Anyone using ESXi on standard PC hardware?

[ajf]

I want to install ESXi (Vsphere Hypervisor) on a PC and not sure what hardware is supported.
Can I just use a standard Dell Inspiron type spec or build a normal quad core Phenom based system for example?

Not using RAID or anything, just SATA disks.

 

[J1nxy]

The network card is the biggest issue with PC based builds. You need to make sure the NIC is supported which I've found is not that common on PC motherboards so ended up buying a cheap Intel GB NIC. Other option is XenServer which is more hardware tolerant.

 

[KIA]

Try it and hope for the best.

 

[droyden]

I ran it without issues on Dell Optiplex 755's

 

[Westyfield2]

Had it fine on Dell Optiplex 755s, 760s, 780s .

 

[memyselfandi]

I have it running fine on a K45 Shuttle box (with the addition of a PCI Intel NIC) as a small test machine.

 

[tntcoder]

I just built a new box out of standard hardware for esxi. I followed the whitelist specs here http://www.vm-help.com/esx40i/esx40_whitebox_HCL.php and picked a motherboard that worked out the box

 

[J.B]

The whitebox list is what I used for my home server - no problems.

I did have to go on the bay and buy an Intel Pro NIC for under a tenner.

 

[Chaos]

Just google Esxi whitebox

 

[LostCorpse]

As said : http://www.vm-help.com/esx40i/esx40_whitebox_HCL.php is the best place to start. But i've had ESXI running on the HP model's DC7100, 7600, 7700, 7800.
At the moment i'm using 3 DC7600's to run 4-5 VM's mostly for remote access peeps and one as a legacy windows application server, test bed and some Administative tasks...

not really any problems other than Backups if you need them... there are some work around for that though, some esxi scripts, using FTP, or some SAN mirroring ect. there does seem to be ageneral complant with download speed from the esxi server.
Depends on how imporant your data is.

ESXI 3.5 Update 5
There was a work arround i needed to do with the DC7600, it wasn't detecting the harddisk properly so had to "adjust" the settings a tad

i do need to look into getting some Gig cards and setup a san ect, but for starters the above is a great starting point

 

[ajf]

Many thanks for the replies.
I hadn't seen that list so that is very helpful.
I haven't actually got the PC yet so wanted to see what would be suitable. just going to be a test box.

 

[Aod]

you could try one of these:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110620788643

 

[Sp00n]

I ran 3.5 on a precision desktop machine

You'll have more luck with the older verions.

 

[Nutbusta]

4.01 on Q6600, Gigabyte mobo runs great (but won't boot from usb)

For nic just get an intel 1gb from the whitelist

 

[ajf]

you could try one of these:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110620788643

Saw these in the other thread. Tempted but as they are generic, it is unclear what they have motherboard wise etc and whether they are compatible. Not sure the NIC is whitelisted either.

 

[tntcoder]

If it's any help I went for the Asus P5Q-VM DO motherboard, it works 100% out of the box NIC included. Also takes S775 Intel so you can throw in a decent quad core and up to 16gb of DDR2

 

[BillHicksRIP]

Good luck finding 4x4GB of DDR2 for that board for sensible price. 4x4GB of DDR2 PC2-6400 is ~£300. I've got a Asus P5Q-E which takes PC2-8500 and trying to find 16GB has been a waste of time, unfortuantely.

 

[ajf]

I know. I am surprised how fast DDR2 memory has dissapeared from mainstream.

 

[Aod]

Saw these in the other thread. Tempted but as they are generic, it is unclear what they have motherboard wise etc and whether they are compatible. Not sure the NIC is whitelisted either.

my server arrived today.
the NIC's are Broadcom BCM5721 units. a cursory google search suggests that these will function with ESX/ESXi

feel free to ask anything else about it.