Specing/Pricing out a home ESXi 5.5 box?

[Tom]

Ok, so I'm in need/want of a decent ESXi box, mostly due to it being the only decent virtualization scheme that supports windows and doesn't require a Windows Server license just to run the host. Basically I expect to have at least one windows guest that needs decent io speeds (something that I haven't gotten from KVM/Qemu in the past).

I've looked into some older Core i5/7 based Xeon setups, like a xeon 5500 or 5600 based dual socket boards. They are getting pretty cheap for what you get. Also looked at some modern Opteron C32 based setups which look promising, and some Socket 2011 systems which are so far out of my price range my mind boggles.

Looking for a good price/performance ratio. Absolute modern hardware is not required. I was actually thinking of using this 2u box I bought off ebay for this purpose, as it should do everything I want just fine. But it has one problem. It's loud as all hell.

My current plan is to get some either inexpensive new components (talking in the 1k area for mb + 2x cpus), or some older/used components off ebay for 500-800$.

I know some of you know your stuff when it comes to this area, so I was hoping you'd have some insights.

[Lazybones]

Vmware compatibility guide
http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php

You might have issues with 5.5 since it really depends on a central server more than 5.1 did.
https://communities.vmware.com/thread/457843

[Melbosa]

If you have to buy a windows server license anyway you might as well go HyperV. I could even set it up for you.  HyperV also does supportlinux distros... I run a few on my HyperV installations.  Your hardware options expand with the HyperV option as well.

[Tom]

I don't actually need a windows server license. IIRC you can use a regular retail sku in a virtual env as long as you're not using it anywhere else.

The performance I am seeing in windows on kvm is a lot better than I have seen in the past, so I could go that way as well.

[Melbosa]

But what ever you do decide to go with here are my recommendations from both my enterprise and small business experience in the vm worls:

• RAM RAM RAM - you will always running out before you know it
• 8 Nics minimum - you'll kick yourself if you have to do this one later
• HD space you think you need and add 50%

[Melbosa]

I don't actually need a windows server license. IIRC you can use a regular retail sku in a virtual env as long as you're not using it anywhere else.

The performance I am seeing in windows on kvm is a lot better than I have seen in the past, so I could go that way as well.

Yeah that is because your sku is married to your hardware if oem, and limited to moves every 90days if volume licensing.  Trust me, became a M$ licensing guru in the last year.  Why DC licensing can be attractive in large virtual environments.

So you do need one license of some type no matter how you run the windows server.

[Tom]

8 nice?

But yes, I'll be slapping a ton of ram in the box. as much as I can without breaking the bank (32-64GB?). I have some older 1TB drives I plan on using for vm storage. 4-5TB is a good starting point.

I don't actually need a windows server license. IIRC you can use a regular retail sku in a virtual env as long as you're not using it anywhere else.

The performance I am seeing in windows on kvm is a lot better than I have seen in the past, so I could go that way as well.

Yeah that is because your sku is married to your hardware if oem, and limited to moves every 90days if volume licensing.  Trust me, became a M$ licensing guru in the last year.  Why DC licensing can be attractive in large virtual environments.

Yeah, I said retail for a reason I'm not sure you can virtualize your OEM license... could be wrong.

[Melbosa]

Same vm licensing model applies to oem or volume licensing in terms of how many vms you can run.  Just the moving of the license is different between them.  Retail = oem in this regard.

[Tom]

I don't actually need too many windows vms. maybe a couple. one for sure, it'll be doing automatic mingw and msvc builds for various projects.

but what did you mean by "8 nice" ?

[Melbosa]

Stupid auto correct on this loaner phone.....


8 Nics

[Melbosa]

You can get away with 4 but more often I find i need at least 6 for fault tolerance when doing management, iscsi, nfs, and lan access.

[Tom]

Hm, that's something to think about. It seems a bit overkill for a home setup. I do actually have a switch capable of bonding at least 4 at a time though some boards I'm finding have 4 to begin with (sometimes with an extra for ipmi), and I'd only need to get a separate 4 port intel, or two two port intels...

My current vm host has a single GbE connection hooked up, even though it has two. I just haven't bothered. The actual load on it has historically been pretty low. But I should really think about hooking them both up since the mc server is on there, as well as the new backup raid5 array (that houses a copy of my nas, and "important" backups).

[Melbosa]

As for storage get most spindle count you can for the storage you need.  Damn iops kills me every time.

[Tom]

Yeah, acting as a compile cluster, it'll need more ioops than my current box thats for sure. question is how to handle that hmm, a raid5 array doesn't immediately help ioops I don't think (well I know the 300MB/s my current windows guest is seeing from the new 5x3TB raid5 helps with things )

[Melbosa]

Raid 10 is best for your compiles, but definitely hefty on cost.

I run full small business workloads on RAID 5/6.  It just really means the more spindles the better as a rule of thumb.