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Virtualization for home office

A

alexdagr8

n00b
Joined
Jan 22, 2012
Messages
1
Hello,

I have a small home office and due to persistent maintenance, backup and performance issues I am hoping that I could replace the desktops I have with a single virtualised desktop system. I am thinking about building a server to virtualise about 3-4 desktops running Windows 7 and a further desktop running Windows XP (for legacy applications) and an Ubuntu Server (acts as a web & storage server for local use). The desktop systems will be used for light use, mostly basic office productivity apps and web browsing (including flash video playback). I am planning on recycling some existing computers (low-end Core 2 Duo and Athlon X2 systems) as the receivers for now but may move on to some lower power devices in the future. I would like to know the software I would need to achieve this, from what I have seen something like XenDesktop Express Edition (since the number of clients is less than 10) running on an ESXi Server might work (but it’s probably overkill). I am confused about the licenses I would need and the associated costs involved for the virtualization software and Windows (Server, VECD etc.). And is there a better (or cheaper) way to do this?

Also I am not sure about hardware requirements for such a system, but I guess a system built around an AMD FX-8 8150 or Intel Core i5 2500K, with 16GB of RAM, a few hard drives (possibly in a RAID 5 setup with a RAID Card or SSD+HDD) and a dedicated dual gigabit ethernet card should be sufficient.

Thanks,
Alex
 
I would like something like this too. I want to put my PC in the closet and run Ethernet to a monitor, keyboard and mouse.
 
Check out ESXi 5 and Gea's Napp-It all in one system. I have one and its fantastic. You want to use server hardware though such as Xeon E3-1230 and Supermicro server boards. I highly recommend ZFS as well. Check his all in one concept on his website

He is also very active in the Data Storage Forums here.

The only issue you will have is getting the graphics to work how you would like it with flash.

Another idea is to run virtualbox or vmware workstation clients on your desktop to do the same thing with less flexibility.
 
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