I posted a similar themed question about MacOSX in the diy workstation area but this is a little different... if i'm planning on buying a motherboard based around the Intel 5520 - that is the workstation chipset for LGA 1366 Nehalem/Westmere, because I want to use some used Xeons and lots of DDR3 RAM.
I am seeing multiple motherboards that potentially do what I want - ie from Supermicro, Tyan, and Intel. Possibly full workstation units as well such as things from Dell and HP, which I *assume* also use an Intel 5520 although I didn't check specifically. (i'm not sure what else it could be though)
Should I be able to buy just about anything in this class (as opposed to I assume consumer boards maybe not be as well supported) and have ESXi run well on it? Or should I favor certain makers over others or investigate each piece to make sure it has certain compatible hardware?
I am seeing multiple motherboards that potentially do what I want - ie from Supermicro, Tyan, and Intel. Possibly full workstation units as well such as things from Dell and HP, which I *assume* also use an Intel 5520 although I didn't check specifically. (i'm not sure what else it could be though)
Should I be able to buy just about anything in this class (as opposed to I assume consumer boards maybe not be as well supported) and have ESXi run well on it? Or should I favor certain makers over others or investigate each piece to make sure it has certain compatible hardware?