VMware Home Lab Planning

[smccloud]

I am starting to plan a VMware lab for at home. It will be a while until I can afford it but at least I will have a plan in mind. I will be using the VMUG Advantage subscription to get licenses. It will mostly be used to learn stuff, but it will have some "production VMs" on it as well. The "production VMs" will consist of

• UniFi controller
• PBX In A Flash
• Linux file server/CrashPlan
• Zabbix server
• Edubuntu server

DNS & DHCP will be handled by a Ubiquiti EdgeRouter of some sort (thinking Pro just because I want it).

My current thoughts are as follows

• 10GBe switch, needs VLAN support
  • For vSAN & vMotion
• 3x 2U (for the slightly lower noise profile)
  • 2 CPU, probably Opteron
  • 64GB+ RAM
  • 2 10GBe NICs
  • 4+ 1GBe NICs
  • A minimum of 2 HDDs & 1 SSD (for VMware vSAN
  • Some thumbdrive to boot off of

I am not opposed to use hardware, makes it much easier to get final approval from the wife. I am also not opposed to building my own servers. SFP+ or 10GBASE-T doesn't matter to me. Prefer what is cheaper to acquire used.

 

[whitey]

Seems like a Xeon 1540/1520 D fits the bill for you granted limited avail (few weeks back vendors had them...then they were gonzo). Those have a limitation on vSphere 5.x/6.x currently w/ 10G nic support so maybe better off w/ a low power E5-2600 build. Keep in mins w/ vSAN you're gonna need 3 nodes so 3x's everything for 10G nic/HBA/drives. I think there are some sweet deals on the sc216 right now from Mr. Rackables on 'the bay' for $275 w/ BO if you're into 2U chassis w/ 'lots o' 2.5" disks'. If you do take socket 2011 route I've been seeing hte Intel X520-DA2's go for $90-100 recently. Can't beat that in my book.

2U 24 Bay 2 5 Supermicro SuperChassis SC216E16 R1200LPB with PS Rail Kit | eBay

Pssst, you're gonna love vSAN btw.

 

[smccloud]

Seems like a Xeon 1540/1520 D fits the bill for you granted limited avail (few weeks back vendors had them...then they were gonzo). Those have a limitation on vSphere 5.x/6.x currently w/ 10G nic support so maybe better off w/ a low power E5-2600 build. Keep in mins w/ vSAN you're gonna need 3 nodes so 3x's everything for 10G nic/HBA/drives. I think there are some sweet deals on the sc216 right now from Mr. Rackables on 'the bay' for $275 w/ BO if you're into 2U chassis w/ 'lots o' 2.5" disks'. If you do take socket 2011 route I've been seeing hte Intel X520-DA2's go for $90-100 recently. Can't beat that in my book.

2U 24 Bay 2 5 Supermicro SuperChassis SC216E16 R1200LPB with PS Rail Kit | eBay

Pssst, you're gonna love vSAN btw.

I knew about the 3x requirement due to vSAN. Main issue I have with the Xeon 1540D is price, they are really expensive. Although 2.5" disks would work I would prefer 3.5" since large capacity disks are cheaper that way.

Also, I am going through the VMware Labs right now so I am better prepared.

 

[vl1969]

If you are in us, try searching for tamsolutions on ebay. Than send them an email. Tjis guys sell nice refurbished servers. A supermicro 24 bay amd or xeon in around 340$+ ship.
Unless you must have a pass through option this machines are very good. I got mine 24 bay dual socket opteron for 410 including shipping.
Ipmi 2.0, dual psu dual nick

Only issue it is very loud. As redundant supplies were not a priority I just yank the guts out and put a regual 760w psu. Mow quiet as a wisper