destrekor
Cadet
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2016
- Messages
- 8
I had asked this in a build thread I posted a couple days ago, but, as I often do, was way too wordy and proposed too many questions.
So here's a simple one: which CPU would be better for an ESXi server hosting FreeNAS and Sophos?
I'll be getting 2x 16GB ECC RDIMMS either way, leaving the option open for down the road to add 2x for a total of 64GB, so I'm not concerned with proper memory allocation for each server. Sophos has a modest max cap anyway at 8GB, and with my internet connection I doubt I'll ever stress the router and firewall functionality.
But I figure with CPU oversubscription and either a stronger per-thread quad-core, or hexacore with a still quite capable per-thread performance, I could comfortably run FreeNAS, Sophos, and a Windows Server with minimal duties (a sort of lab-like workload - definitely AD and GPO work, and maybe... maybe something that requires an SQL database just to get more hands-on with SQL). Probably a second Windows VM as a test client but it wouldn't be on 24/7 like the other VMs. And maybe another VM or two that I play around with but also unlikely to be used 24/7. I might use a mail server of some kind but I'd like just throw it on either Windows Server or even in a FreeNAS VM of some kind, probably bhyve once FreeNAS 10 has a stable release and that feature is added. Windows Server might not be something I mess with until I get 64GB of RAM to ensure stability. With HT and a 2:1 ratio, that would either be 16 or 24 vCPUs that could be allocated, and I'm fairly sure I could stretch that beyond 2:1 as the CPU stressing would rarely overlap. My FreeNAS install will likely only need heavy CPU when I need to transcode on-the-fly using Plex.
Ultimately, my goal is to get as low of power use as I can reasonably achieve without severely limiting CPU resources for when they are needed. It seems the D-1528 performs right in line or even better than the E3-1230, with some tasks having better single-thread performance on the E3.
The way I figure it, the E3 configuration will use more power, not because of the CPU, but because of all the separate components. I already know I have to factor in an HBA, but I do wonder if an on-board LSI HBA would use less power than a PCIe card like the IBM m1015... anyone know?
I'll need 4 gigabit NICs, but if it's a combination of 2x gigabit and 2x 10Gbase-T (RJ-45), that will work perfectly still. The only thing I need to watch out for is ensuring I have enough 4 NICs, especially if I get a motherboard with only 1 PCIe expansion slot and that motherboard does not have a compatible LSI HBA on-board. But I figure first things first, figure out which CPU to build the system around. I am a little annoyed with the lack of options for the D-1528 at this time. With SuperMicro's boards, the NICs work out fine, even if the 10Gbase-T NICs will consume more power than a regular NIC... I can add an HBA and be set. It's annoying there's no USB Type-A port on the board to use for ESXi boot, but that's just a minor inconvenience in the end.
So here's a simple one: which CPU would be better for an ESXi server hosting FreeNAS and Sophos?
I'll be getting 2x 16GB ECC RDIMMS either way, leaving the option open for down the road to add 2x for a total of 64GB, so I'm not concerned with proper memory allocation for each server. Sophos has a modest max cap anyway at 8GB, and with my internet connection I doubt I'll ever stress the router and firewall functionality.
But I figure with CPU oversubscription and either a stronger per-thread quad-core, or hexacore with a still quite capable per-thread performance, I could comfortably run FreeNAS, Sophos, and a Windows Server with minimal duties (a sort of lab-like workload - definitely AD and GPO work, and maybe... maybe something that requires an SQL database just to get more hands-on with SQL). Probably a second Windows VM as a test client but it wouldn't be on 24/7 like the other VMs. And maybe another VM or two that I play around with but also unlikely to be used 24/7. I might use a mail server of some kind but I'd like just throw it on either Windows Server or even in a FreeNAS VM of some kind, probably bhyve once FreeNAS 10 has a stable release and that feature is added. Windows Server might not be something I mess with until I get 64GB of RAM to ensure stability. With HT and a 2:1 ratio, that would either be 16 or 24 vCPUs that could be allocated, and I'm fairly sure I could stretch that beyond 2:1 as the CPU stressing would rarely overlap. My FreeNAS install will likely only need heavy CPU when I need to transcode on-the-fly using Plex.
Ultimately, my goal is to get as low of power use as I can reasonably achieve without severely limiting CPU resources for when they are needed. It seems the D-1528 performs right in line or even better than the E3-1230, with some tasks having better single-thread performance on the E3.
The way I figure it, the E3 configuration will use more power, not because of the CPU, but because of all the separate components. I already know I have to factor in an HBA, but I do wonder if an on-board LSI HBA would use less power than a PCIe card like the IBM m1015... anyone know?
I'll need 4 gigabit NICs, but if it's a combination of 2x gigabit and 2x 10Gbase-T (RJ-45), that will work perfectly still. The only thing I need to watch out for is ensuring I have enough 4 NICs, especially if I get a motherboard with only 1 PCIe expansion slot and that motherboard does not have a compatible LSI HBA on-board. But I figure first things first, figure out which CPU to build the system around. I am a little annoyed with the lack of options for the D-1528 at this time. With SuperMicro's boards, the NICs work out fine, even if the 10Gbase-T NICs will consume more power than a regular NIC... I can add an HBA and be set. It's annoying there's no USB Type-A port on the board to use for ESXi boot, but that's just a minor inconvenience in the end.
