Home server setup esxi or hyper v?

rufusbear · 9 May 2017 at 10:18

Hi all,

I'm looking at building a home server to centralise my home network but i'm not to sure if i should go down the hyper v or esxi route for the hypervisor. I haven't bought the hardware yet until i decide which way I am going to go. I have a server 2012 license (not r2) which would allow me to apply the hyper v role with two virtual machine instances I believe. Im not to sure on the esxi licensing but I'm sure it would work out more expensive for me from my little understanding of it.

Im thinking I would like to have a home domain to play with so would require a DC of course, if i was to go down the hyper v route would it be better to install server 2012 on the physical server and then have another instance of server 2012 virtualised to run as the DC? or would I be better off having the DC role applied to the physical server itself? I would like another couple of VMs maybe linux to run a plex server and perhaps another windows server for file sharing.

I do currently have a synology nas with 6tb of storage which is where everything is currently stored and shared out but i'm leaning towards moving away from this. I wasn't sure of a good way to integrate it into the network I'm looking to create, maybe backups perhaps?

Client wise I have 2 windows laptops, 1 macbook and 1 imac (not sure how these would integrate into AD though) 3 iphones, 3 tablets, smart TV, raspberry pi and an apple TV box which isn't really used.

Be grateful for any opinions on the best way to go about achieving this network setup. Would also be cool to see other home setups people have and how overkill they are

Buffalo2102 · 9 May 2017 at 10:51

I use Proxmox VE as my hypervisor - completely free and opensource. I have 11TB of storage shared on the network and currently run 5 VMs; pi-hole, mail/web server, serviio, sab/couchpotato/sonar/headphones, and 1 for testing Linux distros. Works great for me.

beavis · 9 May 2017 at 14:34

HyperV works well for me, but really it doesn't make a massive amount of difference if its HyperV, ESXi or Proxmox. HyperV 2012 is getting on a little now, but would be fine for home. If you are looking to host 2012 guests then it would be the best way to go.

rufusbear said:
I have a server 2012 license (not r2) which would allow me to apply the hyper v role with two virtual machine instances I believe.

Thats two additional Windows 2012 guest licenses, assuming you are not doing anything more than HyperV on the host, otherwise that will use one of the two licenses. You can have as many (for example Linux) VMs as you have resources for. If you want more Windows VMs then you'll want to get licenses for them.

Mujja · 11 May 2017 at 15:54

rufusbear said:
Im not to sure on the esxi licensing but I'm sure it would work out more expensive for me from my little understanding of it.

I moved to Hyper-V after features were removed from the free ESXi. It's also not as steep a learning curve as ESXi.

rufusbear said:
Im thinking I would like to have a home domain to play with so would require a DC of course, if i was to go down the hyper v route would it be better to install server 2012 on the physical server and then have another instance of server 2012 virtualised to run as the DC? or would I be better off having the DC role applied to the physical server itself? I would like another couple of VMs maybe linux to run a plex server and perhaps another windows server for file sharing.

From what I've read if a role is enabled on the physical server you lose your 2 VM Server 2012 licenses. I've only enabled DFS on the physical for replication but I'm using a MAK key so haven't had any activation issues.

crinkleshoes · 11 May 2017 at 20:53

I use Hyper-V for the reason you said... you can have 2x virtual machines included in the base license.

I managed to get a datacentre edition license though, so unlimited VMs... not that I use it :/

I would keep the bare metal server as basic as possible and use a VM for the DC... makes it easier if you want to do a complete overhaul in the future plus you get snapshots etc.

Hyper-V has some other benefits... like it's better at sharing resources.

But VM Ware has the performance element... it's faster, mostly due to running on a better file system.

rufusbear · 12 May 2017 at 09:47

Thanks very much for the help guys, I will give both proxmox as go and hyper v and see which one works out better for me. Just need to build a custom low power server to house everything in. I do have an old mac mini which i might try and install windows and see how it plays. Does anyone have their main storage array on a separate nas box or do you tend to have it all in with the main server hardware?

Liquidfox · 12 May 2017 at 16:33

Always internal, a NAS won't be anywhere near fast enough.

Throrik · 14 May 2017 at 16:30

I used HyperV to redo mine from ESXi because I wanted to learn more about Hyper-V to study for the MCSA, whereas I am already fairly comfortable with VMWare from the last few years. Both are pretty familiar especially on the homelab scale.

SupraWez · 14 May 2017 at 16:51

Never tried HyperV, always found VMWare does everything I need and generally does it well when set-up properly, that last bit is key

Have looked at Proxmox but not got round to trying it yet.

Mr-White · 14 May 2017 at 17:07

tbh in such a small environment it'll just be down to personal preference and cost

IAmATeaf · 17 May 2017 at 12:03

I use Windows Server 2012 R2 and then run VMWare Workstation on top of that.

Although I've played around with Hyper-V when I tested it long ago I personally found it quite sluggish so went back to VMWare Workstation. Having said this, if you can get a license for Server 2016 then Hyper-V in that is meant to be the mutts nuts?

4Qman · 17 May 2017 at 20:56

A little off track, maybe Unraid could be an option. Nothing but great things to say about it.

crinkleshoes · 17 May 2017 at 21:50

Not so great for virtualisation - in my experience it has been unstable on systems where vmware and hyper-v have worked perfectly.

rufusbear · 18 May 2017 at 14:55

Thanks for the input guys, I am in the process of looking at parts and looking to build the server from scratch. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good cpu and i guess a decent case with around 4 storage bays? Looking to keep things as compact and as low powered as possible.

Cheers

hyperseven · 18 May 2017 at 15:05

rufusbear said:
Thanks for the input guys, I am in the process of looking at parts and looking to build the server from scratch. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good cpu and i guess a decent case with around 4 storage bays? Looking to keep things as compact and as low powered as possible.

Cheers

Get a used Dell r710 off the bay

crinkleshoes · 18 May 2017 at 19:02

rufusbear said:
Thanks for the input guys, I am in the process of looking at parts and looking to build the server from scratch. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good cpu and i guess a decent case with around 4 storage bays? Looking to keep things as compact and as low powered as possible.

Cheers

hyperseven said:
Get a used Dell r710 off the bay

You could and they're good servers... but still rather noisy.

These guys have some good offers at low prices, lower than anything I've seen in the UK:
http://natex.us/motherboards/package-deals/

Took under a week to get to me too.

Then you have the option of using any case that supports e-ATX motherboards... I have a Fractal design large thing and use Noctua coolers to keep the volume down as it's currently running in my home office. New house it'll be able to go in the garage at least.