Dell Presision T5500 workstation

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parlotti

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Mar 16, 2010
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I found one of these dirt cheap on a local reputable site. Does anyone know how it stacks up as a Vmware or proxmox box? It has 72GB ram and X2 Intel Xeon E5506, a 250 GB disk 7200 rpm,
and Nvidia Quadro FX 580.:confused:


Any input,insight or experience is welcome. I intend to begin my network with this node so it helps to get it right
 
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Yes- should work very well. Maybe pick up a Raid card and a couple SAS drives to really make it run.
 
twwabw said:
Yes- should work very well. Maybe pick up a Raid card and a couple SAS drives to really make it run.
Click to expand...

Which card would you recommend for such a task? I have only ever used an IBM M1015. Would this be an adequate card in your opinion or do I have to look for something else?
 
If you are passing the card through to a VM, M1015. If just using it as local storage in RAID (allowing VMware to control it) then a Perc 6i, etc.
 
I have the T5500's bigger brother the T7500. I have 2 L5640's, 48GB ram and 2x 2TB WD RE drives in a Raid 1 array using the onboard LSI raid controller (does 1 or 0). ESXi recognized everything right off the bat and runs great.
 
Thanks for the insight. I shall buy it asap. But turns out they have less ram in it than previously stated. How much RAM is a great amount to start out with this sort of server as a lab box with 6 - 10 medium use VMs running 24/7?
 
parlotti said:
Which card would you recommend for such a task? I have only ever used an IBM M1015. Would this be an adequate card in your opinion or do I have to look for something else?
Click to expand...

M1015 is fine if you don't want parity-based RAID (RAID-5, RAID-6, RAID-50, RAID-60 etc.) -- even if you buy the extra feature key to enable RAID-5, it'll be sloooow on this card. If you want RAID-0, RAID-1, RAID-10, or software RAID like ZFS, it's fine.
 
dandragonrage said:
M1015 is fine if you don't want parity-based RAID (RAID-5, RAID-6, RAID-50, RAID-60 etc.) -- even if you buy the extra feature key to enable RAID-5, it'll be sloooow on this card. If you want RAID-0, RAID-1, RAID-10, or software RAID like ZFS, it's fine.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up. Saved me some time there. I have used this card for ZFS and it worked great but never knew that it was slow in parity based raid.:)
 
TType85 said:
I have the T5500's bigger brother the T7500. I have 2 L5640's, 48GB ram and 2x 2TB WD RE drives in a Raid 1 array using the onboard LSI raid controller (does 1 or 0). ESXi recognized everything right off the bat and runs great.
Click to expand...

I would like to know how you get passed the 60day restriction in ESXI. I'm fixing to use the trial on a DELL 7400. Can you please give me some dertails on your setup? This is my first go at this.
 
parlotti said:
I would like to know how you get passed the 60day restriction in ESXI. I'm fixing to use the trial on a DELL 7400. Can you please give me some dertails on your setup? This is my first go at this.
Click to expand...

I have actually sold off almost all of my VM Lab hardware. I would do a re-install every few months to reset it for home. At work I have 2 cpu licenses available for my Dev/Lab setup.
 
parlotti said:
I would like to know how you get passed the 60day restriction in ESXI. I'm fixing to use the trial on a DELL 7400. Can you please give me some dertails on your setup? This is my first go at this.
Click to expand...

ESXi needs a license file but you can get them for free from VMWare's site for non-commercial use.
 
I got one with 72gb and 2x5680 running multiple VMs love the dirt cheap price.

The only thing I would suggest is to order a new cpu heatsink fan for the riser. Those are flaky and if it's a used machine then definitely replace unless you want to hear buzzing.

get a lsi 9211 if you plan on using SSDs
 
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