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?
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?
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