New Virtual Lab...?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by phlipatjasper, Aug 11, 2011.

  1. phlipatjasper

    phlipatjasper New Member

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    Hi,

    I have question related to new virtual lab setup for MCITP.

    I'm preparing for first exam 70-640, Need a system to run multiple instances of servers etc.

    I searched google a lot but as i have budget constraints i didnt find a go ahed answer.

    heres the rig, please tell me if it serves the purpose:


    1) Motherboard: ASUSP8H67-V*INTEL H67 (B3 REVISION) CHIPSET (LGA1155) SOUND - LAN - VGA - DDR3

    2) Processor: Intel® Core™ i3-2100 Processor (3M Cache, 3.10 GHz) LGA1155

    3) Ram: KINGSTON DDR3 12GB-1333

    4) HDD: 2 X SEAGATE 500GB 3.5" HDD 16MB Cache (ST-3500418AS)

    6) Casing and PSU :COOLER MASTER CHASSIS CM ELITE 371 WITH 420W POWER SUPPLY



    I have concerns over the core I3 because lot of people say dual core isnt enough. I am planning to get this rig at start and maybe upgrade to an core I5 2500k or a core I7 later on.

    Please advise.

    Thanks
     
  2. mcbro

    mcbro Byte Poster

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    Hi

    Check out this thread. If you add some RAM and HDDs to the server you will have a good practice server and should be cheaper.

    http://www.certforums.co.uk/forums/hardware/45193-cheap-home-server-look-hp-microserver.html
     
    Certifications: MCITP:EA, CCNA
  3. Modey

    Modey Terabyte Poster

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    Depends how many VM's you intend to run. With that amount of ram you could have 5 or 6 running reasonably well I reckon. Quad core would be nice, but everything would still run well I reckon.

    The HP microserver is a bit underpowered to be running anything other than minimal VM's I would say (it runs the AMD equivalent of the Atom). But you could put together a cheap AMD based quad core system for quite a bit less than the one you have specced already.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCP, MCDST, MCSA 2K3, MCTS, MOS, MTA, MCT, MCITP:EDST7, MCSA W7, Citrix CCA, ITIL Foundation
    WIP: Nada
  4. dales

    dales Terabyte Poster

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    TBH I dont think you need to worry about the processor as long as it supports VT etc your good to go, for a home lab and even production most of the time the cpu is never the bottle neck its the disk and ram, 12 gigs should get you 5-6 vm's running quite nicely on there (my 2k8 instances I always only give them 1GB ram, they are not quick but then they are not exactly crawling along either), 1TB of disk space should be good as well for a lab, for the 640 and most other MCITP exams you need not allocate more than 24GB disk space per server instance.
     
    Certifications: vExpert 2014+2015+2016,VCP-DT,CCE-V, CCE-AD, CCP-AD, CCEE, CCAA XenApp, CCA Netscaler, XenApp 6.5, XenDesktop 5 & Xenserver 6,VCP3+5,VTSP,MCSA MCDST MCP A+ ITIL F
    WIP: Nothing
  5. phlipatjasper

    phlipatjasper New Member

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    Thanks, well thats some releif about processor as you say. I think i might just be able to squeez in a 64 GB ssd for booting and main OS purpouse and then maybe two 500gb 32mb cache 7200 RPM Hdds.
    Would that be Ok?

    I think i can add more ram later upto 32 GB with this mobo.



    Well i'll be using this system for a couple of years at least to get through MCITP-SA and then perhaps later some cisco etc. So since im pretty new to this VM thing therefore you could give me a slightly better idea about how much would i be running and whats enough in terms of hardware.
     
  6. dales

    dales Terabyte Poster

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    Just to give you an example heres one of my virtual servers with a break down of the used host resources and then the resources the guests are using. I've cpu is a fairly old dual core xeon which as you can see is hardly being taxed at all. All the vm's are 2k8 instances

    xenhost.jpg
     
    Certifications: vExpert 2014+2015+2016,VCP-DT,CCE-V, CCE-AD, CCP-AD, CCEE, CCAA XenApp, CCA Netscaler, XenApp 6.5, XenDesktop 5 & Xenserver 6,VCP3+5,VTSP,MCSA MCDST MCP A+ ITIL F
    WIP: Nothing
  7. phlipatjasper

    phlipatjasper New Member

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    Thats interesting, its barely 11% total cpu usage.

    maybe quad core hyperthreaders are for advanced stuff and heavy duty services etc like esxi hypervisors with nested instances and all that.


    Well in my case core i3 2100 would suffice, i think.

    Thanks for that snapshot.
     

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