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Hi i am to looking up to build a ESXi server for home labs. I have limited info on ESXi virtualization except for creating virtual machines. My purpose here is not to solely learn ESXi virtualization but also built a small enterprise network with AD, Exchange, linux machine etc and do my own testing.

My lab needs:

  1. I should be able do esxi labs for future

  2. My budget is around 1500$

  3. confused: go for server m/b, cpu or simply go fo for desktop cpu / mb / etc

  4. should I built my own or can buy from a vendor like hp, dell ?

  5. should be able to run 2 X 2008, 1 X 2003 a win 7, a win 8, a linux vm, all this virtual machines simultaneously without lag

I dont know if this servers are power hungry? will they spike elelctric bills?

  1. i already did some google reasearch on this but I am not sure What should I do.

  2. Feel free to ignore my lab needs and suggested something you think is better.

Please help. Thank you.

@VMware @Dell_Technologies

9 Spice ups
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for the most part, you can whitebox it- I’ve done it using used or lower end supermicro gear and had good results. A simple good for “whitebox esxi” gets a good amount of useful hits. just bear in mind- if it’s a homelab that you can live without, then go as cheap as you want- if this is something that is going to have to stay up, you’re going to have to find cash (I’ve paid easily 4 times your budget just for UPS gear in the past) to afford the stable gear

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  1. OK.
  2. OK.
  3. All the listed supported hardware on the VMware compatible list is server stuff for the most part. If you buy PC parts they will most likely not be on the compatibility list and you may have issues. Usually NICs. You may need a few TB of Hdd.
  4. This link will help you find servers compatible sold by vendor such as Dell or you can look for individual part certified to work with VMware ESXi
  5. If you will run all at the same time you may want an 8 core CPU and lots of RAM. Yes servers are power hungry. Your bill may go up by tens of dollars if running 24/7.
  6. That is up to you. You have to inform yourself and decide what is best for you. Buying pre-built will save you time. Building your self may save you money at the expense of time.

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=server

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I can say for certain that the old Dell PowerEdge 2950’s work good for ESXi test beds, and you can find many of them pretty cheap on eBay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-PowerEdge-2950-Server-II-2x-2-33GHz-E5345-Quad-Core-OM-16GB-2x73GB-PERC5i-/171147555205?pt=COMP_EN_Servers&hash=item27d9307185

For example that listing includes two drives and a PERC. In many cities you and pick up a used rack for $100 or so on Craigslist.

Not the fastest thing money can buy, but compatible with a good hardware RAID solution.

  • For the record, no that’s not my eBay listing. Just showing an example.
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For esxi you should look at a 1p server with a minimum of a xeon E3-1220 v2 and at least 4gb per VM, the more the better of course! HP ML310e Gen8 and Dell T110 should be able to get you the config you need under that price point but you could also buy a board and build it out yourself. These builds are more similar to a workstation as far as power consumption goes so it shouldn’t cause too much of a spike. Look on Newegg for the pre-built ML310e Gen8, I think you can get the xeon for sub $600 right now. Add some drives and the OS stack and you’re up and running in a day.

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I have a ML350p gen8 with twin e5-2670s and 64GB of ram running upstairs right now. It can get loud but the new servers have sensor technology that keeps energy consumption down as compared to what you would see pre 2010. If you’re taxing it throughout the day you’ll see an uptick in power consumption but I wouldn’t worry if you’re just running a few vms occasionally.

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I would do a whitebox personally. I’m slowly working on my setup at home. Here is what I’m planning, I will also post a link to a guys site that has tested and verified this same setup works.

MB: Gigabyte 970a-UD3

CPU: AMD FX-8350 (8 core, 4ghz) plenty powerful IMO.

RAM: 8GB sticks of DDR3, 4 slots on mobo for total of 32GB.

GPU: HD6670

HDD: Undecided, maybe a SSD or two and a few 2TB drives for extra storage.

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A buddy of mine wants to do something similar. Rather than implement hardware at home I have been hunting around for a free trial cloud sandbox- anyone found anything like that?

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ebay, used servers are cheap and give you the right hardware. A couple DL360 G5’s with some extra thrown in for some 2 port NIC’s and drives and you might have enough left over for buying vmware essentials rather than just using the eval or free versions. For nic’s I’m liking NC360T’s. Refurbs seem to be $25-30, which is pretty nice for an enterprise grade two port gigabit NIC on the VMWare HCL.

Alternatively you could add a small NAS with iSCSI abilities. I have a Synology DS713+ that works great. Then a managed switch. I picked up a Procurve 2824 and they seem to be the best price/performance right now off ebay for used gear.

A small nas gives you the ability to use shared storage and work with many of the functions that really matter in the VM world. You don’t need to go as modern and fancy as the 713+, it just needs to be iSCSI capable and work with vmware. Consider putting money into the shared storage rather than local. A DL360 with four 72gig drives or even 36gig drives is sufficient for testing a VM or two on local storage while the money saved eases the hit of the NAS itself. Shared storage is too central to VMWare to not include it in a lab if you can.

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Also worth noting that HP Procurve networking gear comes with a lifetime warranty, i used to work for a healthcare provider in the UK and managed to get 6 old switches swapped by HP even though they got killed by a power spike, gotta love HP! :slight_smile:

3 Spice ups
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I just built a whitebox esxi machine…

Haswell i7 3.4 (4physical cores & HT)

Asrock z87 extreme4 board - 3 x16 PCI express slots & Vt-d for PCI pass-through, 6 sata3 ports

24gb ram

Intel dual port gig network card

Lsi 2008 sas adaptor

Esxi running from a USB connected to an internal header

Loose the sas controller and it fits your budget.

I’m running a 2012 dc, a win8 xbmc with a an ATI 7750 passed through, several win7 builds, osx mavericks Ubuntu ands an osx mountain lion VPN server

I used to have a dual xenon, rack, fast and cheap, but it was too noisy and chewed its way through electricity with a vengeance

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I’ve built a number of white box ESXi systems.

The biggest thing is RAID cards. If you want RAID you need to go with hardware RAID, rarely does the onboard fake software RAID work with ESXi.

NICs can be tricky, but if you stick with Intel or Broadcom you’re usually ok. Realteks work some times too.

You don’t need to buy server hardware, that really hasn’t been the case since ESX without the “i”

Recently, I used a Asus x58 Sabertooth MB for an ESXi 5.1 box. Don’t recall the RAID card though.

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smjain: can you please give a hardware configuration (cpu/mb/ram/raid etc) thanks

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Sure, once I get home I can give you a run-down of the system I have set up.

If you’re looking to buy a raid card, look at the customer reviews on Newegg. Many times the reviews will specifically mention looking for a RAID card that works with ESXi.

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Unless you plan on constantly reconfiguring/reinstalling your network, you are going to bust your budget with the Windows server OS and Exchange.

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wRx7M: I am going to use evaluation version for all the OSe’s. I dont intend to spend anything on Software part.

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High-Five.
As others have helpfully suggested, buying a brand server/pc is easier and compatibility issues are often lessened, you miss out on the one good thing about IT: learning more about all things IT!

+1 build your own, its good experience and a proud moment when you realise you’ve built something cool AND useful!

Ive built several ESXi whiteboxes, and could not agree more.
Im using Adaptec 6405e RAID cards, they are around $250 - $275 aussie.
8 Core AMD Bulldozer
32GB DDR3 1600
4x 4GB WD greens (you really really DONT want to use greens if you can help it…Ill gladly give reasons :wink:
I think its a gigabyte mobo, 970 something from memory.

This thing purrs very nicely with 11 VMs on it, usually 5 are running 24x7. includes win8, 8,.1, server 2012 standard, linux, win7, wordpress, myob and it also is the media server for the house!

NOTES:
NIC compatibility is critical, it wont boot without a driver being available You can add it to the installer ISO, ask around if you need to know how, its pretty easy, the hard part is getting the exact damn driver lol.

If need be, buy a couple of genuine intel nics, you dont need to use the onboard mobo nic/s.

Hardware RAID - do it, do it.

A UPS is useful too, for brownouts to not affect it.

Pick your own PSU, and for best power rating, get a “gold” one, 92% efficient apparently.

Have a beer / coffee

Theres some good experiences and advice here, I hope it all helps congeal into your one customized solution!

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Sorry for the delay…plus this is my hand me down hardware after I upgrade my prime system so it’s not fresh off the shelf, but it worked

Asus x58 Sabertooth MB (RealTek onboard NIC works with ESXi 5) onboard RAID didn’t

i7-920

24GB RAM

Broadcom Netxtreme 2nd NIC