Help with a server build

[revival]

I currently have a Synology ds 412+ I use for my file storage and A Hyper V server with an i3-3220 and 8gb of ram for running about 4 vms

Im planning on upgrading to one device and retiring the Ds412+. Trying to do this build using lower power equipment So I will have one server running hyperv and it will also be my file server with about 4-5 VM running ( mainly desktop OS’s testing enviroment) I have some questions about the hardware Questions Thinking of going with i5-6500T or i7-6700T both with TDP of 35 watts, Do I need the i7 in my scenario or would the i5 suffice?

In regards to ram 16gb or 32gb?

Anything else I’m over looking

thanks

 

[_Gea]

You want ECC for a server. If you optionally want to try ESXi instead of Hyper-V you also want vt-d
Maybe you want 10G and an additional 12G SAS HBA for a high performance ZFS NAS.
This is much cheaper when you buy it onboard

This usually means a mainboard with a serverclass chipset (chipset start with a C like C232).
Look for the Socket 1151 oder Xeon-D

example:
UP Xeon Motherboards | Motherboards | Products - Super Micro Computer, Inc. or
UP Xeon Motherboards | Motherboards | Products - Super Micro Computer, Inc.

CPUs go up from DualCore G4400 (35W) to Xeon (i5 and i7 are desktop CPUs)
The Celeron/Xeon-D are onboard up from 25W

RAM is mostly more important than CPU so use as much as needed/possible.

 

[dclive]

I currently have a Synology ds 412+ I use for my file storage and A Hyper V server with an i3-3220 and 8gb of ram for running about 4 vms

Im planning on upgrading to one device and retiring the Ds412+. Trying to do this build using lower power equipment So I will have one server running hyperv and it will also be my file server with about 4-5 VM running ( mainly desktop OS’s testing enviroment) I have some questions about the hardware Questions Thinking of going with i5-6500T or i7-6700T both with TDP of 35 watts, Do I need the i7 in my scenario or would the i5 suffice?

In regards to ram 16gb or 32gb?

Anything else I’m over looking

thanks

I'd keep the Synology DS412+; it allows for a lot of flexibility (shared storage, namely -- NFS or iSCSI) with ESXi. Stick a 1TB SSD into it, and call it a day for your storage...

Low power : get a NUC of some sort (or BRIX, etc...) gen5 or later Intel CPU, and add 2 16GB SODIMMs and call it a day.

You want as much RAM as you can cram in there. If small / low profile isn't a priority, get a larget desktop with 4 DIMM slots, and put 64GB in there. You'll eventually use every bit of it.

Given you have 4 cores shared out to (now) 4 VMs and (in the future) perhaps more, I'd get an i7 if you can, but that all depends on your workload. I have 3 hosts in my ESXi cluster - an i5 (Mac Mini), an i3 (Gigabyte Brix projector model), and an i3 (1st gen Intel NUC). Each with 16GB. Works great. But I always want more RAM and some more CPU horsepower would be nice too.