Hardware ESXi server

[II_Echelon_II]

Hey!

 

I made a topic a few days ago asking wether i should go for server or desktop grade hardware for running an ESXi virtualisation server.

I went with desktop grade, because i'd be a lot quieter. Now as i'm trying so assemble a server pc i realize... I havo no idea what hardware an ESXi machine requires 

Could anyone give me an idea what hardware i'd need to run a server like that? It's going to be running 10 VM's maximum, things like a database server, webserver, fileserver, ftp, firewall etc.

This will mostly be used internally so i don't expect much traffic or load. It'll mostly be based on linux.

I'd like to hear what you think!

[Atlantisman]

for ESXi definitely get all intel NICs. And get as much RAM as you can afford, the CPU doesn't matter a whole lot, unless you expect to be doing cpu intensive things on the VMs.

 

EDIT: also, the speed of the ram doesn't matter much, go for capacity.

[II_Echelon_II]

for ESXi definitely get all intel NICs. And get as much RAM as you can afford, the CPU doesn't matter a whole lot, unless you expect to be doing cpu intensive things on the VMs.

 

EDIT: also, the speed of the ram doesn't matter much, go for capacity.

 

Thanks for the reply, but that's is just the basic stuff, i'm looking for a somewhat more specific answer

I know for RAM is should at least count 2GB per VM.

And CPU something around 1 core per 4 VM's.

I wanted to know what you guys think and if what i'm thinking is right, because i'm pretty new to virtualisation servers...

[565465464]

Budget?

[WALK3R]

Get a decent cored (AMD 6300 or 4460)  CPU with vt-x/amd-v, as much ram you can get, the biggest issue with ESXI is storage the IOPs are kind of bad, depending on how much storage you need get some SSD's.

[II_Echelon_II]

Get a decent cored (AMD 6300 or 4460)  CPU with vt-x/amd-v, as much ram you can get, the biggest issue with ESXI is storage the IOPs are kind of bad, depending on how much storage you need get some SSD's.

 

I was thinking of an i5, they're a little bit more expensive, but i'm going for quiet so i think i'm better off with an intel CPU.

32GB of RAM should be enough right?

And for storage 2x 1TB in RAID1. SSD might be an expension in the future, but as of now i'm trying to keep in cheap-ish

Does that sound like something that could work?

[II_Echelon_II]

Budget?

 

Budget?

 

I don't see how the budget is really related?

I'm looking for a system that can run 10 non intensive VM's so you should look according to performance, not according to budget...

If you'd build a system built according to budget it'd be tailored for a budget, not for the use.

but <€500,- would be nice

[WALK3R]

I was thinking of an i5, they're a little bit more expensive, but i'm going for quiet so i think i'm better off with an intel CPU.

32GB of RAM should be enough right?

And for storage 2x 1TB in RAID1. SSD might be an expension in the future, but as of now i'm trying to keep in cheap-ish

Does that sound like something that could work?

 

Yea that would work, I think 32 is a little mad I ran 16GB and never had an issue but each to their own. I forgot to mention you might need an Intel NIC depending on what mobo you use, ESXI used to be really picky with nics (but I think that was ESXI 4.0 ish).

[II_Echelon_II]

Yea that would work, I think 32 is a little mad I ran 16GB and never had an issue but each to their own. I forgot to mention you might need an Intel NIC depending on what mobo you use, ESXI used to be really picky with nics (but I think that was ESXI 4.0 ish).

 

Thanks! I'll check VMWare's HCL before buying!