Small Home Virtual Machine setup

[jamster456]

So I'm looking for a bit of buying/setup advise, 

 

Currently I have an old desktop that's just running some crap on it such as plex, IP cams, ftp server, nas, backup server etc the usual really. 

 

This desktop is getting old and clunky and I've always liked the idea of VMs. I have a little experience with Hyper V and kind of know my way around it so I'd like to setup a tower server at home and create a small VM for each of those uses I listed earlier. 

 

Now this isn't meant to be some top wack thing I literally want something to tinker with and that is going to function better than a 10 year old desktop machine. I'd like to just put a couple of hard drives and an SSD into a tower server and run some VMs on Hyper-v in Windows server 2012 

 

I've been looking at some refurbished items online (like I said it's just for a bit of tinkering so I'm not going to buying brand new unless there's an amazing deal) and I've come across this and other similar machines: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-PowerEdge-T710-2x-E5620-48GB-PercH700-256-2x-1100WPS-16SFF-DVD-Tower-Server-/282277265531?hash=item41b909407b:g:YDEAAOSwo4pYQVOj

 

Would something like this do the trick for what I want to do or it is overkill/underpowered? 

 

I appreciate any advise 

 

[Falconevo]

T710 would be overkill but would give you better opportunities for learning server hardware with virtualisation.  Do you have a budget in mind for us to work with or are you just looking for other options?

[jamster456]

3 minutes ago, Falconevo said:

T710 would be overkill but would give you better opportunities for learning server hardware with virtualisation.  Do you have a budget in mind for us to work with or are you just looking for other options?

Budget is anywhere up to about £600/$ as it is only for tinkering, i dont want to put a whole lot of money into it. Expandability/better opportunities in the future would be nice but isn't a necessary requirement as if i decide at some point in the future that i do want to get bigger and have more opportunities i can always purchase a new machine as this initial purchase is just see if im going to get along and enjoy using server VMs and so that i can get away from this crappy desktop

[Mikensan]

Unless you want the desktop platform, you could get a R710 or R610 instead, little slimmer and likely cheaper (more in the market thus it's cheaper). I'm using the 610 as a home lab server, it's an amazing platform. I disagree with the above poster, it's not overkill by any stretch. 

[jamster456]

2 hours ago, Mikensan said:

Unless you want the desktop platform, you could get a R710 or R610 instead, little slimmer and likely cheaper (more in the market thus it's cheaper). I'm using the 610 as a home lab server, it's an amazing platform. I disagree with the above poster, it's not overkill by any stretch. 

Problem with getting a rack mounted server is that i have no rack/cabinet and i didnt really want to get one to start off with as i dont really have the space either. Unless you think it would be okay to run the 610 outside of a cabinet under a desk or something. Obviously i know they are loud but thats not an issue as nobody will be working there. Am i looking at the right thing on eBay? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-R610-2x-E5620-48GB-Perc6-2x-717W-PSU-6SFF-DVD-Front-Bezel-1U-Rack-Server-/272477345380

[Scheer]

Personally, I'd look into a Dell T20 or Lenovo TS140 with an E3-1225/6 v3 or so. Much more power efficient, nice and quiet, and will fit nicely in your budget with a RAM upgrade. Not sure how good the deals are over there, but I've gotten a couple new for $250 USD each with 500GB hard drives and 4GB of RAM. Another $250-$300 to bump it to 32GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD and it makes a nice little server.

[Mikensan]

2 hours ago, jamster456 said:

Problem with getting a rack mounted server is that i have no rack/cabinet and i didnt really want to get one to start off with as i dont really have the space either. Unless you think it would be okay to run the 610 outside of a cabinet under a desk or something. Obviously i know they are loud but thats not an issue as nobody will be working there. Am i looking at the right thing on eBay? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-R610-2x-E5620-48GB-Perc6-2x-717W-PSU-6SFF-DVD-Front-Bezel-1U-Rack-Server-/272477345380

You can lean it against the wall in a closet if you wanted to. A popular thing to do is use an ikea desk as a rack for servers too (google lackrack).  I can't click ebay links at work but the URL say sR610 with E5620s and 48GB so that's a solid choice.

 

If the price isn't much different and you want the T710 then why not. Was just thinking the R610s/R710s have flooded the market and in theory making it cheaper.

[jamster456]

1 hour ago, Mikensan said:

You can lean it against the wall in a closet if you wanted to. A popular thing to do is use an ikea desk as a rack for servers too (google lackrack).  I can't click ebay links at work but the URL say sR610 with E5620s and 48GB so that's a solid choice.

 

If the price isn't much different and you want the T710 then why not. Was just thinking the R610s/R710s have flooded the market and in theory making it cheaper.

