Home lab server -- which would you choose?

I think I'm down to the following two servers for my home VMware lab. There are just a few difference between them. Which of the two would you pick if it were up to you? I think I'm leaning towards the first link.
Dell PowerEdge 2950 II Server Quad Core X5355 2x2 66GHz 32GB 6X300GB PERC5i 2U | eBay
or
Dell PowerEdge 2950 8 Core Virtualization Server 32GB RAM 6X300GB 15K 1 8TB 2ps | eBay
I've got a copy of VMware vSphere Essentials.
Dell PowerEdge 2950 II Server Quad Core X5355 2x2 66GHz 32GB 6X300GB PERC5i 2U | eBay
or
Dell PowerEdge 2950 8 Core Virtualization Server 32GB RAM 6X300GB 15K 1 8TB 2ps | eBay
I've got a copy of VMware vSphere Essentials.
Comments
If the servers are on the HCG, I would say buy the cheaper of the two. Other than the price and the CPU speeds, they appear to be just about even in the specification department. Heck, the cheaper of the two seems to be the faster, as well.
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Yep, just saw that thanks to styder. Back to the drawing board as I definitely want something 6.x compatible.
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I'm also not one that really gets annoyed by PC noise. I've got two machines on my desktop with a ton of fans in them -- at least 6-8 fans in each.
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If you replace the fan with ultra-quiet fans it's purrs like a kitten. All 4 of the R610's I have don't overheat at all, but the fans are super quiet. The Dell supplied fans don't have double-ball bearing fans that are balanced correctly so they make a **** ton of noise.
But yes a HP DL or a Dell R610/510/710 are popular home-lab servers....
I'm not the norm, but I got 4 of them right now.
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I was thinking of moving to NoVA to work in DC, then I figured Dave330i would always be over playing in the lab and then I'd form this friendship that would block out the sun and force me to living in my cave 24/7... so I decided not to move.
Upvote on this, can't go wrong here and you'll be glad you went with a server that's not as loud. Plus, you have a LOT more upgrade options for future projects.
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now of course i'm rather playing around with infosec appliances / Linux and and small Windows boxes but well got one and its really doing the job more then well...
Not bad - at least it is supporting 16GB of RAM .. but I think with vSphere 6.x onwards you really need 32 per host ....
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Dell PowerEdge R710 2 5" Server 2x2 93GHz Quad Core X5570 64GB PERC6I 1PS iDRAC6 | eBay
Gonna need to pick up some HDs now. Any suggestions there?
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I read your thread; This is very interesting and informative. You have shared great information, but I want to give my suggestion Please click on the below link. You will get more information about the dell servers.
https://www.theitmart.com/used-dell-servers
Thanks.
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