Machine Spec

[jimbo_01]

Can anyone recommend a decent machine spec for virtualization? Im looking for a micro ATX form factor motherboard and case, intergrated graphics, dual core cpu and raid support. Wanted something small and quiet. Budget is about £500.

 

[BillytheImpaler]

What OS will be your host OS? How much disk space do you need?

EDIT: And how many VMs do you need to run simultaneously?

 

[jimbo_01]

I was looking to install 8GB of memory with at least 1TB disk space, I will be running Windows 2003 enterprise 64bit edition.

 

[Dougiebabe2003]

How small do you need the case and how much can you bugde on your budget?

Edit: Most importantly...Are you O/c'ing?

 

[jimbo_01]

I have no requirements to overclock, everything at standard. Something smaller than your normal desktop. May allow up to £600.

 

[BillytheImpaler]

 

[atomiser]

for performance reasons in vmware i always prefer one hard drive for the host operating system and a seperate drive for the guest operating system(s). most m-atx cases only have space for one or two hard drives, so quite how you are going to do raid, i'm not sure.

you can still go for the m-atx form factor with integrated video (i really like these) but you may have to go for a half-way house on case size to fit the disks in.

i'm not sure i would 'trust' an array of disks to an on-board controller, so you may want to look for a dedicated card.

someone did a nice spec a while back for an amd dual core based system for vmware - i'll see if i can dig it out, perhaps you will be able to adapt it for your needs.

with respect, i think you may need to increase your budget here a little.

edit: damn, you guys are fast! you've done a spec in the time it's taken my to write out all my speil above!

 

[Dougiebabe2003]

First time I seen you spec something wrong Billy

That Mobo only has two slots so max of 4GB



Has 3 HDD's.... take one out to save £65

If you O/C you will save a ton of cash... If not add another ~£60 for a faster CPU

Case isn't an mATX but I can't find one and PSU comes with this one... Something to think about.

There is this if you want a small case but it's more.....

 

[BillytheImpaler]

Good call, sir. It didn't even occur to me.

 

[Dougiebabe2003]

Good call, sir. It didn't even occur to me.

Copied you on the RAM tho

 

[jimbo_01]

Thanks guys, seems a decent spec for the price!

 

[BillytheImpaler]

Revised for new budget:

Going with the quad means you can go for a similarly cheap mobo since it doesn't need 1333 MHz support. Win-win.

 

[Dougiebabe2003]

I would go for the above, nothing short of fantasic really...

 

[jimbo_01]

The 6 onboard sata ports, do they all support raid?

 

[BillytheImpaler]

As above, I wouldn't trust mission-critical data to cheapo onboard winraid. Are you looking for data security or speed?

 

[jimbo_01]

I am looking more towards speed, what type of raid controller do you recommand?

 

[BillytheImpaler]

That's beyond my area of competency. You might ask around in the hard drives forum.