Getting a Dell Poweredge 2650

Vontech615Vontech615 Member Posts: 50 ■■□□□□□□□□
in MCTS / MCITP on Windows 2008 General
Hey all,
I'm going to be getting a Dell Poweredge 2650. My work just has it sitting, unused with windows 2000 server on it. I am in the process of building a home lab and thought it would be a nice addition. Does anyone have experience with these or own one? I have plans to install Server 03 or 08 on it. However, I will probably need to upgrade ram, and add drives.
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  • kriscamaro68kriscamaro68 Member Posts: 1,186 ■■■■■■■□□□
    You will probably spend more on drives for it than you could get out of it if you resale it. I have had a couple of these but in the end I just get rid of them because they are to loud and use lots of power. I just use desktops with server08r2 and hyper-v. Something about it makes me think they don't work with server08 but I could be wrong. It may be that it doesn't work with esxi 4.0 or higher. Its one of the two.
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  • Vontech615Vontech615 Member Posts: 50 ■■□□□□□□□□
    It's already got drives totalinig ~140 GB. I just learned that I'll be able to get a copy of Windows 2008 r2 HPC server edition from one my old instructors. It's upgradable to 12 GB of RAM and 5 drives at ~140 a piece so I think it may run it. THe HPC version of server is all he can get me... not sure why he has that version.
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  • kriscamaro68kriscamaro68 Member Posts: 1,186 ■■■■■■■□□□
    If you have the drives then that is good cause scsi drives cost alot still. Hopefully it all works out. Check ebay out for ram.
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  • TeKniquesTeKniques Member Posts: 1,262 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Might want to double check the CPU capabilities. If I remember correctly the PowerEdge 2650's do not support 64-bit architecture.

    We decommisioned a bunch of those during our Domain migration from 2003 to 2008 R2.
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  • Vontech615Vontech615 Member Posts: 50 ■■□□□□□□□□
    How about Windows 2008 r2 HPC edition? Has anyone had experience with this version? I know it has the normal server roles built in but on Microsoft's page it says it can't be used as a general purpose server. I'll just be using to play with at the house.
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  • ZartanasaurusZartanasaurus Member Posts: 2,008 ■■■■■■■■■□
    It's better than nothing if it's free. I'd prefer a PE1950 at a minimum. I think that's the oldest one you can get with 64-bit/virtualization support.
    Currently reading:
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  • amplifyamplify Member Posts: 17 ■■■□□□□□□□
    As mentioned, the 2650 processor doesn't have 64-bit support so no R2 edition will install. A 2850 would work, those are cheap.
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  • TackleTackle Member Posts: 534
    We have a few of these running ESXi 3.5. Not a bad server at all, especially if the price is right (which it sounds like it is).
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  • Vontech615Vontech615 Member Posts: 50 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Tackle wrote: »
    We have a few of these running ESXi 3.5. Not a bad server at all, especially if the price is right (which it sounds like it is).

    Yeah, I'm going to take it because it's free. I will probably still look at getting something 64 bit. Maybe a 2850 as amplify stated.
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