Visualization Hardware

[Fuganater]

So I want to start my own in home lab and the first thing I need is some servers to run ESXi on. I think I will start with 3 servers and I can upgrade the RAM later and add more servers to the farm at a later date. I wanted to see what you guys think about the hardware. I am thinking of 2 options.

Option 1:
3x Dell PowerEdge 2950 III with E54XX and 16/32GB RAM.

Downers
Limited to 32GB RAM
CPUs are not HT so I am limited to 8 cores
2U of Space
RAM is DDR2 (not sure how much this matters)
Upside
Cost = $100 for 16GB RAM and $130 for 32GB RAM
Hot swap HDD bays

Option 2:
3x Dell PowerEdge R410 with E55XX and 16/32GB RAM

Downers
Cost = ~$190 for 16GB RAM and ~$230 for 32GB RAM (Still negotiating on Ebay)
Cabled HDD bays
Upside
CPUs are H/T
1U of Space
Limited to 64GB RAM
E56XX only cost a bit more

I only mention the Hot swap and cabled HDD bays because one day, I may what to use these for something else and having hot swap bays is a real plus.

So what do you guys think? Is having a newer H/T proc that important and worth the extra almost $100 per server?

 

[pirateghost]

2950's are LOUD.

Personally I wouldn't go anything less than r710's

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[Fuganater]

2950's are LOUD.

Personally I wouldn't go anything less than r710's

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Are the much quieter?

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[depasseg]

I'd def go with the R410 over the 2950. Quieter, better power efficiency.

If possible look for an R610 or R710 (insides are exactly the same - R610 is a 1U, less bays and expansion slots, R710 is 2U, more drive bays and expansion slots). And they both have much higher RAM limits. You could probably get away with only 2 of these, vs 3.

 

[Fuganater]

I'd def go with the R410 over the 2950. Quieter, better power efficiency.

If possible look for an R610 or R710 (insides are exactly the same - R610 is a 1U, less bays and expansion slots, R710 is 2U, more drive bays and expansion slots). And they both have much higher RAM limits. You could probably get away with only 2 of these, vs 3.

Thanks. I looked at dimensions and the 610 is too long for my rack so that is out. I'll check the 710 out and see what the prices look like.

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[pirateghost]

I just took out 6 r710s from my server rack this year. They were great

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[depasseg]

Thanks. I looked at dimensions and the 610 is too long for my rack so that is out. I'll check the 710 out and see what the prices look like.

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The 610 and 710 are going to be the same length.

 

[Fuganater]

The 610 and 710 are going to be the same length.

Nope. I downloaded the Dell technical guide for each server and the R610 is deff longer.

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[pirateghost]

That's weird because my r710s are long as hell

 

[depasseg]

They use the same rails, so if one fits they will both fit. They might stick out the back of the rack frame a little though.

 

[razvanc.mobile]

Go with the newer architecture, it will help more in the long run. Also you might be interested in the HP variant, the DL160 is similar to the R410, and are a little better built in my opinion, and you can find some good offers on ebay, with dual E5620 and at least 16GB of ram. and they have 18 memory slots.

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[Fuganater]

The rails are adjustible like Supermicro rails. I will need to check that though. I'll see how low I can get the R710 down to. I'm thinking it won't be less than $200-$230 per server.

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[Fuganater]

R710 rails are expensive... Well, rails in general are expensive.

R410 can do 128GB RAM. I highly doubt I will get near that so the fact that the R710 can do 288GB doesn't really matter. They both use the same chips so that doesn't make a difference but I am torn right now. R410 I can get a nice price with rails, the R710 is a nice price but no rails so that jacks the price up quite a bit. I can try to shop around more for them but I doubt I will find them for much less than $65.

R410
$230 + $48 Shipping = $278
Comes with:
32GB RAM
2x E5520
1x 480 PSU
Rails

R710
$220 + $52 Shipping = $272 + $65 = $337
Comes with:
36GB RAM
2x E5520
1x PSU
No rails + $65

I guess rails really don't matter but they are uber nice to have. Thoughts?

 

[Fuganater]

So I ended up getting a pretty good deal for 2x Dell R710 for $296 each. They have dual PSU and rails which is really nice. I picked up 19x 4GB DIMMs for $7 each which doubles my RAM in one of the servers. I can resell the 2GB DIMMs later if I want but this will be an awesome start to my home lab.

 

[Mirfster]

So I ended up getting a pretty good deal for 2x Dell R710 for $296 each. They have dual PSU and rails which is really nice. I picked up 19x 4GB DIMMs for $7 each which doubles my RAM in one of the servers. I can resell the 2GB DIMMs later if I want but this will be an awesome start to my home lab.
View attachment 9354

Late to the party, but for what it is worth I would have recommended the PowerEdge C2100. I am a huge fan of this model (will likely see me mention it often). Cost may be a little higher, but if you have the time you can wait for a good deal to pop up. Also, if you use the BMC Firmware < 1.8 it is super quite (I have four in my Server Rack right now and could easily talk on speaker phone without any issues).

 

[Fuganater]

Late to the party, but for what it is worth I would have recommended the PowerEdge C2100. I am a huge fan of this model (will likely see me mention it often). Cost may be a little higher, but if you have the time you can wait for a good deal to pop up. Also, if you use the BMC Firmware < 1.8 it is super quite (I have four in my Server Rack right now and could easily talk on speaker phone without any issues).

Thanks for the heads up. I never even thought of that chassis.

 

[Mirfster]

Thanks for the heads up. I never even thought of that chassis.

No problem, I should clarify that the actual model that I am using is the "FS12-TY" which is a customized C2100. This is mostly the ones sold on eBay and advertised as a Dell C2100. However, Dell will not officially support them. Nonetheless, I have not had any issues in using Dell C2100 Drivers/Firmware as needed. Also, even if you did purchase an official C2100; I would doubt it would still be under Dell's active support due to age.