ESXi server build

Say that i'm going to purchase a server or two. I know the type of hardware i'm looking for in general however can anyone suggest a brand? I've been looking at Dell Poweredge servers for a bit and was recently looking at HP Proliant ones as well. Is one going to be more ESXi compatible than the other? Any suggestions on a particular model? Thanks.

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odysseyelite

You would need to verify on VMware's HCL. From my experiance I have not had any issues getting ESXi 3.5 installed on any PowerEdge, even the low end 860's. The main issue is ESX needs drivers for your RAID, SATA or PATA.

I took my old home media center pc and got it running with 3.5 with no issues.

blargoe

I second checking on the HCL... Brandwise, Dell or HP either one should do just fine.

Hypntick

Anyone have better luck with one over the other? I'm just not very familiar with the HP ones, i've done a bit of research on the Dell models. Noticed the prices seem to be in the favor of Dell, but I wonder if there is a reason for that. Also I know you can have only a single license of ESXi, is there a way for example if I had two server boxes that I could get that working and still be able to manage them?

blargoe

Well, you could install ESXi on both servers, but you'd have to manage them separately unless you have a vCenter Server

I only use Dell because that is our company's preferred vendor, but HP is great too. Go with the best bang for the buck

RTmarc

I'd be willing to be that most of the hardware sold by the big companies (HP, Dell, IBM, Cisco, etc.) these days is going to be on VMware's HCL.