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Build for secuirty lab/VM server.

C

couser

n00b
Joined
Nov 7, 2015
Messages
3
Hey yall, Im not sure if there is a thread about this before, sorry.

So, there is a security club I am in, and I would like for my colleagues to be able to practice on a security. There are several limitation at the location at where I am having these meetings. I am pretty sick and tired that any attempt I try to set something up, it is shot down or cant be done due to limitations.
I would like to provide a VM server where everyone can connect to, I am wanting about 10 VMs to be running at once.

I have a gaming rig I am willing to dismantle/replace parts to set this up if the budget is doable.

This is the build I have:
Intell 4690k
GTX 960
Asus Sabertooth z87
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
128GB SSD
Cooler Master: HAF XB
G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3

Any suggestion on the build in order to have about 10 VMs running (they will be used) and somewhat reasonable budget?
 
What will the VMs be used for?
What's your max budget for the upgrades?
 
Mainly I will be crippling the OS and they would need to patch them up.
Also trying out different OS hardening scripts, testing different tools.
Small capture the flag.

Red vs Blue mainly.
Max budget? I would like about $500... not sure if that is reasonable.
 
Thanks for your help btw

EVGA 500W
Do you think 32GB will be sufficient for about 10 VMs?
I believe my bios is open do that. Should I get a more multi-cpu, is 4 core enough?
 
If you have a microcenter around they have a good deal on the Xeon e3-1231 v3 (which is 4 core with ht so 8 threads) $209 might help you get a few more client vms running better (but no igpu). I would probably also invest in some cheap mechanical drive to store your data store, depending on load you should do okay with 2 drives (I wouldnt worry too much on a raid or anything as this does not sound mission critical), just spread out the vms, unless you can squish them on your ssd.

So the better question is are you going to run a hypervisor (bare metal) or something like vmware workstation, because the hypervisor will probably get you a lot less overhead on the host os, maybe getting you to 10 vms.


As another option you might look at an elcheapo ebay dual 1366 socket server, then you could do dual 6core chips (24t), maybe 64gb ddr3, and a decent hdd array... possibly in the 500$ range but they will be loud and power hungry.
 
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