Storage setup

I have read about many people running the 24bay supermicro servers for data storage. How does the HP DL180 G6(2u,14bay) hold up against the supermicro? I would like to run a few VMs in addition to serving files. Or should I opt for something else?

More in depth details are needed in order to give accurate response.

14/24 bays seem overkill for a few virtual machines. How much space do you require for files? Are you going to do some form of raid or jbob configuration?

Depends on your exact needs. One reason in general I stay away from 1U/2U stuff added difficulty in making it quiet, eg no 120mm fans and no relatively cheap and basically silent ATX PSUs, no need for tiny heatsinks on CPUs with loud fans. Not like you're trying to fit more servers in a rack, space is probably a non-issue.

Ordered a DL180G6 with two L5639, 14 trays, and 2x4g ecc. I plan to use one of the L5639s in my x58 box for now. I had originally planned to pick up one of the supermicro boxes. However, I did not think it would meet my processing needs. I considered the HPx6100 (80w qc xenon, 3x2GB) for $300, but I wanted the extra cores and lower power draw of the L5639.

My current pc that fills the server role is running win7 ultimate with the following specs.
MSI 970a/G45r2, x6 1055t, 8g ddr3, pcie video, pcp&c silencer 750w
rr2320 with 4x2tb samsung in HW raid 5 array 1, 4x1 tb segate HW raid 5 array 2
Internal sata - 2x500gb raid 0, 200gb os, 2tb black drive
The pc is also used as a spare for whoever shows up and wants to play games.
-Serves Videos, Runs FTB MC server, serves a few local sites
-Currently resides in PC room, and adds significant heat load.

Goals for the new box
-Always on
-Some drive fault tolerance (mostly non essential files)
-More VMs?
-room for expansion, easy drive migration
-Remote management
-More learning!

I can locate the box out of hearing range, but might try to reduce noise so i have more placement options.

Would virtualing freenas in vsphere be the way to go for my storage setup? Is server 2012 still a poor alternative? I am also beginning to realize I may need to order more ram.