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Setting up a Virtual Network for Learning Purposes

S

sir fr00bsalot

n00b
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Jan 19, 2011
Messages
14
Hi guys

1) I'm looking into setting up a virtual network to learn the ins and outs of server 2003/2008, IIS, Exchange, WSUS etc etc. Going to finally put my Technet subsription to good use! Is virtualbox the best software to use to acheive this? Or is there something better? Edit going to play with ESXi and Hyper-v

2) My current PC is unable to run 2 virtualboxes at a time, although thinking about it I only set it to use one core for 2 virtualbox guest hosts (stupid of me yes but if I can only run 2 guest OS's then it's not good enough), so I'm thinking about building a new PC. Specwise, I was looking at getting:

4 x Kingston 4GB DDR3 1066MHz
1 x Antec 300 Three Hundred Case
1 x Corsair 430W CX PSU
1 x Core i5-2500 3.3GHz
1 x Intel PRO/1000 GT
1 x Asus P8H67-M EVO

Comes to about £500. Will this PC be able to cope with 2 virtualised server OS's and a few desktops all running at the same time? If not what do you suggest?

If you have any comment / suggestions about either questions above or reading material for me to look at, then I'd love to hear what you have to say. Cheers!

Edit - Hardware updated and missing hardware (eg hard drives) I already have.
 
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I'd ask you to take a step back for a second and figure out exactly what it is you're trying to do.

Running that amount of stuff, especially on separate virtual servers, requires some finesse. As you mentioned, you're thinking about building a new PC to handle the workload. Virtualbox is not really intended to do what you're trying to do, at least not in my opinion. You should really run a type 1 hypervisor to run multiple servers at once, and, in the end you can learn something about that too. I'll stay out of the debate on which one to use, hyper-v or esxi (or others), but if you're serious about doing what you've talked about, then perhaps you should spec out an ESXi whitebox, or a whitebox to run hyper-v. NetJunkie can help you a lot there (if he reads this thread). He has a blog: jasonnash.wordpress.com where he spilled out the details of building himself some test gear. That might be a decent place to start reading...
 
Ah ok, I think I'll try both ESXi and Hyper-V and see which one I like best.

Will the hardware in my original post (edited in as of a few minutes ago) work ok for what I want it to do? I believe VT-X is supported by Intels i5-2500 processor. Or is it better to go with something like on that blog?

Going to read that blog now, cheers.
 
the most important requirements for using a Hypervisor like ESXi on non-server grade equipment is if the NIC and SATA are supported. Most consumer boards will not have Broadcom or Intel NIC's onboard (most will turn to Marvell, Realtek, Attansic, etc for LAN solutions). Your whitebox built will run out of ram long before it runs out of CPU cycles so your CPU is more than plenty.

The most recent build I have for an ESXi whitebox that currently serves as my router, Server 2008/2003 domain and test boxes consists of:

Intel i5 650 CPU
Intel BOXDQ57TM motherboard
16GB of G-Skill Ripjaws DDR3 RAM
2xIntel 1000PT NIC
1xIntel 1000GT NIC


I've got plenty of CPU overhead and enough RAM to run at least 8 VM's with a gig of ram dedicated to each with some room to grow to add a few more. As long as your hardware is compatible with whatever hypervisor you choose, it's just making sure you have enough RAM for them really a quad CPU should be enough for 5-8 VM's depending on how hard you push it.
 
Hyper-V in my opinion is much easier to find hardware for. But it's less polished.

I second the RAM comments, get as much as possible, even at the expense of the processor. surreal is right, you will run out of ram long before you run out of CPU.
 
Thanks for your input guys. Looks like I'll have to use a build similar to yours, Surreal as 2x8gb memory sitcks costs an absolute fortune compared to 4x4gb (UK prices)!

Anyone else have anything else to mention about what hardware to select?
 
Yeah but keep in mind the s1156 and s1155 boards currently only support 16 GB of RAM as a max and prices have steadily been declining (at least here in Canada) for DDR3 RAM. Filling up a board with RAM doesn't hurt the pocket book as much as it would have even a few months ago.
 
Here's my proposed build (without nic costs about £500):

4 x Kingston 4GB DDR3 1066MHz
1 x Antec 300 Three Hundred Case
1 x Corsair 430W CX PSU
1 x Core i5-2500 3.3GHz
1 x Intel PRO/1000 GT
1 x Asus P8H67-M EVO

Just need to find a compatible NIC for ESXi / Hyper-V - anyone have nay suggestions? Don't feel like paying a huge amount for one.

Edit Is this NIC Intel PRO/1000 GT ok?

Does everything else look good? Going to look into whether I go Hyper-V or ESXi tomorrow.

Thanks inadvanced for any input
 
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Going to buy this soon; anyone have any comments?

My CPU + mobo support VT-X and DEP so they should be compatible.
 
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