Ah yes I see what you mean with the lack rack that does look quite nifty but not sure if that would suit my home decor ha! I'd probably have to hide it somewhere. 

 

Yeah I totally see what you mean with the R610s they seem to be a very good price wherever I look which makes the decision harder because obviously the T710 tower would be easier for me but the R610 rack is better value for money and would hide away easier if I found the right place for it the only other thing then would be having to patch network to it. So what your basically saying is the R610 rack server could be put anywhere really and its not going to suffer to bad in temps or anything else? I'm currently thinking that it might fit well under my bookshelf near my switch. 

[jamster456]

3 hours ago, Scheer said:

Personally, I'd look into a Dell T20 or Lenovo TS140 with an E3-1225/6 v3 or so. Much more power efficient, nice and quiet, and will fit nicely in your budget with a RAM upgrade. Not sure how good the deals are over there, but I've gotten a couple new for $250 USD each with 500GB hard drives and 4GB of RAM. Another $250-$300 to bump it to 32GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD and it makes a nice little server.

I tried to have a look at the T20s as a compact option but doesn't seem to be any good pricing over here they're trying to charge me £500 for a single cpu (4 core), 4gb ram and 500gb hard drive machine which seems very excessive compared to the prices I can get on dual cpu, 48gb ram 1tb rack and tower machines 

[cgtechuk]

10 hours ago, jamster456 said:

I tried to have a look at the T20s as a compact option but doesn't seem to be any good pricing over here they're trying to charge me £500 for a single cpu (4 core), 4gb ram and 500gb hard drive machine which seems very excessive compared to the prices I can get on dual cpu, 48gb ram 1tb rack and tower machines 

I have a HP Proliant ML310e G8 - Xeon 1220 V2 - Takes up to 32GB ram , 4 drive bays with caddies and its mega quiet and the size of a tower PC and you also get ILO.

 

You can get one for about  £250 in the UK.

 

Or I will sell you one of mine as I have 5 haha

[jamster456]

3 minutes ago, cgtechuk said:

I have a HP Proliant ML310e G8 - Xeon 1220 V2 - Takes up to 32GB ram , 4 drive bays with caddies and its mega quiet and the size of a tower PC and you also get ILO.

 

You can get one for about  £250 in the UK.

 

Or I will sell you one of mine as I have 5 haha

Where are you seeing this price? 

 

Also what specs and price would you be offering for one of yours

[cgtechuk]

8 minutes ago, jamster456 said:

Where are you seeing this price? 

 

Also what specs and price would you be offering for one of yours

Apologies should have mentioned that is a used price not new

[Mikensan]

Quote

So what your basically saying is the R610 rack server could be put anywhere really and its not going to suffer to bad in temps or anything else? I'm currently thinking that it might fit well under my bookshelf near my switch. 

You don't want it completely closed off from all air, over time it will get a little hot and thus a bit louder. However if it gets a little bit of air you can certainly put it anywhere. They make hanging wall racks for servers too, that hold the servers in a vertical position. None of the moving parts will care that it is upright.

 

But under your bookshelf which I assume is in an open room - it will live very happily. If that means it is on the floor, just service it once every 3-6 months (clean the dust).

[jamster456]

14 hours ago, Mikensan said:

You don't want it completely closed off from all air, over time it will get a little hot and thus a bit louder. However if it gets a little bit of air you can certainly put it anywhere. They make hanging wall racks for servers too, that hold the servers in a vertical position. None of the moving parts will care that it is upright.

 

But under your bookshelf which I assume is in an open room - it will live very happily. If that means it is on the floor, just service it once every 3-6 months (clean the dust).

Yeah it would be in an open and usually cool room actually so should be fine from what your saying, its just whether i want to deal with noise, high power consumption and cleaning ha

[Mikensan]

8 hours ago, jamster456 said:

Yeah it would be in an open and usually cool room actually so should be fine from what your saying, its just whether i want to deal with noise, high power consumption and cleaning ha

Noise isn't too bad, my TV overcomes my server (adjacent room door open) with minimal volume. Power is a thing though, thing my kil-a-wat measured it at 220watts idle lol.

[jamster456]

4 hours ago, Mikensan said:

Noise isn't too bad, my TV overcomes my server (adjacent room door open) with minimal volume. Power is a thing though, thing my kil-a-wat measured it at 220watts idle lol.

Wow thats insane power for one server. I guess they're just noisy on first startup

[Mikensan]

15 hours ago, jamster456 said:

Wow thats insane power for one server. I guess they're just noisy on first startup

Yea during the first maybe 30 seconds while it's kicking the wheels so to speak it's loud. Still even then it's not as loud as the tornado/hurricane of a 1850.

 

Yup, not easy on the watts, that's for sure.