Spec for a VM server

elrasho

elrasho

elrasho

Soldato
Joined
12 Jan 2009
Posts
6,446
Im specing a machine for a VM server running around 5 VMs (WinServer2008, WinXP, possibly some Win7 Pro). My budget is around £200 and heres what I've got:

AMD Athlon II X3 450 3.2GHz Socket AM3 95w 1.5MB L2 Cache Retail

Asus M4A78LT-M Socket AM3 AMD SB710 DVI VGA HDMI 8 Channel Audio mATX Motherboard

G-Skill 4GB DDR3 1333MHz Ripjaws Memory Module CL9 (9-9-9-24) 1.5V

Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache

Samsung SH-S223 22x DVD±RW DL & RAM SATA Optical Drive

Casecom 400W 12cm Fan PSU - 20+4pin 1x SATA 4x Molex

Casecom MA-1199 Shiny Black MATX Tower Case -

Xenta Black Wired Mac Style Keyboard with Black Optical Mouse

What do you guys think? Im running the required VMs on the PC in my sig and its only using 3.3GB (thats including the Windows 7 Pro running the VMware Workstation 7 on it).
 
What'll the VM's be doing? If you're going to be working each one hard then you're going to really want more RAM than that.

If you're just doing some dev work and will only have one/two open at a time then you'll be alright :)
 
I'll be mainly using it to go through the MCITP modules, I'd imagine those wont be too taxing. And once I've done the exams I could always stick a 5850 in and use it as a second gaming rig lol
 
Are you going to be using ESXi ?
Should be OK but might need to get an intel network card depending what is onboard. Google for some of the vmware whitelists to check and any other potential conflicts.

Also, notice the power supply lists as only one sata lead but you need two. Need to get a molex to sata converter. Just built a budget machine and had the exact issue. One is daft these days.
 
I dont know what ESXi is and looking at their website it doesn't make it any clearer, neither do Youtube vdieos. Im using Workstation 7 for now and it does the trick. Each XP machine has 512MB ram allocated to them, they only there for the sake of it, the main thing is the Windows Server 2008 VM
 
What software are you using for your Virtulisation? Are you using VMWares ESXi hypervisor or Windows 2008 Hyper-V?

If going with VMWare, you will need to look at the HCL to make sure your components are on that list or it is unlikely to work.

Kimbie
 
Im using VMware Workstation 7, is that the same as ESXi? Ive seen screenshots and videos of ESXi that seems to run from boot where as Workstation 7 runs in windows.
 
Here is the link for ESXi:
http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere-hypervisor/overview.html

It does differ consideranly from Workstation as it installs onto a 'bare' machine. You do however require another PC to access the server for installs and running the virtual machines. Use RDP etc for access.
The main advantage is performance as you do not have the underlying Windows install using resources as you would with Workstation.
The downside is compatability with some standard PC hardware, hence the suggestions to check the whitelists.
 
Thanks for the info, I'll be sticking to Workstation 7 then as I plan to have a dual monitor setup. One showing Workstation 7 and the other my MCITP ebooks so I can cross reference between the two.
 
I'd seriously rethink that as the OS and then Workstation 7 is going to slow it down and use the RAM mainly for the OS rather than the Workstations. 4GB simply won't be enough especially if you need to boot 2/3 machines up (which you will if you're going through the MCITP route as you'll need a DC and client minimum and then you'll potentially need a DNS server, DHCP server, multiple clients, etc.)

Even with ESXi (which uses @ 600MB for the hypervisor) I'd still be getting more RAM.

If you do have another PC spare then I'd highly suggest going to ESXi and still using the dual monitor option (as once ESXi is setup you won't need a monitor).

M.
 
m4cc45 said:
I'd seriously rethink that as the OS and then Workstation 7 is going to slow it down and use the RAM mainly for the OS rather than the Workstations. 4GB simply won't be enough especially if you need to boot 2/3 machines up (which you will if you're going through the MCITP route as you'll need a DC and client minimum and then you'll potentially need a DNS server, DHCP server, multiple clients, etc.)

Even with ESXi (which uses @ 600MB for the hypervisor) I'd still be getting more RAM.

If you do have another PC spare then I'd highly suggest going to ESXi and still using the dual monitor option (as once ESXi is setup you won't need a monitor).

M.
Click to expand...

This is exactly the setup I use. As said once the ESXi is installed, all virtual machines are built setup and managed via another PC. I have the VMs running on one monitor and any resources open on the other.

Out of interest, if you already use Workstation on your existing PC, why are you thinking of getting another for effectively the same setup? Could you just add more memory to your existing PC which I guess is just as powerful?
 
If using your workstation to run the VMs is a must i'd seriously consider switching to Virtualbox, i don't know how things are now but VMWare Desktop/Workstation/Player used to be crippled in terms of performance and VBox was streets ahead.

Also, as suggested if you're happy with that route, just upgrade your existing box - lots of ram is very important!.

It's not for production so it doesn't really matter :)
 
VMware Workstation is actually pretty good (I get it free as I'm a VCP) - it now supports Video Acceleration as well which makes it useful to me (as a retro gamer). However, for this kind of work, you definitely need to look at ESXi. As it's free it makes no sense to use anything else you have greater control over nigh on every aspect.

The only downside is no Virtual Center (well you could get a trial but that would eat more resources as ideally you'd run it as a VM). Really, to do MCITP training, you're going to need to run more Servers/Clients than you have resources for. ESXi will manage memory much better than Workstation as well. Also with ESXi it's easier to clone / snapshot, etc. which you will be doing a lot of during the training.


M.
 
Ok so here's my plan.


1. Install ESXi on the rig in my signature
2. RDP from my netbook downstairs to the ESXi server in my room
3. Use the second monitor hooked up to my netbook to view the MCITP ebooks

How's that for a plan? Thanks for all your input everyone :)... oh Im gonna get another 4gb ram too

EDIT: Ive registered on thei site but I dont which one of the ESXi downlaods I need, I want the one that will install from a USB right?
 
Last edited:
bump

Im planning on getting started with this soon, please can someone help me get ESXi up and running? Would be eternally greatfull :)

edit: am I right in saying I install ESXi on one PC and then RDP to it from another PC?
 
Last edited:
elrasho said:
am I right in saying I install ESXi on one PC and then RDP to it from another PC?
Click to expand...

Sort of, yes :)

You do install ESXi on one machine then you install vSphere Client on another. From the client you can create VMs within ESXi - then you can either use them via the client or via RDP.
 
There is a linux client I'm not sure what flavours of linux it installs on (I'd imagine most though).

If, when installed, you go to the webpage (http://whatever_ip_you_gave_it_on_install) then there is a download client. You can, alternatively, manage most aspects via the web interface as well though it's no where near as good as the client.


M.
 
This may be a bit late if you've already set your lab up, but seeing as this is for MCITP training surely you'd be better installing Server 2008 R2 SP1 and running Hyper-V rather than ESXi? You're certainly going to need to know how to install and use it for a few of the exams (70-643, 70-646 and 70-647) so why not get familiar with it from the off?

That's exactly what I've done anyway, though I'm lucky in that I've managed to commandeer a decomm'd DL380 G5 along with some rack space and a shared ADSL connection at work :D
 
Got an extra 4GB of ram and 1TB hard drive, gonna add these to the spec in my sig and get cracking :) Im gonna use ESXi for now Trojan, I understand using WM2008 would be more tailored for my needs but Im curious about ESXi lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom