Virtualization Workstation

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
a) Virtualization Workstation - I do lots of systems integration work, which requires building database servers, application servers, directory servers, access servers, etc.
As an example system, this is what I'm integrating (at work) right now:
2-Node Database cluster (Oracle)
2-Node Application server cluster (weblogic)
2-Node Access server cluster
LDAP Server
Proxy Server(s)

What's involved is (mostly) bash scripting to install, configure, patch, load data, deploy apps, lockdown, and test. I want to do the same sort of work at home.

The VMs will run RHEL 5.6. I'd like the host OS to be Windows 7 Ultimate as I have a license for that. I also have a license for VMWare Workstation 8, which I'd like to use as well.

b) Software Development and Learning
c) Web browsing, email, MS Word/Excel, web conferencing, eBooks, music, play videos (I will not game on this system).

Note: I am most concerned with how well the system performs when installing software - i.e. I'd like to kick off 6 concurrent VM builds and still have the system be responsive while I'm goofing off (see item c) above). Also, I really want the system to be fairly quiet. I do not know if my expectations are reasonable for my budget.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
I'd like to stay around $2000, but I could go somewhat higher. No.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Northern Virginia - Microcenter is about a 30 minute drive.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.

CPU - I'm thinking a hex-core Intel CPU? Is consumer-grade OK for this, or should I be looking at enterprise-grade, ECC, etc?
RAM - I'd 64GB RAM if it fits the budget. If not, I'd like to populate 32GB and buy more RAM later. But lots of RAM would allow me to have a RAM disk which provides opportunities for decreasing the build times.
Power Supply
Cooler
Fans
Video Card - I don't want to have a video card, but I'm guessing that suitable motherboards don't have onboard video. Again, I won't be gaming. Needs to drive Dell U3011.
Motherboard - LGA 2011?
Case - I'd love a small, conservative, and *quiet* case. No windows, neon, or bling. Prefer black, but not a must. Support for 120mm or larger fans. I like the looks of the Lian Li PC-A05FNB, for example.
SSDs - I have two SSDs, I'm thinking that two more (256GB) would help performance.
DVD/ROM - With Lightscribe and matches the case

In exchange for 6 pints of blood this year, the Red Cross gave me a $50.00 eCard to Tiger Direct. Would be nice to use it for something.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Monitor - Dell U3011 2560x1600
SSD - I have a Crucial M4 256GB and a Sandisk Extreme 240GB. I'm thinking that I should buy a couple more to spread VMs across more disks.
USB 3.0 Card - Uspeed 4-port PCI-E
USB 3.0 Hub - Uspeed 7-port (For various devices: Camera, Harmony remote, SD, drive caddy, Kindle, phone, ...)

My current system is a Q6600 with 8GB, which struggles to host 2 server VMs (not enough RAM). My plan is give that system to my daughter.

6) Will you be overclocking?
No.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
Dell U3011 2560x1600 30"

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Will start buying as soon as I have a build configuration.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.

Stability
Onboard video would be nice
USB 3.0 support - for copying VMs to an external drive
SATA III ports for the SSDs - 4 ports

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 7 Ultimate
VMWare Workstation 8

Thanks for your help.

$500 - Intel Core i7-3930K CPU from Microcenter
$270 - Asus Sabertooth X79 ATX Motherboard from Tigerdirect and with your $50 gift card.
$260 - 4 x Corsair CMV16GX3M2A1333C9 2 x 8GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$43 - PowerColor Go! Green AX6450 1GBK3-SH Radeon HD 6450 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$179 - Samsung 840 Series MZ-7TD250BW 2.5" 250GB
$210 - PLextor M5P Series PX-256M5P 2.5" 256GB SSD
$23 - LG iHAS124-04 DVD Burner
$100 - Seasonic X650 Gold 650W Modular PSU
$90 - Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 140mm and 120mm SSO CPU Cooler
----
Total: $1675 shipped

Choose your own case. I recommend any of the following quiet cases:
$110 - Antec P280 ATX Case
$125 - Fractal Design Define R4 Arctic White ATX Case
$135 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Black Pearl ATX Case
$135 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Arctic White ATX Case
$135 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Titanium Grey ATX Case
$120 - Corsair Obsidian Series 550D ATX Case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-WA ATX case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B-USB3.0 ATX Case

With any of the above cases and the recommended PSU, fanless GPU, and HSF, you should have a fairly quiet PC. Unfortunately Newegg appears to be out of Lightscribe DVD burners. Anyway, as you can tell, you get 64GB of RAM with the above setup, your TD ecard gets to be used for one of those parts, and two different SSDs in order to hedge your bets against possible SSD failure.

just 1 suggestion, you could run Oracle linux 6.x as the host OS, and run win7 in a VM if you plan on doing no gaming.

Oracle linux has free yum repositories for updating, and if you are familiar with RHEL, it is basically RHEL with Oracles unbreakable enterprise kernel.

Danny Bui: Many thanks!! This get me the capabilities I was looking for. Can't wait to get home and start ordering. I'll check into your recommended cases.

Digital Viper-X-: Thanks! I'm going to try this. I've worked with Oracle Linux in the past. At a minimum I need to run a VM for Microsoft Office, and VMWare Workstation has USB support.

Danny Bui said:

$270 - Asus Sabertooth X79 ATX Motherboard from Tigerdirect and with your $50 gift card.
.

Click to expand...

I'd go with this over the Asus

GB x79-up5 SAS/ECC
uses the server chipset which supports 8 extra SAS ports + ECC memory for a bit more $$



Also has the new pwm setup from Gigabyte which is nice.

High Performance Intel Xeon E5 /Core i7 processors GIGABYTE All Digital Power with GIGABYTE 3D Power GIGABYTE 3D BIOS (Dual UEFI) GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 5 technology GIGABYTE Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi Card 8 SAS connectors support ECC (error-code correction) support 4 Channel Memory Architecture with 8 DIMM slots PCI Express Gen 3.0 support 3-way CrossFireX and 3-way SLI Support GIAGBYTE On/Off Charge with 3X USB Power High quality 110dB SNR HD audio

Click to expand...

Also I like to keep at a max 2 DBs / Disk (even SSD), I do a fair bit of DB testing on my VMs as well, so depending on the number of VMs you plan on running at the same time, getting more / smaller SSDs might be a better choice in terms of over all performance.

My only issue with that Gigabyte is that it's still relatively new so the kinks in it may not have been worked out of it yet. With that said, it does look like a well featured mobo.