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Suggestions for AMD based ESXi server

H

HalfJawElite

Weaksauce
Joined
Jul 2, 2012
Messages
111
I'm looking for suggestions on an AMD based server on which I plan on running ESXi on for practice at home. I have noticed plenty of Intel based ESXi servers but no AMD one's that are guaranteed to work with ESXi 5

I plan on running the free version to start with which I know limits the hardware to 32 GB of RAM and 1 physical CPU with a max of 8 threads. If I like the way it works out I might buy the basic license and upgrade to 64 GB RAM and 2 physical CPU's so a dual socket board is a big bonus but I can live with a single CPU configuration just as long as I can squeeze 64 GB of RAM out of it.

I have found a board and processor that was tested with ESXi but unfortunately they are Intel based.

Board: ASUS P9X79 WS
CPU: Intel Xeon E5 2620

If anyone has any suggestions for an AMD equivalent system then it would be much appreciated.
 
gigabyte 990fxa works for me. I have a 1045t. Nested vms, pci pass through all work for me. No crashes etc. Though the onboard realtek nic isn't that great. I've got a dual port intel nic I put in. GL
 
did you buy the Intel nic's because you wanted them or was it required by the ESXi installer?
 
I wanted them and realtek nics aren't known to be very good. A very minor thing, but imo intel nics are multitudes better.
 
If you need cheap 1 port nics, Rosewill RC-411 Network Adapter 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI-Express 1 x RJ45, $14.99! and work in esxi 5.(newegg)
 
Oh ok so they otherwise work in an ESXi install and can then be used by the guest OS's? I was under the impression that ESXi did not even want to install if the board did not have Intel nic's on it. If it will install and operate with non Intel nic's then the realtek one's on most AMD boards will do for me.
 
Hagrid said:
If you need cheap 1 port nics, Rosewill RC-411 Network Adapter 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI-Express 1 x RJ45, $14.99! and work in esxi 5.(newegg)
Click to expand...

Thanks for that I'll keep it in mind once I start pricing everything out. I was looking at the Intel CPU and Board as an example for what I'd expect from a comparable AMD system.
 
I would recommend the Intel cards. Only 25$ bulk and they should work in ESXi 5.0
 
I'm building a new gaming system for myself this week. I'm starting to wonder if I should just use that for now while I continue looking around for other AMD based options.

ASUS Crosshair V Formula
AMD Phenom II X4 975
32 GB Corsair Vengence DDR3 1333 MHz RAM
two Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 Ghz Edition's
four Corsair Force GT 120 GB SSD's in Raid 0 for Windows
two WD Caviar Blue's in Raid 1 for storage
a Samsung blue-ray burner

If I use this setup perhaps I should buy additional SATA Raid cards and use additional drives for ESXi when I want to use it?
 
holden j caufield said:
the nic card $ diff. is negligible, go with intel for the warranty, stability, performance, drivers, features etc.
Click to expand...

For some people the $ could make a difference if buying a few. I also bought an intel one that is on the hcl list. I just wanted to see if the rosewill really worked and do some comparisons.
 
I know the motherboard that I chose for my new gaming system has 1 Intel Gigabit LAN port, so I'm guessing that this setup is perfectly fine for ESXi installation right?
 
HalfJawElite said:
I know the motherboard that I chose for my new gaming system has 1 Intel Gigabit LAN port, so I'm guessing that this setup is perfectly fine for ESXi installation right?
Click to expand...

It might, but you might check the HCL and see if its on the list.
I know the cheapest Intel one on the HCL is the intel gigabit CT(newegg), but its cheaper to get them off of ebay, even better is a dual port, which you might want to get.
 
Currently have the following running ESXi5.0-U1:
  • Athlon II x4 635
  • Asus M4785TD-M EVO
  • 16gb
  • 2.5 tb total disk-space

Worked great for about a year until the mobo decided it was tired of booting. RMA'd and Asus did something and got the board to me in 2 weeks. Been running solid ever since.

Will be building a new system with the following:
  • FX-8120
  • Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3
  • 32gb Gskill RAM (max for that board)
  • 2-3 tb disk-space (haven't decided yet)

Have done A LOT of checking and this config seems to be perfect for my price-point and needs. Can't quite justify the additional $300 or so for an Intel based system. Reports here and else where on the web indicates this is a pretty solid system. I'll be "pulling the trigger" Fri so I should know for sure in about 10 days or so.

