ESXi Host Setup Help

[servergeek]

Hello World,

I am looking for some advice on what is possible if you are looking to setup one machine to do virtualization and file storage. Looking to buy a house soon, so i am trying to downsize and lower my power expense by running one machine instead of my two currently. Current machines are: 1. HP DL580 G6 hosting the VMs on local storage, 2. A Supermicro 24 Bay chassis storing all my terabytes of data.

Monthly expense on electricity: $170-220 for 1 bedroom apartment

Researching:

Supermicro hardware as they offer high density storage capabilites built in with processing power. I know this is probably easier if i go the Microsoft route as i could use Hyper-V and File server role, however, i am looking to see what the options are in the ESXi world as i am trying to learn more Linux and i find they work best on ESXi.

Supermicro SuperServer SYS-8047R-TRF
http://www.supermicro.com/products/system/4U/8047/SYS-8047R-7RFT_.cfm

Key Features

1. Quad socket R (LGA 2011) supports
Intel® Xeon® processor E5-4600 v2
(12-Core)** or E5-4600 (8-Core)
family, w/ QPI up to 8.0 GT/s
2. Up to 1TB* DDR3 1866MHz ECC
Registered DIMM; 32x DIMM sockets
* Depends on memory configuration
3. 4x PCI-E 3.0 x16 (2 in x8) Slots
4. Intel® i350 Dual port GbE LAN
5. I/O ports: 2x GbE LAN, 1x Dedicated
LAN for IPMI Remote Management,
1x VGA, 1x COM port, 4x USB 2.0
6. 5x 3.5" Hot-swap SATA3 HDD
Bays and 3x 5.25" peripheral bays
7. 3x 9cm + 3x 8cm Heavy-duty Fans
8. 1400W Redundant Digital PS
Platinum Level (95%)

Storage Chassis:
SuperChassis 848E16-R1K62B (Black)
http://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/4U/848/SC848E16-R1K62.cfm

Key Features

• High Computing Performance
and High Storage Capacity
1. 4U Storage Chassis - 29" depth
2. 4-Way Processor and High Storage
Capacity Applications
3. 1620W (1+1 redundant) Platinum
Level High-efficiency Power
Supply (optional 2+1 redundant)
4. 24x 3.5" SAS / SATA Hot-swap Drive
Bays with SES2, Mini-iPass
(SFF8087) Connectivity, 6 Gb/s
SAS2 Expander
5. 11(7+4)x Full-height, Full-length
PCI expansion slots
6. 4x 92x38mm and 2x 80x38mm
Hot-Swap Cooling Fans
7. Power Switch, Reset Switch &
6 LED Indicators
8. Full SES2 support is available with SAS motherboards and other compatible components.

Looking at this setup look like i may need an additional card to support all 24 drives which means i would need to find something that is esxi compatible.

Let me know your thoughts, any information you can supply is appreciated as i am somewhat new to this virtualization world.

Thanks,
Sam