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Hardware questions for ESXi Build

M

marcusone

n00b
Joined
Jan 8, 2012
Messages
8
I'm looking to build my first ESXi server for the following purposes:
1. unRaid (data storage system similar to freenas - may also want to play with freenas)
2. Windows test machines (Server 2008, 7, perhaps some old XP VMs)
3. Linux test servers, CentOS/Fedora, pfSense (freeBSD).

I would like VT-d (as I believe I need that to pass through data drives to unRaid/FreeNAS right?)

I would LOVE some of your feedback on my hardware choices and if it will run easily with ESXi 4.1 or 5 (I assume I should use 5?)

Here is what I have so far that I like:
Motherboard:
1- SUPERMICRO MBD-X8DTH-6F-O Dual LGA 1366 Intel 5520 Extended ATX Dual Intel Xeon Server Motherboard
OR
2- SUPERMICRO MBD-X8SIL-F-O Xeon X3400 / L3400 / Core i3 series Dual LAN Micro ATX Server Board w/ Remote Management

MEMORY
If the first MB, would get 24GB ram to start with, can then expand to 48+ later
if the second motherboard I would max it at 36GB ram right away
1 - 6 x Crucial 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Server Memory Model CT51272BB1339
OR if 2nd motherboard
2 - 4 x Kingston Kingston Technology 8GB 1066MHZ DDR3 ECC Reg with Parity CL7 KVR1066D3Q8R7S/8G

CPU
1. Intel Xeon E5620 Westmere 2.4GHz 12MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 80W Quad-Core Server Processor BX80614E5620
OR if 2nd motherboard
2. Intel Xeon X3460 Lynnfield 2.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Server Processor BX80605X3460

RAID Card:
1- LSI Internal SATA/SAS 9211-8i 6Gb/s PCI-Express 2.0 RAID Controller Card, Single
2- IBM ServeRAID M1015 SAS RAID Controller FRU 46M0861 LSI PN# SAS9220-8i
3- SUPERMICRO AOC-SASLP-MV8
Do they allow work with pass-through (so unRaid/FreeNAS can use them directly?)

From my reading here and other forums it sounds like unless I want to kill my wallet with a hardware raid with memory and battery backup, software raid should work well enough... correct?

I would likely put the VM images on SSD's or WD Raptors in RAID0 (with a good backup scheme of course :))

And just in case this matters for the first motherboard with dual CPU
PSU
SeaSonic X Series X-850 (SS-850KM Active PFC F3) 850W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91

I appreciate any feedback/advice anyone can give me for an easy, relatively hassle free, first time install of ESXi!
 
As a note; ESXi 5.0 only allows you to use 32GB RAM max so that may affect what you choose memory-wise.

The M1015 passes through quite fine; we use three for an OpenIndiana+napp-it fileserver in our ESXi box.
 
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