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Upgrade current gaming system or buy z600 to learn esxi/center?
- Thread starter eqtitan
- Start date
Well, where I work, automation is king. If it can be automated, it should be. And no, people aren't being let go because of it... if you know your stuff, you're kept around as there's always new things to automate and make better. I'm also not sure what your job is or what your goals really are, so there's not a lot of opportunity to "help" you.
With that said, what you have is pretty alright. Maybe bump the RAM a little. Build an ESX host from it (or spin up ESX/vCenter VMs), and spin up a few ESXi VMs and maybe a couple of very tiny linux VMs. Poke the UI for a couple of hours, then start digging into PowerCLI. If you're just a person who tinkers with virtualization though, or only does some simple stuff for your job (i.e. spin up a few VMs, change resources, install/config ESX by hand), that can all be learned by anyone in an hour or so. If that's the case, you might just be better signing up for the Hands on Labs from vmware.
With that said, what you have is pretty alright. Maybe bump the RAM a little. Build an ESX host from it (or spin up ESX/vCenter VMs), and spin up a few ESXi VMs and maybe a couple of very tiny linux VMs. Poke the UI for a couple of hours, then start digging into PowerCLI. If you're just a person who tinkers with virtualization though, or only does some simple stuff for your job (i.e. spin up a few VMs, change resources, install/config ESX by hand), that can all be learned by anyone in an hour or so. If that's the case, you might just be better signing up for the Hands on Labs from vmware.
Well, where I work, automation is king. If it can be automated, it should be. And no, people aren't being let go because of it... if you know your stuff, you're kept around as there's always new things to automate and make better. I'm also not sure what your job is or what your goals really are, so there's not a lot of opportunity to "help" you.
With that said, what you have is pretty alright. Maybe bump the RAM a little. Build an ESX host from it (or spin up ESX/vCenter VMs), and spin up a few ESXi VMs and maybe a couple of very tiny linux VMs. Poke the UI for a couple of hours, then start digging into PowerCLI. If you're just a person who tinkers with virtualization though, or only does some simple stuff for your job (i.e. spin up a few VMs, change resources, install/config ESX by hand), that can all be learned by anyone in an hour or so. If that's the case, you might just be better signing up for the Hands on Labs from vmware.
Currently work for a large automotive corporation, as senior deskside/ executive support. I support 2,700+ clients in my building and 33 executive level employees over 5 buildings. In my spare time i self study for new exams to get certified in to help open up my career prospects. Right now I'm studying for the security+ exam, then the vmware vcp6-dcv I have setup up an esxi host previously but that was by reading some forums and YouTube. This rig will be used for self study.
My only concern is if you need to do passthru such as a M1015 for FreeNAS you're stuck because the 4670K doesn't support VT-d.
If you aren't doing passthru then the only thiing you really need is more RAM, ideally 32GB.
New 32gb will run $130-$160 for another $140 I can get the better study machine. Thank-you for your thoughts.
for any lab, its best to keep it separate from prod or in this case, your gaming machine. The assumption is that you have things up and running with your current machine, and erasing everything to self study could negatively impact you (esp on days you need to chill out and not study).
for any lab, its best to keep it separate from prod or in this case, your gaming machine. The assumption is that you have things up and running with your current machine, and erasing everything to self study could negatively impact you (esp on days you need to chill out and not study).
I have consoles and tablets to amuse me when I'm not outside trying not to be FAT (down 14lbs in 8 weeks)
koolaidkitten
Gawd
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2006
- Messages
- 632
I think it is perfectly fine as you have it. You can always upgrade later if you choose to do more with it than be a lab.
Try to install ESXi on it now. If you get storage and NIC support and ESXi installs, grab the 32GB of RAM (and maybe a bigger SSD) and run with it for now. If not, then your first lab exercise is figuring out how to add driver support for those devices.
Until you get more experience with virtualization and your lab, you aren't going to know what kind of things you want to do and thus what kind of hardware you need to do it. Learn as much as you can with what you have now, so that you can recognize where your limitations are and then use that to inform your decision as to what to buy next.
If your goal is VCP6-DCV, then you're going to want shared storage and multiple hypervisors/hosts. You can do this with your current hardware and a nested hypervisor situation with virtualized storage (but you'll be extremely limited with 32GB and 120GB of storage), or get multiple physical hosts. Planning this out and identifying the pros/cons of each is another good exercise.
If you want to buy new hardware, Dell T20, HP ML10v2, or Intel NUCs can make great labs and can be had cheap. Again, identify the pros/cons and map them against your goals. Another learning exercise.
It's easy to focus on the new toys first, but I've learned that plan and learn first, hardware second is definitely the most cost and time effective way to learn new skills.
Until you get more experience with virtualization and your lab, you aren't going to know what kind of things you want to do and thus what kind of hardware you need to do it. Learn as much as you can with what you have now, so that you can recognize where your limitations are and then use that to inform your decision as to what to buy next.
If your goal is VCP6-DCV, then you're going to want shared storage and multiple hypervisors/hosts. You can do this with your current hardware and a nested hypervisor situation with virtualized storage (but you'll be extremely limited with 32GB and 120GB of storage), or get multiple physical hosts. Planning this out and identifying the pros/cons of each is another good exercise.
If you want to buy new hardware, Dell T20, HP ML10v2, or Intel NUCs can make great labs and can be had cheap. Again, identify the pros/cons and map them against your goals. Another learning exercise.
It's easy to focus on the new toys first, but I've learned that plan and learn first, hardware second is definitely the most cost and time effective way to learn new skills.
Currently work for a large automotive corporation, as senior deskside/ executive support. I support 2,700+ clients in my building and 33 executive level employees over 5 buildings. In my spare time i self study for new exams to get certified in to help open up my career prospects. Right now I'm studying for the security+ exam, then the vmware vcp6-dcv I have setup up an esxi host previously but that was by reading some forums and YouTube. This rig will be used for self study.
Do they have any older servers laying around that you would be allowed to use/borrow/keep?
Where I work, when we replace servers they let use do whatever we want with them.