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Thread: power system to run demanding VMs

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    power system to run demanding VMs

    Hi all.

    I need some advice - I want a system to run a few (three or four) VMs. It won’t be used for graphics intensive work or playing games. I do have some VMs that need plenty of RAM (8gb plus) and probably at least 4 cores each (or two multi-threaded, at least). Others are less demanding.

    I’m not sure whether I’ll be using VMware or something else. The current VMS I have are VMware workstation compatible so I’d need something that can play them - I’m not keen on converting them.

    I need a small form factor system as I haven’t much space. Also, I will be travelling with it from time to time (but only between offices, I don’t need to use it while on the road). So small is portable.

    Ideally, I’d like a ready built system but I could build my own, if that’s the only way.

    I’ve looked at NUCs but they seem to be expensive for what you get and I’m not sure they have the grunt I’d need.

    I suppose a system that supports plenty of RAM (16 or 32 GB) should be reasonably straightforward but I have no real idea about CPUs these days. I think Haswell is the top of the range, is that so? I can’t get my head round the differences between the various options, though. However, I expect any performance CPU will be plenty for my purposes.

    I won’t need a lot of storage - 1Tb (orless) would probably be plenty as the VMs won’t be that big.

    Has anyone any suggestions? Anything from Scan I should be looking at?

    Any thoughts would be gratefully received

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    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
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    Re: power system to run demanding VMs

    I've only had a very quick look, but something like this might be OK:
    http://3xs.scan.co.uk/shared/4ba5c1b...b-73db478920b8

    It does waste money on a graphics card, which for some reason I wasn't able to deselect even though haswell has an inbuilt GPU.

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    Re: power system to run demanding VMs

    Dependent on if you're looking for something dedicated (to run ESXi rather than Windows/Linux) as a host you could do worse than something like http://www.serversplus.com/servers/s...del-32gb4esxi5 or http://www.serversplus.com/servers/s.../t1003sx0805yr if you need more warranty/storage

    You'd obviously need another machine to connect to the server and manage from.

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    Re: power system to run demanding VMs

    Do you have a budget in mind?

    That system linked by Kalniel looks pretty good as a start, and with the i7-4770 option ticked it will be about as quick as you can get in that form factor.

    If you need cheaper, you can self build an AMD 8320 8 core cpu into a micro-atx chassis and that could even take ECC ram if you use an ASUS motherboard.

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    Re: power system to run demanding VMs

    The 3XS system would be OK in terms of budget. I would expect to have to pay about a grand for the sort of system I'm looking for.
    It certainly looks promising.

    Thanks for the response.

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    Re: power system to run demanding VMs

    If you wanted to, you could probably get something into ITX - the main barrier to ITX is large graphics cards, and that's not a problem for you. Would be ultra-portable and depending on the CPU you ultimately choose, it might well be no less powerful.

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    Re: power system to run demanding VMs

    Quote Originally Posted by kalniel View Post
    I've only had a very quick look, but something like this might be OK:
    http://3xs.scan.co.uk/shared/4ba5c1b...b-73db478920b8
    .
    That looks interesting, thanks.

    I can't see any way of changing the case (I'd prefer a pizza box type format) but that's not a deal breaker.

    I agree that the graphics card is odd. I expect it can be left out as the m/b has graphics connectors.

    Another oddity is that Asus say the m/b supports up to 16GB but the configurator allows you to specify 32GB.

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    Re: power system to run demanding VMs

    Quote Originally Posted by Splash View Post
    Dependent on if you're looking for something dedicated (to run ESXi rather than Windows/Linux) as a host you could do worse than something like http://www.serversplus.com/servers/s...del-32gb4esxi5 or http://www.serversplus.com/servers/s.../t1003sx0805yr if you need more warranty/storage
    Thanks for those but they're full size systems and a bit big for my requirements

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    Re: power system to run demanding VMs

    Quote Originally Posted by corylus View Post
    That looks interesting, thanks.

    I can't see any way of changing the case (I'd prefer a pizza box type format) but that's not a deal breaker.

    I agree that the graphics card is odd. I expect it can be left out as the m/b has graphics connectors.

    Another oddity is that Asus say the m/b supports up to 16GB but the configurator allows you to specify 32GB.
    Scan will build custom-spec PCs if you send them a list of components. And sometimes with motherboards they only test them with say 4*4GB modules, but they'll run happily with 8GB modules. Especially if the bigger size doesn't come out until after the motherboard has been finalised.

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    Re: power system to run demanding VMs

    Quote Originally Posted by corylus View Post
    Another oddity is that Asus say the m/b supports up to 16GB but the configurator allows you to specify 32GB.
    Motherboard QVLs are done with RAM that's to hand at the time of the specification for testing. Higher density RAM might have been released too recently to make the tests, but that's the advantage of going pre-built through a vendor like Scan - they should test it all to make sure it works.

    Pizza box SFFs are hard to find, shoe box is more common. Unless you're talking about rack servers of course, but I'd say they're a bit less portable than a shoebox SFF!

    But that was just picking the closest existing 3XS system and seeing how it would do - it's a graphics workstation so that's probably why the graphics option isn't option. There aren't all that many SFF options from Scan otherwise, but it's certainly doable to build your own instead and compare it to the Scan system (taking account of the service/testing/warranty etc. you are getting from Scan - often a good thing when it comes to SFFs as they can be fiddly )

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    Re: power system to run demanding VMs

    Quote Originally Posted by kalniel View Post
    There aren't all that many SFF options from Scan otherwise, but it's certainly doable to build your own instead and compare it to the Scan system (taking account of the service/testing/warranty etc. you are getting from Scan - often a good thing when it comes to SFFs as they can be fiddly )
    Yes, I'm much in favour if getting a ready built system - I always seem to draw blood when working inside a case!
    Last edited by corylus; 15-01-2014 at 07:02 PM.

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    Re: power system to run demanding VMs

    Thanks for everyone's help. I've posted a question in the 3xs forum, hoping for some input from Scan.

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    Re: power system to run demanding VMs

    Personally I'd go with the smallest full ATX case you can find, a 970 or 990 board and an FX83xx CPU. Load it with ESXi (free) and it will run your workstation VMs without conversion....maybe add an intel NIC incase the on-board LAN doesn't work with ESX (very rare these days, might be worth chancing it and buying the NIC after if needed).

    With the money you save from using AMD and building yourself you can easily add an SSD to the build and use as an ESX cache.
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    Re: power system to run demanding VMs

    Quote Originally Posted by shaithis View Post
    Personally I'd go with the smallest full ATX case you can find, a 970 or 990 board and an FX83xx CPU. Load it with ESXi (free) and it will run your workstation VMs without conversion....maybe add an intel NIC incase the on-board LAN doesn't work with ESX (very rare these days, might be worth chancing it and buying the NIC after if needed).

    With the money you save from using AMD and building yourself you can easily add an SSD to the build and use as an ESX cache.
    Sorry to be slow responding, I've been poking at Scan to come up with something but they've gone quiet.
    Thanks for the suggestion. I'd prefer to get one ready built - I've always thought that you don't save a lot with self-build but I've never really looked into it.

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    Re: power system to run demanding VMs

    Any thoughts on alternatives to Scan? I was looking at a 3XS system but had a couple of questions and they don't seem interested in getting back to me.

    I don't know who else is out there that is reliable

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    Re: power system to run demanding VMs

    HP, Dell, Lenovo.

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