Building a new VM server - looking at an SMC Xeon D-2100 MB - or should I wait for an Ice Lake-D?

[Ed Borgoyn]

I'm currenty looking to specify/build a new VMware-ESXi VM server. Right now, the Supermicro X11SDV-12C-TP8F motherboard is my favorite. I plan to populate the on-board M.2 NVMe/SATA positions for local VM storage and use an existing NAS box (HDD's) for 'large' storage needs. My desire is for something like 128GB of RAM on the VM server.. A 10G networking interface to my primary switch would be advantageous, even though the rest of the network is 1G.

Are the Ice Lake-D processors 'just around the corner' and should I wait for them? I believe I last heard a 2021Q4 release. I can wait a few months to make the final decision if necessary.

The server would host a random collection of 'home lab' type VMs including: firewall, NAS, telephone PBX, WLAN controller, audio streaming, network management, home automation, etc. But I would also host some work related VMs for s/w development/testing, configuration management, s/w build, network traffic generation, firewalls, etc. It would double as a nice lab to support my working-from-home s/w development model. I'd also like to host a Proxmox VM on the ESXi to learn about (play with) another hypervisor.

One constraint that i'm placing on the server is low-power consumption and low heat generation. This is moving me toward the Xeon-D processors. Some folks have recommended that I just buy a cheap/used server from ebay, but it would be power hungry and produce a lot more heat. And would also have an older generation processor/memory that might have VMware-ESXi support issues.

Any thoughts/suggestions/criticisms?

Thanks.

 

[rootshell]

Your needs, wants, desires sound similar to mine. You can listen to me whining about it here.

I can't answer your Ice Lake-D question, but keep in mind that we're in the middle of a chip shortage and I'd take any dates you find anywhere with a grain of salt. Just look at how hard it is to find an EPYC Milan chip... and that's how many months after it became GA.

My only practical comment to you would be that the MB you're favoring seems to be in the $1700-2000 range depending on reseller. And with that budget, there's a lot of alternatives to consider. While the Xeon D-1500 series sips power, the D-2100 does not. That board will likely idle above 60W, my guess.

For $2k, I'd probably be looking at the e-2300, W-1300 or entry level EPYC Milan. The two Intel option may be attractive if you have workloads that need an iGPU, as well as lower idle power consumption. EPYC if you need more horsepower, will have the VM server working pretty loaded, and/or don't need an iGPU.

Just my thoughts. I've been watching Ebay for used higher-end Xeon D-1500 series boards with SFP+ and HBAs and it's a barren wasteland. 2100 series are available but idle power is significantly higher... to the point of just getting a desktop or Xeon CPU IMO.

 

[Ed Borgoyn]

At the moment, I'm not looking for a processor with GPU. I don't do anything with video, etc. I've also read about the D-2100 being much more power hungry. The D-1500 line is just so old. Even the D-2100 is 2+ years old. Since I keep h/w for very long time, I'd rather not start two generations old....

I've not really looked at AMD processors (in spite of the fact that my company uses them for all of their network appliance designs). The Milan series looks too big, power hungry, and a big heat producer. I suppose that I'm staying closer to the 'embedded server' class of processor like the Epyc 3000 series or the Xeon D series. A big, used server like Dell R700/R400/etc just seems like overkill. I don't mind spending a bit more for for a power efficient modem platform. Finding the right price/performance is the trick. This is why I'm curious about the upcoming Ice Lake-D series. Or maybe some used D-2100 stuff that might come on the market.

A lot of the lower end workstation class MBs don't have 10G/SFP+ support (at least from my research). I'd hate to invest in a new system without 10G support. My five year old NAS is feeling slow with 1G interfaces and a 4C J1900 Celeron processor. I'd plan to run a NAS VM on the new server for some of the higher performance storage needs.

Thanks for the insight... The more I research/reading I do, the more I think that waiting a few months is OK. At least to see what the new Ice Lake-D is all about.

 

[rootshell]

Yea, I feel your pain. Keep in mind that as long as you have a PCIe slot, you can add a dual SFP+ card for dirt cheap used off Ebay. Like $25-40 cheap. HBAs are more; $100 on up depending on specifics.

I've been meaning/trying to get started on my ESXi/TrueNAS build and I've kept procrastinating due the same issues you're seeing. x-1500 would be ideal but not available or priced too high and are ancient tech, x-2100 is not going to be a low idle power solution, none of the AMDs (Ryzen, EPYC) have iGPUs and I don't want to run a GPU AIC in a low power server, Xeon Scalable is going be $ and also a higher idle power consumption. For me, at the moment, W-1300 and e-2300 are the best of the bad options, and W-1300 is cheaper for the chip... only downside is there's only like 2 MBs available. And yes, you can wait for Alder Lake or Ice Lake-D, but how long do you wait, and will you even be able to get them at MSRP given the chip situation going on. I don't know... I do know I'm personally sick of waiting!

 

[Ed Borgoyn]

I've been reading a lot... Beginning to focus on Xeon e-2300 systems. Looks like this processor would satisfy most of my needs/desires, though perhaps with higher idle power. A modern architecture, faster cores (though fewer cores...). The 128GB memory limit should not be an issue for me. Maybe I should stop waiting for the Ice Lake-D parts and go with an e-2300 8 core system.

I don't believe that I saw this processor on the ESXi HCLDoes anyone have experience with ESXi 7 on any Supermicro e-2300 systems?