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1st ESXi Server Questions

G

gc8dc95

n00b
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Messages
51
Basically, I have almost no experience with ESXi, except for what I have been reading on different forums, including this one. I have picked up a lot of information, but I am wondering if I can get some advice on the equipment I have right now.

Poweredge 2950 III

- 2x Intel Xeon E5410 2.33GHZ, 4 core, 12MB, 1333MHz
- Ram = 16GB
- 2x 146GB 15K SAS HDD
- Perc 6i RAID
- 2 onboard 1Gb ports

I plan to run ESXi from a USB drive and just utilize local storage for now.

My immediate goals

- Couple of Win 2k8r2 or 2k12 server VM's
- Couple of Win 7 or 8 VM's

Will I have enough local storage, should I get more of the same HDD's or start looking towards a NAS setup. (I have a spare box with a Intel Dual Core 2.8GHz and SATA?)

My future goals (In addition to above)

- Several linux VM's
- Multiple Hosts
- NAS

Basically, I want to know what my setup will handle at this point and what needs to be dont to get it where I want it. It seems as though you should only run 2 VM's per disk? It would be great to get this 2950 to do at least 8VM's.

Thanks
 
You can thin provision your VM and 146GB should be able to handle several VMs no problem (mirror those 146GB drives). You'll probably run out of RAM before you run out of space. Just be careful when you thin provision, the VMs disks will grow over time.

I would start saving for a NAS (build your own, it's MUCH cheaper) and a 2nd host.
 
The 8VM's would make it keel over from latency before you even hit space issues. Have you considered running a pair of 128 SSD's? I have a 1950 with 6i and 128gb M4's and there are zero issues in that department.

I agree that a NAS in your near future would be great addition looking forward.
 
A 15k drive should be sufficient for running 4-5 lab VMs that don't do much for IO.

Growing beyond that would require more disks.
 
How would performance be affected using a standalone NAS

Would you still use ssd in the NAS
 
Depends on the NAS really. I would max out the ram tho 32gigs per cpu. Get a non 6i perc card H700 or Perc6. I have had odd issues with the 6i.I would just stick a bunch of SATA Constellations work well. I ran more machines then this with any issues.
 
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