Home server ESXi + FreeNAS

[jonaspaulo]

I was thinking on the SSD for vm datastore for critical machines, and just a 500gb wd black I have laying around for the non critical ones. Regarding ssds, are there any consumer grade that support that powerloss protection and are safe to use on this setup? Like samsung 840 or something? Because those intel ones will skyrocket my budget.

Routers will be juniper firefly. the recommended setup is 2xvCPU (which they really need) and 2 GB but they ran well with 1GB and 2vCPUs. This is my main concern in choosing the 1620V2 instead of 2620v2 (more ghz vs more cores). I am not really sure which would be the best.

 

[markarr]

You can find the s3500's for decent prices on ebay.

Intel S3500 SSDSC2BB480G4 480GB SATA3 2 5" SSD Internal Solid State Drive Laptop | eBay

I have used a wd black in a host before it performs better than I thought it would.

If they need more than one then you will need to go with the hex core with the 12 threads, otherwise you will start to run into high wait times on your cpu, when you start to do anything with multiple vms at the same time.

 

[jonaspaulo]

Yes that was my inital thought about the threads.
That price is awesome for the SSD. Too bad I live in Portugal :x.

Thanks!

 

[markarr]

Ah that would be slight issue. Sorry.

 

[jonaspaulo]

no problem. Having a good ups should mitigate that issue and then I can go with consumer grade ssds no?

 

[markarr]

You can, just avoid the TLC ones and look for the write endurance ratings since your going to use them with vms. I have heard the intel are good and have used a couple 840 pros and they are good as well.

 

[NeverDie]

Hi all,

I am new here so first of all thanks a lot for the site and foruns which are a helpful resource.
I am planning on building an ESXi based server for home use and hoping to get some tips.

The goal to my ESXi home server is the following:

1- Running a FreeNAS VM with 6x 4 or 6TB WD RED disks running ZFS. Also inside this FreeNAS instance I will be running Plex for media streaming
2- About 10 Virtualized routers/ other SDN technologies (each taking up to 2 GB RAM)
3- Multiple Test VMs for windows server, redhat, kali and other security distributions

1 would be always running, and 2 and 3 on the need basis.

To tackle this setup without spending a big pile of money I am pending to two solutions (BOARD+CPU):

One less scalable but cheaper -
Asrock Server Mainboard C2750D4I mini ITX 8-Core Intel Avoton 12xSATA bis 64GB - 430 Euros only board + integrated cpu


The other more scalable but more expensive - Some supermicro board with integrated LSI controller (which I would pass through HBA to the FreeNAS) like this one SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SL7-F-O, but for socket FCLGA2011,
since I was thinking in going to an E5-2620v2 (not v3 due to DDR4 being more expensive, but has intel vt-d, essential to the FreeNAS VM)


Regarding RAM I was thinking in at least 32GB RAM ECC supermicro or asrock advised for each board, but ideally 64GB if I have the money at the time to go for that.
So even if I go with the 32GB route, they should be 2x16GB sticks for future upgradability.


Now based on the requirements and the proposed solutions, do you think one of this is the best option ? Or are there any others within the same price range that would fit me better?
Also I am going to be limited CPU wise anyhow? Does it make sense to get a Dual Processor board for future use even if I just buy one CPU for now?

Thanks a lot

Because it appears we are working toward very similar solutions (even the same motherboard!), you may be interested in this thread also: https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...one-nas-is-easiest-to-install-learn-use.4681/

 

[jonaspaulo]

I will go with 840 pro probably. I have been following this endurance test and it still wows me: The SSD Endurance Experiment: Two freaking petabytes - The Tech Report - Page 4

Thanks for the useful link neverdie. I will look into it as soon as I have the hw