Technical > PC Hardware Discussion/Reviews > Server Newbie Storage GuRu trying to build a home lab

Server Newbie Storage GuRu trying to build a home lab

cheapest and best dont go well together.....
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I'm better than you!

reply to RedSneakers
Indeed.

You are looking, if you buy new at least, $1600 for what you want. For servers I would not attempt to "roll your own", because the components have to work 24/7, and are expensive with little room for error.

For brands, new and used, look at HP, Lenovo, SUN, IBM, and Supermicro. Lots of people will mention Dell, but I don't particularly like them all that much. The 2950's especially, have a tendency to have PS failures for whatever reason.

If you can afford it, I would definitely go dual quad, as it will pay dividends the more you virtualize. I would also go used if you can because for example, a new IBM x3650 M3 Server with quad core and 6GB of ram is $1800. I went and priced your ideal system through IBM (IBM Partner), it's about $3000. You can find similar systems used for under a grand if you know where to look, I have posted some below.

Most of these ebay one's are Buy It Now, and some have "make an offer'

SUN - X4100 M2 with 2x 2.3GHz Quad Core Processors, 16GB Memory, 2x 73GB Drives.
$850

»cgi.ebay.com/SUN-X4100-M2-2x-2-3···6215c82a

HP Proliant DL380 2 x Dual Core Xeon 2.66GHz 8Gb RAM. 3 x 72GB Hard Drive. DVD+CD-RW
$800

»cgi.ebay.com/HP-Proliant-DL380-G···b181d0e2

HP PROLIANT DL360 G5 QUAD CORE 2x 2.33GHZ 16GB 4 x 73GB
$1079

»cgi.ebay.com/HP-PROLIANT-DL360-G···aa24fdca

WOW!! You hit it right there!! Thanks so much I now have an idea with the HCL to find a server for this app setup I will post the results ASAP when I find a rig that will work.

Yes I agree with you Dell's unless they are free keep them...

No problem , just happy to have been of help.

This is the config I have purchased, any comments for improvement, or otherwise?

HP ML350 G6 Tower 2x Quad Core e5620 2.4Gz 8GB Memory
1x 72GB 10K 2.5" SFF SAS Server 2x PWR SUPPLY

I would add more memory at some point if your going to be running a lot of VM's. If you allocate 1 gig per VM, that's approx 6-7 VM's total you can run before running out of memory potentially. If your going to be using it as a file server, also add more hard drive space. I would also add more NIC cards, as the two interfaces could bottleneck if there is a lot of access.

I agree with you the price break I got was for the two QC processors. The one disk was for OS. I purchased a Synology 1511+ NAS. I can purchase more memory at a much cheaper price later on. Once I get it going I will add additional NIC's thank you for the suggestion. I also have two Emulex LP10000 HBA's to add to the rig. I plan to use ESXTOP to performance analyze everything that will be going on and learn how to adjust the performance on the ESXi servers.

This will be my Certification rig so after I finish my CCIE which will be soon, I will go deep into UCS & VMware Suite of Tools. Which might require another ESXi server purchase in the future to move images back & forth.

Lightpulse stuff is interesting to deal with, but I don't deal with the SAN end of things for better or worse. That looks like a decent NAS that you have, I'm slightly jealous. For the ethernet adapters (I'm assuming that, rather than Infiniband), take a look at quad port adaptors, more port density per card, and Intel makes one that takes SFP's as well.