Spec me a home server for VMs

ringo747

ringo747

ringo747

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I'm planning on building a home box to use for some of my SharePoint stuff. I will want the ability to run up to 4 VMs at one time

SharePoint front end
SQL Server
DC
Windows 7 development box

I reckon it will need about 8GB of RAM for that.

What kind of specs should I be looking at? What is the best disk layout for this? It is ok just to stick them all on one disk?
 
I'd personally be looking at something like a 6 core AMD for running 4 VMs (Assuming whatever virtualisation platform you are using supports AMD-V).

That said, it depends entirely what kind of loads the VMs are likely to be under. I used to run a heavily loaded linux VM along side a linux dev VM and the Windows host on a quad core, and that would appear to struggle some times.
 
I'd recommend whats in my sig mate ;) - i use VM's all the time - currently got a 4 server citrix farm running lol
 
If you want SQL and Sharepoint to be anywhere near responsive, you're going to need more than 8GB of RAM to split between the 4 and the host, especially if you don't use something memory lightweight as the hypervisor.
 
Just upgraded my box for this exact reason, and its going to depend massively on what version of sp your using. 2010 is a much more resource hungry beast than WSS3... I went with the following:

X6 1090t
8gb DDR3 (this is at the edge of acceptable if i am honest) our production environment (100 user) sits at minimum 7.7gb memory usage all of the time.
disk performance on a dev platform is not really a problem a simple raid array does wonders at making it snappy but up until last week i was running all of mine off of a single f1 1tb.


If your using it as a dev platform then 8 gb shared is working well for me across 2vm's and the host. is there any reason why you couldn't put sql server and sharepoint on the same vm? in fact you could put the lot on 1 vm and be done with it? Must admit this is what I have done in the past when creating front end mofifications, workflows and custom code (event recievers and what not).
 
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Thanks guys - definitely will be going for 8GB RAM minimum but maybe 12 would be even better.

Vince I will be doing a full farm installation and want to keep SQL VM separate as plan on doing some SSRS stuff too. I want to be able to clone a basic WFE and then be able to add extra instances for testing if need be.

It will only ever be one user doing anything but I'm well familiar with how big a beast it is to run well!
 
ringo, it depends on how you want to run it, do you:

Want to use your pc for other things too, i.e gaming, surfing whilst running vm(s)?

If yes: VMware free server (EOL), VMware Player (you can create vms with this now), VMware Workstation, VirtualBox

Want to use the PC completely as a hypervisor, i.e the only OS is a bootable hypervisor image

If yes: VMware ESXi, XenServer 5.6 (I'm a big fan of Citrix and XenServer but the GUI is not quite as hot as ESXi, however, I personally think XenServer is faster and better optimised).

.....
 
I probably would like to be able to use it as normal PC too but if it is better performance running only hypervisor then I would probably do that.
 
Server 2008 R2 Core with Hyper-V role is also a contender for a decent hypervisor. Which I assume you have dev licensing for if you are going to be running that lab setup.
 
paradigm said:
Server 2008 R2 Core with Hyper-V role is also a contender for a decent hypervisor. Which I assume you have dev licensing for if you are going to be running that lab setup.
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Hyper-V Server is available for free from the Microsoft website and has some handy scripts built in that the Hyper-V role on 2008 R2 Core lacks. I would personally go for VMWare Workstation for what you want to do, though you will have to pay for it.
 
Saundie said:
Hyper-V Server is available for free from the Microsoft website and has some handy scripts built in that the Hyper-V role on 2008 R2 Core lacks. I would personally go for VMWare Workstation for what you want to do, though you will have to pay for it.
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Not really, you'd manage it through SCVMM from another workstation, which gives you all the full feature set, way beyond what is possible with a GUI install of Hyper-V.

I'd avoid VMware Server, VMware Player, VMware Workstation, Virtualbox and the like, you don't want the bloat of a fully functional OS below your hypervisor platform, especially when you are going to be tight on RAM as it is.
 
If I had 12GB RAM would it allow me to run a full OS as the host?

At the moment I am running SharePoint on a VM on laptop with 5GB assigned to SP and another DC VM running with 1GB. It is fairly sluggish to say the least!

Ideally I don't want to pay anything for the OS so I can either use MS stuff from MSDN account or free VMWare.
 
paradigm said:
Not really, you'd manage it through SCVMM from another workstation, which gives you all the full feature set, way beyond what is possible with a GUI install of Hyper-V.
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For a single server in a development environment? I understand your point in general terms, but I don't see how it is relevant to this specific scenario.

paradigm said:
I'd avoid VMware Server, VMware Player, VMware Workstation, Virtualbox and the like, you don't want the bloat of a fully functional OS below your hypervisor platform, especially when you are going to be tight on RAM as it is.
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I agree, assuming that this is not the OP's sole computer. I have tried to use a VM as my primary workstation and found it quite frustrating.

ringo747 said:
At the moment I am running SharePoint on a VM on laptop with 5GB assigned to SP and another DC VM running with 1GB. It is fairly sluggish to say the least!.
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I may be mistaken, but it could be the hard disk causing a bottleneck. It's hard to say, really.
 
OK so if I look at the AMD 6 core processors what mobo and RAM can I put with them? Would you recommend overclocking? I would try and aim for 12GB RAM if that is possible but it might limit any overclock.

If someone would be so kind to spec me something that would be great.
 
ringo747 said:
OK so if I look at the AMD 6 core processors what mobo and RAM can I put with them? Would you recommend overclocking? I would try and aim for 12GB RAM if that is possible but it might limit any overclock.

If someone would be so kind to spec me something that would be great.
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I'd recommend Intel, even if it means dropping back to 4 threads. I've got a Q6600 and a Phenom II 4-core both running as dev boxes at home and the AMD box is by far and a way less stable.

Personally I'd be looking at a cheap branded server, either new or used, and completely remove any thoughts about overclocking or performance tweaking from the rig at all. Don't even entertain the idea of overclocking a server platform.
 
paradigm said:
I'd recommend Intel, even if it means dropping back to 4 threads. I've got a Q6600 and a Phenom II 4-core both running as dev boxes at home and the AMD box is by far and a way less stable.
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Less stable in what way?

Also, I'd have to disagree on buying server stuff for home. Not only is it going to be louder (which may or may not be a consideration for the OP, but my ML110 can be heard around the house at night, and that is locked in a cupboard! The r210 was about three times as loud :() and more expensive, but it simply isn't required for a personal development machine. Especially where he is running VMs and can dump them on another machine at any time. Seems like a huge waste of money for no gain.

edit: comedy r210 video http://www.flickr.com/photos/22354094@N02/4189268793/
 
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