Cheap build for MCSE virtualisation server

[aidanjt]

Edit - Sorry, just seen to CiT case comes with a 300w PSU. Would that be enough?

Yeah, the system I speced would hardly use half that.

[DanceswithUnix]

Personally don't like APU's but each to their own.

Integrated graphics means you don't have to bother with a graphics card, so you get a more compact system. I think the top end ones aren't such a good deal, but the cheap & mid range ones can work our nicely.

That board I linked can take 64GB or ram, I just wish APUs supported ECC RAM.

[GuidoLS]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Z400-Work...item3cf7b9fd4c

I'm a little harsh on HP's consumer builds, but I have used their business offerings before, and own this particular machine, albeit with a different graphics card, and it will pretty much fulfill all of your requirements, so long as you aren't looking to OC, as that's about the only downside.

It's not the newest, shiniest, fastest kid on the block, but they come in at generally under $400US, take up to 24gb DDR3 ECC memory, 6 SATA slots (2 used - 1 by HDD and one by DVD), and it's built like a tank. Using the ever silly 1:1 conversion of dollars to pounds, that still leaves ~$200 off the top for an upgrade or 2 - SSD, better graphics, more memory, whatever. And, if the seller is worth his salt, you'll also get a Win7 license key, upgradable to Win10 Pro, if so desired.

[Splash]

I'm considering Ravello for some short term lab work that I won't have capacity for at home - not sure if that's worth investigating as an alternative?

[madman045]

I am doing a similar thing, home lab PC, VMware workstation, Nested ESXI etc..

You could do the same with Windows 8.1 and Hyper-V, I did it to pass the 74-409 exam

Have a look at this blog to give you another suggestion on machine spec

http://www.virtxpert.com/home-lab-12...-2015-edition/

Andy

[herulach]

The TS140 is £250 after cashback inc. VAT, EX1226 isn't quite as fast as you could get second hand for the same price, but its out of the box with a warranty and disk. You can easily get 1TB of SSD and anotehr 16Gb (although 12 mght be better to keep dual channel) for under £500. Going intel gets you vPro which is pretty nice. Installing an OS over VNC is pretty neat.

You're down on cores vs. an FX series, but I wouldn't imagine that would matter greatly for a production system. Theyre quiet too.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The FX8320e is under £100 and has a 95w TDP.

[Smudger]

Right, I'm going to donate a case and Corsair 520w PSU to keep costs down, do Scan still do a Today Only on a Friday that lasts all weekend? When does that usually get uploaded? I'm only seeing Thursday's at the mo...
The build I'm going to go for is:

Component Selection Price

CPU
AMD FX-8320E 3.2GHz 8-Core Processor £95.11

Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard £65.70

Memory
Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory £87.02

Storage
Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive £79.17
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive £53.94
Total: £380.94

Will that do the job?

[Bagnaj97]

Right, I'm going to donate a case and Corsair 520w PSU to keep costs down, do Scan still do a Today Only on a Friday that lasts all weekend? When does that usually get uploaded? I'm only seeing Thursday's at the mo...
The build I'm going to go for is:

Will that do the job?

You could save a little by switching the MX100 for a BX100, and the GA-970a-DS3P should also be fine rather than the UD3P (biggest difference is the weaker VRMs on the DS3P, but with an un-overclocked 95w CPU it's more than fine).
Seagate currently have a poor reliability reputation (not sure how deserved it is).

You'll also need some form of GPU (which is why people were suggesting APUs) unless it's a completely headless machine.

[DanceswithUnix]

With an FX cpu, I paid more to get stronger VRMs. Boards rated for 125W Phenoms often can't handle a 125W FX, they do push things that bit harder.

Edit to add: You can still get the board I use: http://www.amazon.co.uk/M5A97-EVO-R2...dp/B008RPZ5H8/

That board does take ECC ram as well, that is what I am using on this workstation.