Hardware help for bench tech desktop server

[REKNAZ]

I have convinced my management to let me spec a desktop/rackmount server rather then using my laptop. I work as a bench technician repairing mining equipment. My aim is to be able to run 10 VM's+ or containers from this machine each VM/container with it's own dedicated expansion card that has Ethernet, USB, RS232, and most optimistically CAN. (power comes from a seperate 24volt power supply)

 

The aim is to be able to set up 10+ units returned for repair. Power them up, reprogram and test them all simultaneusly to then have them all ready to be physically repaired once fault finding is complete. My challenge is finding a mother board with enough PCI slots to accommadate all the expansion cards and to find an expansion card that actually includes the interfaces I am looking for. I'm pretty sure I can twist their arm into giving me $5000 once I convince management of the improved repair rate as I won't be hitting a bunch of limitations of my work laptop (DELL Latitude 7490 with a DELL K17a dock and USB to RS232 adapters etc) needing to use adapters all the time and stoping one task to be able to do another etc.

 

My thoughts for CPU are threadripper, the 24 cores alocating 2 to each machine would give me 12 simultaneus repairs which would be great. However, I am lost for most the other hardware and could really use some suggestions. e.g most suited chassis, manufacturer, virtualisation tools.

 

Also note that different units I am repairing use debian Linux and Windows CE... workspace is best suited on windows at the moment. And note nothing i'm doing is really cpu intensive, just a whole lot of multitasking.

 

Thank you in advance  

[lx_srs]

11 minutes ago, REKNAZ said:

I have convinced my management to let me spec a desktop/rackmount server rather then using my laptop. I work as a bench technician repairing mining equipment. My aim is to be able to run 10 VM's+ or containers from this machine each VM/container with it's own dedicated expansion card that has Ethernet, USB, RS232, and most optimistically CAN. (power comes from a seperate 24volt power supply)

 

The aim is to be able to set up 10+ units returned for repair. Power them up, reprogram and test them all simultaneusly to then have them all ready to be physically repaired once fault finding is complete. My challenge is finding a mother board with enough PCI slots to accommadate all the expansion cards and to find an expansion card that actually includes the interfaces I am looking for. I'm pretty sure I can twist their arm into giving me $5000 once I convince management of the improved repair rate as I won't be hitting a bunch of limitations of my work laptop (DELL Latitude 7490 with a DELL K17a dock and USB to RS232 adapters etc) needing to use adapters all the time and stoping one task to be able to do another etc.

 

My thoughts for CPU are threadripper, the 24 cores alocating 2 to each machine would give me 12 simultaneus repairs which would be great. However, I am lost for most the other hardware and could really use some suggestions. e.g most suited chassis, manufacturer, virtualisation tools.

 

Also note that different units I am repairing use debian Linux and Windows CE... workspace is best suited on windows at the moment. And note nothing i'm doing is really cpu intensive, just a whole lot of multitasking.

 

Thank you in advance  

I don't know a ton about the hardware you need but honest to god you really don't need much to run windows in a VM.  Used to run 10+ Windows server/windows 10 vms on a quad core in college.  Keep in mind that you can over-provision cores, especially if each VM isn't using a lot of cycles. What you will need is a decent amount of ram though, say 32-64GB depending on how much each VM needs.

 

For software you're going to have to factor in the cost of the virtualization platform.  Something like ESXI, or Nutanix would likely be a good fit.  Could try Hyper-V as well.  If you're thinking about going for a free version, make sure the software specifies that you can use it commercially for free.  If not, management isn't gonna be super happy with you.

 

$5000 is pretty low for a server, especially if it needs high uptime.  You can also go the desktop route but may not receive the same level of support from the software vendor if the hardware isn't on the recommended list.  It's also gonna be pretty hard to find a desktop system with a lot of PCIe lanes and slots for what you're doing.

 

Obviously do your own research here, and don't take everything I say as gospel.  This is just what I would do.

[REKNAZ]

3 minutes ago, AnnoyedShelf said:

I don't know a ton about the hardware you need but honest to god you really don't need much to run windows in a VM.  Used to run 10+ Windows server/windows 10 vms on a quad core in college.  Keep in mind that you can over-provision cores, especially if each VM isn't using a lot of cycles. What you will need is a decent amount of ram though, say 32-64GB depending on how much each VM needs.

 

For software you're going to have to factor in the cost of the virtualization platform.  Something like ESXI, or Nutanix would likely be a good fit.  Could try Hyper-V as well.  If you're thinking about going for a free version, make sure the software specifies that you can use it commercially for free.  If not, management isn't gonna be super happy with you.

 

$5000 is pretty low for a server, especially if it needs high uptime.  You can also go the desktop route but may not receive the same level of support from the software vendor if the hardware isn't on the recommended list.  It's also gonna be pretty hard to find a desktop system with a lot of PCIe lanes and slots for what you're doing.

 

Obviously do your own research here, and don't take everything I say as gospel.  This is just what I would do.

Thanks, having the software you've suggested for virtualisation as a base to start from will help out a lot. For Ram per VM really would only need 8GB at most. the time consuming part of my job that I want to run simultaneously (waiting for and image to load/transfer etc)

[Jarsky]

You could do a custom build with a mining motherboard, and use x4 to x16 risers....basically like a mining rig. Otherwise you'll probably need something that supports whats called PCIe bifurcation, which you can then run splitter riser cards/cables to feed multiple devices off a single slot. 

 

A case like this (removing the front panel and the triple fan mount) would allow you to fit plenty of expansion cards in the front: https://www.newegg.com/black-rosewill-rsv-l4000c/p/N82E16811147277 

 

For the actual cards, not sure if such a thing exists, but you can use RS232 to USB cables...you can get PCIe cards that have ethernet & USB 3.0....from companies such as StarTech