VM Lab with 2 servers

JeanM

Hello,

I am hoping someone with experience can make some specific suggestions on the following config I intend to use for my lab.

I have a spare i3 cpu and 2u rack mount Norco case, I am thinking I can use this with micro-atx board and make this into a storage box. How much RAM is needed for this, is 8gig enough, 16gb? Is there a difference in performance?

The 2nd server will be in a 4u norco case with a full atx boad running an i7 + 32gigs of ram (ram is cheap nowdays vs. hdd).

What I would like to be able to do is lab various storage configurations, so that basically the i7 box will just run the hypervisor maybe from SSD or USB and the i3 box will provide the storage ?

I am just not sure if going with eSata is going to be OK or if I should look more into iSCSI? Should I look into multiple 1gb nics for data over ethernet or will eSata be enough even for 4-8 VM's instances running at the same time?

Finally, can someone recommend specific 2-4 port NICs that will work with ESC and/or 2008 HyperV ? I would like to run multiple VM's and dedicate one of the cisco switches to it and add this into my ccna lab basically.

Brain_Power

Great post! I am interested in the response, as well. Trying to nail down, the server details for my home lab. I was told in my prior thread that 16GB is preferred for virtualization.

JeanM

I am not sure about "16GB is preferred" part, probably the more the better in this case for the host. Now, as far as storage box, I am not sure.

I set up FreeNAS last night and I read 4gb+ is recommended.

chinino

JeanM wrote: »

Hello,

I am hoping someone with experience can make some specific suggestions on the following config I intend to use for my lab.

I have a spare i3 cpu and 2u rack mount Norco case, I am thinking I can use this with micro-atx board and make this into a storage box. How much RAM is needed for this, is 8gig enough, 16gb? Is there a difference in performance?

The 2nd server will be in a 4u norco case with a full atx boad running an i7 + 32gigs of ram (ram is cheap nowdays vs. hdd).

What I would like to be able to do is lab various storage configurations, so that basically the i7 box will just run the hypervisor maybe from SSD or USB and the i3 box will provide the storage ?

I am just not sure if going with eSata is going to be OK or if I should look more into iSCSI? Should I look into multiple 1gb nics for data over ethernet or will eSata be enough even for 4-8 VM's instances running at the same time?

Finally, can someone recommend specific 2-4 port NICs that will work with ESC and/or 2008 HyperV ? I would like to run multiple VM's and dedicate one of the cisco switches to it and add this into my ccna lab basically.

JeanM,

This is plenty of equipment to run ESX (if all equipment is compatible). 8gb for the storage box should be enough, but--of course--16gb is better.

If you have some NICs in mind, just check them against the HCL (nothing better than verifying): VMware Compatibility Guide: System Search