Recommendations on ESXi 5.1 build

[Shadowhaxor]

So long story short, I had an ESXi 5.1 setup running off a Supermicro 1U with 2 x Quad Core Xeons. Sadly that server met it's end during a flood a month ago that happened in my basement. So I've been looking for a replacement for it so I can get my ESXi environment back and running (Which is saved on my NAS) and I've had my eye on a couple of servers.

However since I do work at a pretty large datacenter I really don't want my office / basement to sound like it does at work so I'm leaning towards a whitebox build instead.

I know there's tons of threads on this, I just looking for some quick recommendations under 500-600.00 and this will end up spawning a clone so I can cluster the hosts. Looking at a AMD also for cheap build (as long as it supports directpath). AMD FX-8150 Zambezi perhaps?

Will be running 8-10 VM's; Windows 2012 for training, 2 linux rigs, Pfsense, Windows 7 for transcoding, a media distro for the house and others for testing.

I did look at a few Dell Poweredge 2950 II's for $200.00 a piece but I know those all to well from work and damn those things are loud.

Help me out gang! I need my lab back!

Build #1 - Link
Build #2 - Link

 

[dave99]

I like my dell t110-II. Quiet (it sits right under my desk at home, virtually inaudible, to me), good power efficiency, holds 32gb, enough space to get decent storage.

 

[Shadowhaxor]

I like my dell t110-II. Quiet (it sits right under my desk at home, virtually inaudible, to me), good power efficiency, holds 32gb, enough space to get decent storage.

looked at the T110, a tad over the budget I want to spend but it is an option. If I did it would be via Ebay, since Dell still wants at least 1K for 32GB and a quad core proc.

Not to concerned about storage since I'll be using the NAS vs local storage.

 

[Hagrid]

So long story short, I had an ESXi 5.1 setup running off a Supermicro 1U with 2 x Quad Core Xeons. Sadly that server met it's end during a flood a month ago that happened in my basement. So I've been looking for a replacement for it so I can get my ESXi environment back and running (Which is saved on my NAS) and I've had my eye on a couple of servers.

However since I do work at a pretty large datacenter I really don't want my office / basement to sound like it does at work so I'm leaning towards a whitebox build instead.

I know there's tons of threads on this, I just looking for some quick recommendations under 500-600.00 and this will end up spawning a clone so I can cluster the hosts. Looking at a AMD also for cheap build (as long as it supports directpath). AMD FX-8150 Zambezi perhaps?

Will be running 8-10 VM's; Windows 2012 for training, 2 linux rigs, Pfsense, Windows 7 for transcoding, a media distro for the house and others for testing.

I did look at a few Dell Poweredge 2950 II's for $200.00 a piece but I know those all to well from work and damn those things are loud.

Help me out gang! I need my lab back!

Build #1 - Link
Build #2 - Link

I would go with build #1 but change out the cpu with a 8350. The motherboard AFAIK should have the 970-990 chipset to support passthrough.
I might consider going full atx for the MB that has 2 pci-e x16 slots(even if 1 is 4x/8x), for 1 or 2 dual/quad port nics, if needed.

 

[rtangwai]

So long story short, I had an ESXi 5.1 setup running off a Supermicro 1U with 2 x Quad Core Xeons. Sadly that server met it's end during a flood a month ago that happened in my basement. So I've been looking for a replacement for it so I can get my ESXi environment back and running (Which is saved on my NAS) and I've had my eye on a couple of servers.

However since I do work at a pretty large datacenter I really don't want my office / basement to sound like it does at work so I'm leaning towards a whitebox build instead.

I know there's tons of threads on this, I just looking for some quick recommendations under 500-600.00 and this will end up spawning a clone so I can cluster the hosts. Looking at a AMD also for cheap build (as long as it supports directpath). AMD FX-8150 Zambezi perhaps?

Will be running 8-10 VM's; Windows 2012 for training, 2 linux rigs, Pfsense, Windows 7 for transcoding, a media distro for the house and others for testing.

I did look at a few Dell Poweredge 2950 II's for $200.00 a piece but I know those all to well from work and damn those things are loud.

Help me out gang! I need my lab back!

Build #1 - Link
Build #2 - Link

I just built an AMD-based ESXi host using a 8350 and a Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5. I would recommend at least the UD3 (it's $30 cheaper than the UD5 and since your storage is on a NAS you won't need the extra SATA ports) as a number of people have successfully built whiteboxes using that motherboard with full IOMMU support. The motherboard is $40 more expensive than the one you suggest but it would guarantee Directpath if you need it. The extra cores of the AMD really shine over the hyperthreading of Intel in the price-performance curve, especially if you are planning on running a lot of VMs. If you can, go with the 8300/8320/8350 as it is based on Piledriver (8150 is based on Bulldozer) so you'll get a 10-15% improvement in performance per MHz at the same power consumption (125W).

 

[Child of Wonder]

My lab is running 3 hosts each with Phenom II X6 1045Ts and 32GB of RAM on MSI 760G-E51 (FX) motherboards. Each also has an Intel PRO1000 VT quad port NIC. All are powered by Corsair CX430 power supplies and stuffed into a cheap black case.

I spent under $450 per box.

 

[wildbill001]

I'm running the gigabyte 990-UD3 and an AMD 8120 with 32gb ram. A bit more than what you wanted to spend but I'm really happy with the final config and performance.

Bill W

 

[dave99]

looked at the T110, a tad over the budget I want to spend but it is an option. If I did it would be via Ebay, since Dell still wants at least 1K for 32GB and a quad core proc.

Not to concerned about storage since I'll be using the NAS vs local storage.

I only buy the bare minimums from dell, then add my own ram and drives. They rape you for those items.

 

[Benzino]

I just built an AMD-based ESXi host using a 8350 and a Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5. I would recommend at least the UD3 (it's $30 cheaper than the UD5 and since your storage is on a NAS you won't need the extra SATA ports) as a number of people have successfully built whiteboxes using that motherboard with full IOMMU support. The motherboard is $40 more expensive than the one you suggest but it would guarantee Directpath if you need it. The extra cores of the AMD really shine over the hyperthreading of Intel in the price-performance curve, especially if you are planning on running a lot of VMs. If you can, go with the 8300/8320/8350 as it is based on Piledriver (8150 is based on Bulldozer) so you'll get a 10-15% improvement in performance per MHz at the same power consumption (125W).

Bump. I have the 8320 as I didn't see the need to go from 3.5GHZ-4GHZ for $20. I have the UD3 mobo. See sig for full rig.

 

[klank]

A Dell C1100 fits the bill nicely.

$509 with free shipping from eBay.

2x XEON L5520 2.26GHZ CPU'S 72GB MEMORY 4x HDD TRAYS

The sip power and are quiet.