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(I have been browsing here for a while but this is my first post, since i figured out i can't do it all on my own...)
So I've been planning my first virtualization solution for home use for several months now. I did extensive market research and enjoyed a steep learning curve as I'm stepping into the entry-level/SMB server hardware area. However contrary to desktop hardware there's not that much information/knowledge on the web so I figured I have to start asking questions in a professional community, namely, here
==Purpose of this build, 1st stage==
Generally speaking, run VMs The roles I'm planning to have are:
-Domain Controller
-DNS
-Certificate Authority
-IIS
-MSSQL, MySQL
-Exchange
-SVN
-VPN
-Sustained downloading
-Possibly game server
This is only for one person use so I don't expect heavy load on any of the roles.
==Purpose of this build, 2nd stage==
In 2-4 year's time I will build another thin-hypervisor host to run all the roles this build will run in the first stage. Then this build, in the second stage, will be converted to a NAS/SAN (or virtualized NAS/SAN) serving the new host and possibly my desktop.
==Planned hardware, 1st stage==
CPU: 1 x Intel E5-1650: 6Core/12HT LGA2011 3.2G 130W
Barebone (MB+Case): Supermicro SYS-5037A-i (MB: MBD-X9SRA): Intel C602, 2xSATA3+4xSATA2, 82579LM + 82574L NIC
Memory: Reg ECC DDR3-1600 32/64GB, see below
SSD: 2 x G.SKILL Phoenix Pro Series FM-25S2S-60GBP2: SATA2 60GB (already have)
HDD: 2 x Seagate ST31500341AS: SATA2 1.5TB (already have)
RAID Controller: TBD, see below
CPU Cooler: I've no idea if this should be different from desktop LGA2011 counterparts. Any suggestion?
==RAID configuration==
Since I'm a strong believer of SSD and not very confident on HDD, here is my plan:
Hardware RAID0: 2 x SSD: ESXi, all VMs
Hardware RAID1: 2 x HDD: backups of VMs
==Memory==
Looking at this page:
http://www.superbiiz.com/query.php?...rom+current+results&ob=r&myanchor=#displaytop
I can see the "Size & Bit" spec has different parameters in different products. What does it mean exactly and how can it affect the performance/compatibility?
==RAID==
Considering the second stage usage where I'll use Solaris 11+ to utilize ZFS, I will probably only use 2xSSD for Hardware RAID1/ZFS RAID1 and many 3TB+ HDD for RAIDZ1/2. Thus I do not need great expandability from the RAID card but really cost-effectiveness (ideally < $200).
Currently I have several options:
Dell PERC 6/i
Dell PERC H200
Adaptec RAID 2405
IBM ServeRAID M1015
Supermicro AOC-USAS2-L8i
Since the RAID will be built using the RAID controller, as ESXi does not support software/firmware RAID, the most important thing is that the RAID functionality works for ESXi. This is where my confusion lies: Some of them are utilizing the SAS2008 chip which according here:
http://www.packetmischief.ca/2011/03/20/choosing-a-raid-card-for-esxi/
does not work with ESXi. However on page:
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/tips0740.html
SAS2008 is listed as RoC which I assume is hardware RAID. This is similar to:
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/...topics/en/us/raid_controller?c=us&l=en&cs=555
where Dell PERC H310 is listed as Hardware RAID, but it is also using SAS2008 chip. So my question is which one (not limited to the list) is the cheapest RAID card that support RAID0/1 under ESXi 5?
In addition, how will the write back cache affect the performance of RAID0/1? I know it is very helpful in RADI5/6 but not sure in this case.
==Other==
I already know that 82579LM can be used by this:
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1038022084&postcount=80
Besides the 3 main questions I welcome any suggestion to my build, e.g. performance bottleneck, incompatibility, etc~
So I've been planning my first virtualization solution for home use for several months now. I did extensive market research and enjoyed a steep learning curve as I'm stepping into the entry-level/SMB server hardware area. However contrary to desktop hardware there's not that much information/knowledge on the web so I figured I have to start asking questions in a professional community, namely, here
==Purpose of this build, 1st stage==
Generally speaking, run VMs
The roles I'm planning to have are:-Domain Controller
-DNS
-Certificate Authority
-IIS
-MSSQL, MySQL
-Exchange
-SVN
-VPN
-Sustained downloading
-Possibly game server
This is only for one person use so I don't expect heavy load on any of the roles.
==Purpose of this build, 2nd stage==
In 2-4 year's time I will build another thin-hypervisor host to run all the roles this build will run in the first stage. Then this build, in the second stage, will be converted to a NAS/SAN (or virtualized NAS/SAN) serving the new host and possibly my desktop.
==Planned hardware, 1st stage==
CPU: 1 x Intel E5-1650: 6Core/12HT LGA2011 3.2G 130W
Barebone (MB+Case): Supermicro SYS-5037A-i (MB: MBD-X9SRA): Intel C602, 2xSATA3+4xSATA2, 82579LM + 82574L NIC
Memory: Reg ECC DDR3-1600 32/64GB, see below
SSD: 2 x G.SKILL Phoenix Pro Series FM-25S2S-60GBP2: SATA2 60GB (already have)
HDD: 2 x Seagate ST31500341AS: SATA2 1.5TB (already have)
RAID Controller: TBD, see below
CPU Cooler: I've no idea if this should be different from desktop LGA2011 counterparts. Any suggestion?
==RAID configuration==
Since I'm a strong believer of SSD and not very confident on HDD, here is my plan:
Hardware RAID0: 2 x SSD: ESXi, all VMs
Hardware RAID1: 2 x HDD: backups of VMs
==Memory==
Looking at this page:
http://www.superbiiz.com/query.php?...rom+current+results&ob=r&myanchor=#displaytop
I can see the "Size & Bit" spec has different parameters in different products. What does it mean exactly and how can it affect the performance/compatibility?
==RAID==
Considering the second stage usage where I'll use Solaris 11+ to utilize ZFS, I will probably only use 2xSSD for Hardware RAID1/ZFS RAID1 and many 3TB+ HDD for RAIDZ1/2. Thus I do not need great expandability from the RAID card but really cost-effectiveness (ideally < $200).
Currently I have several options:
Dell PERC 6/i
Dell PERC H200
Adaptec RAID 2405
IBM ServeRAID M1015
Supermicro AOC-USAS2-L8i
Since the RAID will be built using the RAID controller, as ESXi does not support software/firmware RAID, the most important thing is that the RAID functionality works for ESXi. This is where my confusion lies: Some of them are utilizing the SAS2008 chip which according here:
http://www.packetmischief.ca/2011/03/20/choosing-a-raid-card-for-esxi/
does not work with ESXi. However on page:
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/tips0740.html
SAS2008 is listed as RoC which I assume is hardware RAID. This is similar to:
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/...topics/en/us/raid_controller?c=us&l=en&cs=555
where Dell PERC H310 is listed as Hardware RAID, but it is also using SAS2008 chip. So my question is which one (not limited to the list) is the cheapest RAID card that support RAID0/1 under ESXi 5?
In addition, how will the write back cache affect the performance of RAID0/1? I know it is very helpful in RADI5/6 but not sure in this case.
==Other==
I already know that 82579LM can be used by this:
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1038022084&postcount=80
Besides the 3 main questions I welcome any suggestion to my build, e.g. performance bottleneck, incompatibility, etc~
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