Spec for a VM server

elrasho

elrasho

elrasho

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12 Jan 2009
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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).
 
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
 
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
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?
 
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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?
 
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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
 
Decided to build a new rig instead, I value my main rig too much for me to start messing around with ESXi/VMs and other stuff. Gonna get the parts that I listed in my first post.
 
Yep gone for a dedicated machine instead :) The AMD Athlon II X3 450 and 4GB of ram for now, if I need more I'll buy some later on as I cant really afford it right now.

I've been trying to find some information on Hyper-V with AMD CPUs but there's hardly anything on the web, wanted to see how it compares to Intel CPUs
 
Im going down the Server 2008 R2 and Hyper-V route. I have a 1TB hard drive so Im thinking splitting the partitions like this:

C:\ 200GB for WinServer2008R2
D:\ 200GB for VM Clients
E:\ 600GB for VM Servers

This should be OK right?
 
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Just finished building and installing WinServer2008R2 as I type this. Gonna run through all the Windows Updates then install Hyper-V and get cracking with 70-640 Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring :)
 
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