphere and esxi?

Lexluethar

Are you going to install ESXi directly onto the hard drive? If you plan on emulating ESXi good luck - i've heard it's a pretty difficult task. Your best bet is to get a piece of hardware that falls within the support matrix and install the version of ESXi you are studying. From there you can then configure ESXi, manage it through vSphere local client and configure servers.

Here is the support matrix where you can see what hardware is supported: https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php

greg9891

I may get a separate machine for esxi. but will look at the options for doing it nested. Thanks!

Lexluethar

Nested i'm not so sure - i've read some things stating it's pretty difficult to nest b/c ESXi is so specific on hardware and system requirements - you essentially have to 'emulate' what ESXi is requiring which isn't an easy task. I've never tried though.

As for a system to play with - i would suggest trying to get your hands on an old system that meets VMware's requirements. I use HP G6 servers for my home lab and i've found some on amazon for a few hundred bucks. I would suggest getting your hands on one of those, installing the flavor of ESXi you want to study and then setting up your lab environment on that server.

greg9891

which model of the hp G6 server do you recommend? what do you run in your home lab and why?

Lexluethar

I suggested an HP G6 because they are old (therefore cheap) and they are still on the hardware compatibility list for vmware. You can choose whatever server class you want, i would just make sure that it's on the hardware compatibility list on that website i linked above.

I have two HP G6 servers running in my lap, both connected to the same switch, both running ESXi 5.5. I installed ESXi 5.5 b/c that's the flavor of OS i'm studying for my VCP. I'm running a small domain environment on the two hosts, one DC running 2012 R2, one file server and a few workstations. Really if you are studying for the VCP exam you really just need one or two servers to understand the concepts the test is challenging you on.

greg9891

Thanks excellent suggestion. Thanks!

Essendon

I have a G6 machine with 2 x dual core processors, 48 GB RAM and 1.5TB SAS disks. Nested all the way. No issues with VCP labbing whatsoever. Biggest advantages are lower running costs + the ability to assign numerous NICs to nested ESXi hosts allowing the ability to lab up all aspects of ESXi networking. Only thing I have not been able to in a nested lab is enable FT, but who uses FT?!

techfiend

ESXi nests within vmware workstation, if you go this path 12GB isn't going to be enough if you plan on installing vCenter Server, it requires 8 GB and uses it all. ESXi requires 4 GB. 16GB is what I used and I sure would have liked more.

If you go bare metal ESXi you may be able to get a way with 12 GB but even then I'd suggest more.

kj0

Built a cheap computer for my nested ESXi. I had some issues with drivers for the realtek NIC as those cards had blacklisted drivers in ESXi 6. Once I found the latest VIB to install, everything was working. You do need to enable Promiscuous on the ESXi that is the nest for both nested machines to communicate.

I am currently running an AMD AM3 6300+, 32gb RAM and a 160gb HDD. I have another machine that I have running 4 HDDs in Raid 0 and 2 drives in raid 0 as my SAN with Openfiler (FreeNAS required too much RAM to work well).

I have a total of 3 hosts running, The nest and the nested. The Nested only runs the two nested hosts, nothing else and assigns 15Gb of RAM to each nested host, leaving enough for the first host to function.

I spent a little time setting it up, but I haven't had to rebuild it yet, and it is doing everything I need to to,


My suggestion for yours is to upgrade the RAM to atleast 16Gb (32Gb if you can) Run the ESXi on the HDDs - Making a Datastore on it to hold the nested hypervisors. Save up and get a NAS or a cheap computer that you can throw a number of drives into as a NAS. (You can create a lot of VMs using a small amount of capacity, but it is the speed that you will want)

One last thing, any VMs that you use just to do certain functions to test, etc that don't perform any workloads or need to be quick, Only create them with minimal RAM etc, I still use Windows XP as I can build them with 256mb RAM and still install and use them as needed.
Install and use the VCSA as it will only take 8GB for your environment unlike the Windows client which will need SQL as well.



Hope this helps.

kj0

techfiend wrote: »

ESXi nests within vmware workstation, if you go this path 12GB isn't going to be enough if you plan on installing vCenter Server, it requires 8 GB and uses it all. ESXi requires 4 GB.

You can always scale down once deployed.

techfiend

Maybe in esxi the ram can be reduced but with workstation esxi wouldn't startup without 4gb. VCSA wouldn't start with less than 8 but gave back up to a gig. 2012 would boot but once logged in vcenter server couldn't start due to low memory with less than 8gb.

I ended up using 2012 for vserver and loaded powercli, chrome, vro, vum and the client on it, seemed much more responsive than vcsa.

VCSA and windows vserver use postgresql by default, the latter can use sql and i believe mysql.

kj0

techfiend wrote: »

Maybe in esxi the ram can be reduced but with workstation esxi wouldn't startup without 4gb. /QUOTE]
Must be new with vSphere 6. I ran 3 x 5.5 hypervisors in Workstation for sometime before I bought my dedicated machine. I had 16Gb and made sure I would not use more than 12 in total as I had other workloads on my desktop. It all comes down to your design and how you best utilise resources.

greg9891

I am thinking about going with the nested route for now. The dell T3500 can max out to 24 gb of ram. that should be more than enough space. however my reasons for getting the dell is for power consumption 550 watts, the small space and noise. I plan to get 2 120 gb ssds for VMs to live on. The other option is to get the T5500 which gives you and endless supply of ram. Right now getting my Vcp is my personal project and once i'm done will turn the lab into a hyper v environment because that is what we use at work at the moment.

I went with the Dell T 3500 because here in the Bahamas power bill goes up fast. and 550 watts pretty good compaired to what i've seen.

joelsfood

Don't fight with building your own nested installs unless you really need the experience. Mr Lam's ESXi appliance is great, and will save you time and effort.

http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2015/12/deploying-nested-esxi-is-even-easier-now-with-the-esxi-virtual-appliance.html

This version can be used to deploy a full VSAN setup with 3-64 nodes
http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2015/02/updated-vsan-6-0-nested-esxi-ovf-templates-for-64-nodes-all-flash-array-fault-domain-testing.html

greg9891

joelsfood wrote: »

Don't fight with building your own nested installs unless you really need the experience. Mr Lam's ESXi appliance is great, and will save you time and effort.

http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2015/12/deploying-nested-esxi-is-even-easier-now-with-the-esxi-virtual-appliance.html

This version can be used to deploy a full VSAN setup with 3-64 nodes
http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2015/02/updated-vsan-6-0-nested-esxi-ovf-templates-for-64-nodes-all-flash-array-fault-domain-testing.html

Thanks I think that's an excellent idea, saves me the trouble......still get the studying i want. think I will get the T3500 by additional ram to make it 24 gbs or something close. some additional nics......should be good to go from there. will update you guys as to what I will ultimately decide to buy.

techfiend

The appliance is a time saver but it would be a good learning experience to setup from scratch if you've never done it.

jibbajabba

Have a look at the t5500 instead. It can be upgraded (via raiser card) to a second CPU and more RAM slots. It supports a lot more ram and is a bit more future proof. With raiser you get dual 55xx / 56xx and up to 72GB of RAM, or 144GB if you can afford 16GB dimms

joelsfood

The T5500 is a beast, but it's also loud and hot (though I don't know that the 3500 is any better). I used to have one for my desktop at work. Took everything I could ever throw at it, even with VMs running in background, etc.

jibbajabba

Loud and hot ? I barely hear mine. Certainly quieter than a G6

joelsfood

ha, definitely quieter than anything rackmount. But if someone has just run regular desktops, they'll be a bit surprised about the noise from this workstation. To be fair though, mine also had dual quad core netburst xeons and a quadro FX in it. Bit of heat for those fans to dissipate.

greg9891

These are all Great ideas guys, i don't think I will get anything rack mounted at least not for now due to the limited space. my wife thinks I have too much junk in the bedroom already lol. but the t3500 for the performance to price ratio is right up my ally. 24gb is more than enough starting out and i plan to build a a machine that i really want latter on in the year once money frees up some. having a machine to do studying for VMware,Hyper v, server 2012 r 2, exchange are whats important right now because I have a lot of exams to study and get ready for.

aschenbecher

I use a dell poweredge r610 . i got it off ebay for $300
I added 48 gb ram to it.
its got 2 xeon 4 core processes. that 2x4 =8 cores and with HT it doubles to 16 cores.

I have esxi 5.5 on it and setup DNS , DHCP and Domain controller.
I have it hooked up to a router which i setup as separate subnet in my home network.

The best investment i made.

Look on ebay you might find a great deal.

Lexluethar

Keep in mind you don't have to rack them like a true server room. I have both my HP's downstairs in my utility closet on a shelf. I was first worried about the noise but unless you are in the utility room you cannot hear them. Also realize it's a lab environment, so you probably aren't doing anything super cpu intensive so the fans will rarely spin up.

advanex1

Let us know what you end up getting. I plan on grabbing a server too while I'm away. Trying to build up all of my equipment before I return and before we move so that I have a new project to get into once I get to the new place. Need to practice some virtualization anyways.

greg9891

I am still leaning on the t3500, due to size and the price point of under 200 bucks for a quad core and 8 threads, 12 gb of ddr3 (will order another 12 to max it out at 24 later) 550 watts power and 250 gb hard drive. plan to upgrade the quad to a 6 core and add an ssd. my funds are very limited right now. so this is excellent at the price point of under 200 bucks. and free shipping. will add a nic, ssd a little latter. will probably install esxi and then run vcenter server as a vm. and then see where I end up from there. Happy New year to all my TEch exam Buddies!

greg9891

Hey Guys I bought the T3500 on ebay for 199.99 the guy said he had one for 170.00 with a slight dent at the top of the case. for 170 the Dell T5500 had 12 gb ram a 320 gb hard, Nvidia Quadro FX 580. Intel Xeon E5630. I asked the seller if he had any more ram available. and for 190.00 i've paid for got the the T5500 with 24 gb of ram.

Maybe in another week or so I will be getting an two 250 gb ssd.