Hope that helps.

Bill W
 
Unless you specifically need a VMWare solution, you should also include Citrix XEN Server in your list of choices. I find it's free version much easier to use than the free version of VMWare or Hyper-V. XEN can use vm disks created for Hyper-V or VMWare.

I think if you buy a fairly recent motherboard, you shouldn't have any issues with ESX. Intel nics are better for off box performance, but if you are dealing with onbox virtual networks, it shouldn't matter. If you are doing off box storage etc, then you should have at least 2 good nics with one dedicated to the management port with Intel nics the most supported and having the best performance.

I've found SuperMicro support to be the best with Tyan a fairly close second. Asus support for server boards is horrible. Consider Magny Cours for the processors. There is less likelihood that you will hit a bios issue and you can pickup used procs on ebay for a substantial discount. BTW, the SuperMicro boards also seem to be quite a bit thicker and stiffer.

Many of us who fold have had good luck with wiredzone.com. They have very good prices and a extremely large selection.
 
Thanks a lot guys! This has been very informative as to what hardware I can use for an AMD based ESXi 5 server. Where I originally thought that I'd have to go Intel I am quite glad that AMD hardware is working fine with the hyper-visor installed. My last question for you all is if anyone has tried installing the hypervisor onto a system running and Opteron CPU and mo-board or just Phenom only?
 
Just wanted to jump in real quick here to say that what I found in my research is that it seems to be 80-90% motherboard/BIOS compatibility with ESXi, the rest with the CPU.

As for the Opteron, I have not done it but some of the "commercial" servers run them and I seem to remember their being on the VMware HCL. Double-check 'cause I suffer from "CRS" (Can't Remember Stuff). :D
 
I have two Dell R715 Opteron servers that are 2P-6172 at work. They work fine. The motherboards have Broadcom nics that had perf issues. I use a 4 nic Intel card in each now that don't have perf issues. FWIW, the nics had the same issues with XEN and Hyper-V.
 
HalfJawElite said:
Thanks a lot guys! This has been very informative as to what hardware I can use for an AMD based ESXi 5 server. Where I originally thought that I'd have to go Intel I am quite glad that AMD hardware is working fine with the hyper-visor installed. My last question for you all is if anyone has tried installing the hypervisor onto a system running and Opteron CPU and mo-board or just Phenom only?
Click to expand...

Yes, Opterons are on the HCL, though I just started learning about virtualizaion so I havnt played with any of the cool stuff that the higher end hardware offers.
 
NIC question for you guys. Is there any advantage other than PCIe / PCI slot savings with buying a dual port nic rather then just going with two single port nics? Also with 1Gb nics does using PCIe vs PCI really matter much in performance?

It just seems like if i have the PCIe / PCI ports on my mobo what else am I going to use them for but NICs anyway in an ESXi box? For the price i can get 5 nics for the price of 1 dual port.

29.99 for Single port nic: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106033

149.99 for Dual port nic: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106015
 
buy a server pull one from ebay. I just bought one of those for $59 shipped to my door.
 
I don't think there is an real advantage of a dual or quad vs a single unless you need a lot of ports. You can have a virtual network as well on the server. I doubt you will need more than 2 or 3 ports.
 
jimh425 said:
I don't think there is an real advantage of a dual or quad vs a single unless you need a lot of ports. You can have a virtual network as well on the server. I doubt you will need more than 2 or 3 ports.
Click to expand...

The only real advantage of a dual or quad over the single is if you are limited on the PCIe slots. If the host is just a VM host, not like a all in one nas/vm host then it's not really an issue.
 
Thanks a lot guys. I've been looking through the ESXi HCL list and have unfortunately not found any ASUS Opteron certified motherboards. I'm not very familiar with server motherboard brands as I'm normally focused on high end gaming hardware. What companies should I look at on their HCL list that provide solid AMD Opteron server motherboards?
 
I just ordered some more goodies, including the matx case for part of the home lab, an M4 128gb SSD(for main machine) which is just fast as hell. No going back.

I also needed/wanted to play around with mutliple nics on machines, etc and a pci for ESXI 5 would rock if its cheap. I just got in the Rosewill RC-404 Ethernet Card that is pci and it works great on ESXI 5. Just letting people know if they didnt and need a pci.($15)
 
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