New Super Computer - Virtual Lab

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by NWDaddy, May 30, 2009.

  1. NWDaddy

    NWDaddy Bit Poster

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    I'm currently pondering which direction to take with my new training lab - multiple physical machines or single super computer.

    I've had some great advice about which physical servers to look at and now I'm looking at my options for a single super machine.

    This will be used for Microsoft OS training, Blackberry BES Server etc ....

    This is what I have so far (see attached).

    Missing a RAID controller, not sure about the graphics card ...
     

    Attached Files:

    Certifications: A handful of MCP exams
  2. Gav

    Gav Kilobyte Poster

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    I haven't been following the hardware market recently, so I'm not sure about the performance of the i7s (I know it's good, but I don't know how good). However, if you're going to be running lots of virtual machines, you might want to consider two Quad Core Xeons, which you could get for about the same as you'd be paying for an i7 and a compatible motherboard.

    Just throwing it out there...

    - Gav
     
  3. JK2447
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    JK2447 Petabyte Poster Administrator Premium Member

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    And don't forget your gigabit ethernet card and wireless if you need that. Might be worth looking at having two graphics cards which would share the work load better and allow you to have two screens. 2x 512MB ATI Radeon HD4850 graphics I'm thinking.

    In work I monitor a lot of systems, mainframes mostly but I have a three screen setup and its superb. Be ideal for a virtual where you want 2 servers and 3 clients running : )

    It looks exactly like this, same make stand. Thats not me by the way http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1413/1434961280_11c77dfba3.jpg
     
    Certifications: VCP4, 5, 6, 6.5, 6.7, 7, 8, VCAP DCV Design, VMConAWS Skill, Google Cloud Digital Leader, BSc (Hons), HND IT, HND Computing, ITIL-F, MBCS CITP, MCP (270,290,291,293,294,298,299,410,411,412) MCTS (401,620,624,652) MCSA:Security, MCSE: Security, Security+, CPTS, CCA (XenApp6.5), MCSA 2012, VSP, VTSP
    WIP: Google Cloud Certs
  4. NWDaddy

    NWDaddy Bit Poster

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    Thanks for the advice guys.

    Gav - I was also looking at the AMD Phenom x4 dual montherboard and wondering how cool it would be to have an octa-core PC :-)

    Jk - I just noticed your from liverpool. I woke up this morning thinking about visiting the local computer fair at either Everton Park, Aintree or the student hall in town. Had a quick search of the web and it looks like they aren't running anymore :-(
     
    Certifications: A handful of MCP exams
  5. JK2447
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    JK2447 Petabyte Poster Administrator Premium Member

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    Oh no way, I didn't know myself. I used to love going to them. Bargain city. Abacus I think they were run by. Might of been shutdown due to all the "special" things you would see in there. Bad times :(
     
    Certifications: VCP4, 5, 6, 6.5, 6.7, 7, 8, VCAP DCV Design, VMConAWS Skill, Google Cloud Digital Leader, BSc (Hons), HND IT, HND Computing, ITIL-F, MBCS CITP, MCP (270,290,291,293,294,298,299,410,411,412) MCTS (401,620,624,652) MCSA:Security, MCSE: Security, Security+, CPTS, CCA (XenApp6.5), MCSA 2012, VSP, VTSP
    WIP: Google Cloud Certs
  6. ThomasMc

    ThomasMc Gigabyte Poster

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    I was keeping eyes on what Zeb was doing with his ESX lab and decided to get my own, ended up with

    5xML115 (currently £182 w/ 1GB ECC Ram/Quad Core Opteron/ 160GB HDD/3 Years NBD Warrenty)

    Chucked in more RAM and a storage card for one of the boxes for the iSCSI and away I went
     
    Certifications: MCDST|FtOCC
    WIP: MCSA(70-270|70-290|70-291)
  7. greenbrucelee
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    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    MY system (in my sig) handles virtual machines fine but if your looking for the latest super comp get an i7 with lots of ram or if your gonna build a server get a ccouple of the new xeons as mentioned above.

    I have just installed a couple of new servers at work with the new xeons and they are verrrrrrrry fast :D
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCDST, Security+, 70-270
    WIP: 70-620 or 70-680?
  8. NWDaddy

    NWDaddy Bit Poster

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    Hi Thomas, where did you pick up these boxes for £182?
     
    Certifications: A handful of MCP exams
  9. ThomasMc

    ThomasMc Gigabyte Poster

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    Got a couple from ebuyer.com and the rest where from serversplus.com
     
    Certifications: MCDST|FtOCC
    WIP: MCSA(70-270|70-290|70-291)

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