Home Server Required

stiggypop · 26 Mar 2009 at 22:43

Could you guys help me with a home server setup. Basically I want it to set up vm's on with various configurations to play about with, I.e., MS Exchange 2007, VMWare, Web Server, Media Server, File Server etc.

I am after a 64-bit setup with quite a bit of RAM, RAID 5 and as quiet and low power as possible.

Any suggestions?

iaind · 27 Mar 2009 at 07:45

Have a look at the ML115 thread. Quad core/1gb/160gb systems are going for sub 200 quid inc VAT. Wouldnt cost much to add some RAM and more HDs to it.

Why do you need RAID5 for a home test setup?

stiggypop · 27 Mar 2009 at 13:29

RAID 5 just for resilience... suppose it's not really required.

stiggypop · 27 Mar 2009 at 13:33

What do you reckon to this then?:

iaind · 27 Mar 2009 at 14:09

stiggypop said:
RAID 5 just for resilience... suppose it's not really required.

Nah not required really unless its important data

stiggypop · 4 Apr 2009 at 08:28

OK, so I ended up with:

HP ProLiant ML115 (Quad Core Opteron)
Adaptec 2610SA RAID Card
Replaced the 1GB EEC RAM with 8GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 PC6400
4x Maxtor 250GB HDD's (RAID 5)
The provided 160GB SATA disk will run standalone as an ISO Store

which is happily running VMware ESXi Update 4 from a 1GB Kingston DataTraveller connected to the onboard USB port.

I will be running:

1x Windows 2008 Domain Controller
1x ISA 2006 Server
1x Windows 2008 Web Server (IIS7, PHP, MySQL)
1x Exchange 2007 Server

keymoo · 4 Apr 2009 at 20:07

Hi I'm considering buying this for home use. Is it noisy? My wife prefers that my PCs are quiet.

swinnie · 4 Apr 2009 at 21:35

keymoo said:
Hi I'm considering buying this for home use. Is it noisy? My wife prefers that my PCs are quiet.

Do you prefer your wife to be quiet?

Our HP servers in our place are pretty noisy - we've got one in the office and with just the radio on we can hear it.

stiggypop · 5 Apr 2009 at 20:29

keymoo said:
Hi I'm considering buying this for home use. Is it noisy? My wife prefers that my PCs are quiet.

It's noisy when starting up but goes virtually silent after around 30-40 seconds.

fonzee · 5 Apr 2009 at 21:24

stiggypop said:
OK, so I ended up with:

HP ProLiant ML115 (Quad Core Opteron)
Adaptec 2610SA RAID Card
Replaced the 1GB EEC RAM with 8GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 PC6400
4x Maxtor 250GB HDD's (RAID 5)
The provided 160GB SATA disk will run standalone as an ISO Store

which is happily running VMware ESXi Update 4 from a 1GB Kingston DataTraveller connected to the onboard USB port.

I will be running:

1x Windows 2008 Domain Controller
1x ISA 2006 Server
1x Windows 2008 Web Server (IIS7, PHP, MySQL)
1x Exchange 2007 Server

The 2610SA fully supported under ESXi U4?

stiggypop · 6 Apr 2009 at 13:53

It certainly is mate. Check here:

http://vmprofessional.com/index.php?content=sata_faq

fonzee · 6 Apr 2009 at 16:18

stiggypop said:
It certainly is mate. Check here:

http://vmprofessional.com/index.php?content=sata_faq

ideal, got one 2610SA on the way :cool:

cheers bud