Help buying Intel CPU/Mobo for VM study lab use

Im going to microcenter pretty soon and would like suggestions on what kind of Intel cpu/mobo to get. Here are the specials: eB10120A PDFs-Desktop

I would like to start studying for the MCSA/E in a few months so will need VM labs to study with. What is the best cpu to get for this situation to run several VMs efficiently at one time? Is it true getting a "K" edition processor will give less virtualization functionality? How high-end of a processor should i get until its better to just get more RAM, SSDʻs, etc?

After MCSA, learning ESXi will also further enhance my career as well but i have a feeling that is a whole different ball game in terms of hardware.

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netsysllc

Get the most cores you can get at the fastest speed you can afford. Some cpus have hyper threading and some don't. I have an i7 with 4 cores and hyperthreading = 8 cores. memory is cheap get at least 32GB. and last hard drives will affect the speed considerably. Having more drives each with one or two VMs or using SSD drives will help.

wweboy

You don't need the fastest processor. a core i3 more than enough I'm easily running 4 to 5 virtual machines on my quad core Q6600 wiht 8gb of memory using VMWare Workstation. 16 to 24GB of ram and probably 1 SSD and another 500gb mechnical drive to store your data would be good. You really don't need much to do the labs to complete the MCSA / MCSE. I'm guessing your talking either 2k8 or 2k12 server. Honestly I've never had problems giving 2K8 1gb of ram or even 768mb of ram it may be a bit slow but its still more then enough to do the labs

JockVSJock

I think having a 64-bit OS makes a big difference, according to my research. I plan on upgrading my laptop soon from 32 to 64 bit Win 7, in order to have better performance when it comes to VMs.

gunbunnysoulja

I'm using the cheapest 1155 board/cpu w/8GB ram and it works amazing for my Xen lab. Pretty good for <$200.

If I did it over the only thing I would get would be 16gb ram over 8gb. With that said, I still have 8 active VM's at any given time working great (iterations of Server 2003/2008/Windows 7/Windows XP).

I can't speak for others, but with Xen hypervisor CPU does not seem very important. Especially since mine was $45 and 2 cores with no HT.

Trifidw

I've got a i7 920, Gigabyte EX58-UD5 and 48GB RAM (says it's unsupported but it works fine) to run my VM environment. I don't think you'll be able to do it much cheaper if you wish to run a few simultaneously.

sratakhin

48GB?! I only have 8GB and can simultaneously run about 10 virtual machines consisting of Windows 2003 & 2008, XP, 7 and even 8.
My DC is Server 2003 using 512MB of RAM. More than enough. For 2008, I would probably use a little bit more. XP machines run fine with 256MB and 7 runs with 512MB.

gunbunnysoulja

Trifidw wrote: »

I've got a i7 920, Gigabyte EX58-UD5 and 48GB RAM (says it's unsupported but it works fine) to run my VM environment. I don't think you'll be able to do it much cheaper if you wish to run a few simultaneously.

I did mine for <$200 and I have 8 VM's working at once with room to spare (Multiple Server 08, Windows XP, Windows 7, etc).

Even with my dual core, non-HT, $45 Celeron processor, all my VM's run amazing.

inscom.brigade

12 core | 144 gig memory <- very cool huh?

Newegg.com - ASUS Z8PE-D18(ASMB4-IKVM) Dual LGA 1366 Intel 5520 SSI EEB 3.61 Dual Intel Xeon 5500 and 5600 Series Server Motherboard

it even comes with an rs232 port

CodeBlox

I put 512mb of ram in my server 2008 VMs and they don't have problems.

pumbaa_g

Firstly it depends on how much you are willing to spend. Its like going to a Auto Fanatic and saying recommend a car, and if you are not careful you will be putting up your house on sale to buy a Ferrari

If you are looking for a home lab the basic ones can start less $500 with Zambezi 8 Cores 32 GB RAM if you can get a good deal on a SSD in this range all the better. Apart from this look for a NAS or just attach SATA Hard Disk and add using Software iSCSI. If you do your R&D properly it may be enough for future certifications as well (with a few tweaks).
One the wrong side of $2000 you can look at Xeon Processors with a Motherboard that supports 2 sockets and 64 GB of RAM. Pair them with a couple of SSD Drives in RAID and you are good to go.
Mostly its finding the balance to serve your purpose, apart from that ensure that the processor supports Virtualization/64 bits/4 Cores to ensure that you can play around.

tpatt100

I can't make up my mind what box I want to build for VMware. I have workstation on my laptop but I want a box at home that "if" I want to learn more about VSphere I can (been reading the books quite a bit). I was going for AMD but Mini boards are slim and seems the AMD/Intel boards like to top out at 16gb of ram.

Then I ran into the Shuttle SH67H3 on Newegg and that has the small box case, motherboard and power supply for $229, Intel only not a big deal but the board has four ram slots for a max of 32GB

THEN I ran into Synology NAS devices, spent the evening researching those and find myself wanting one for home use and possible ISCSI use for Vmware later.

demonfurbie

i got a i5 2500 and 12 gig of ram on a intel board and it all works well for vm labbing

only upgrade id like to make is an ssd for the os and each vm having its own hd