Xeon D-15xx to Replace a Dell R715?

[Fodmidoid]

Hi Everyone,

I currently have a Dell R715 racked in a full size server cabinet, which contains dual AMD Opteron 6168 1.9 GHz processors (12 cores each) and 64GB RAM. Checking the average power consumption in iDrac, it seems to be consuming an average of 200 watts, with just a couple small Linux servers running on it at the moment. Overall, I'm happy with it, but I'm wondering if I'd be better off replacing it with a new Xeon D-1528 or D-1541, which would consume much less power and overall space. But, is this 6 or 8 core system with say, 64 GB RAM, capable of replacing the Dell?

I plan to be running a mixture of windows and Linux VMs and was wondering if I could even run a nested ESXi or VMware Workstation environment on it as a vSphere Lab for study purposes.

I've been trying to put together a new network and server setup for my home, including a pfsense firewall and virtual host.

Should I be thinking about replacing the Dell with something like a Xeon-D, or do I already have a good, capable server and should stuck with what I have?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks very much.

 

[Evan]

I don't have any idea if the usage of the CPU and don't know what model CPU (6168 ?) but even the 6-core would probably make a good the 8 core for sure will and depending on drives probably sit at ~30 watts depending on how active the VM's are, won't break 100 at full load.

This is exactly the type of place Xeon-D excels at, very good replacement for older systems at much reduced electricity consumption. (Not to mentions smaller, quieter etc)

 

[Fodmidoid]

I don't have any idea if the usage of the CPU and don't know what model CPU (6168 ?) but even the 6-core would probably make a good the 8 core for sure will and depending on drives probably sit at ~30 watts depending on how active the VM's are, won't break 100 at full load.

This is exactly the type of place Xeon-D excels at, very good replacement for older systems at much reduced electricity consumption. (Not to mentions smaller, quieter etc)

Thanks. Yes, that's exactly right. It's the 6168. I meant to include that but forgot. So, a 6 or 8 core Xeon-D could effectively replace the 24 core Dell I have?

Yeah, I was hoping that would be the case. I wonder if I should just get the 8 core to be safe,thiugh I wonder if it's way overkill for a home network.

Would it be capable of running a separate nested ESXi lab, while running a small "production" at the same time? I usually run separate physical hosts for this stuff but I'm trying to downside. My lab gear has been out of control, lol.. Mostly consisting of Cisco gear though.,

 

[Evan]

If your using your cores today I would say get the 8-core.
128gb ram support and I will run nested ok from what I have read but never tried it myself.

 

[Peanuthead]

What is your average and Peak processor usage presently? How much total Ram are you using presently? What does your storage subsystem look like presently?

 

[Fodmidoid]

What is your average and Peak processor usage presently? How much total Ram are you using presently? What does your storage subsystem look like presently?

Well, I'm unable to answer that as there really isn't anything running on the Dell R715 at the moment, other than a few small Linux servers in an attempt to generate some numbers. I picked up the dell cheap, intending to use it as either my primary home server or possibly use as a lab, but after getting a server cabinet for it and racking it, I am seeing how much space it's taking up, as well as potentially how much electricity it may end up using, though I'm not really sure how much that will translate to over the course of a year. So, this is really "proposed" usage as far as how many VMs, etc. I am anticipating a mix of a few windows 2008/2012 R2 servers as well as some Linux servers. So, in light if the above discoveries, I started wondering if a Xeon D would be a better fit, from all the praise I've seen it getting here at STH.

As for storage, locally, there's two 173 GB 10k SAS drives, buy I also currently have a Synology DS1513+ (5 Bays and 4 NICs) decked out with 5 2TB Enterprise SATA drives in Raid 5.

 

[Peanuthead]

Keeping the budget in mind (low output of $$) and in keeping a sense of "get in and be done". Hearing that you will run some Linux VMs and not really knowing what those VMs will do, this is difficult to give you any educated guidance. However, here are some thoughts.

You can run a nested ESXi install with a NAS VM, client OS VM, Vcenter, DC, and router on 16GB with a SSD or two. It will run and run okay, but may start to bog down due to RAM constraints quickly if you start trying to do anything outside of the basics, or load for VMs.

If you can swing it budget wise I'd do the following:
Home server (assuming it's a router, DHCP, possibly Plex for a couple of users, etc.):
D-1521 with 16GB or 32GB RAM (thinking 16GB will do you but could go to 32GB for longer life)
mirrored drives (SSD or HDD)
case and PS - your choosing
OS/Hypervisor - ESXi, Proxmox, Xen, Windows Hyper-V (all free)

Lab server (your playground and the home VMs/network stays up and everyone can stay happy):
D-1521 with 32GB or 64GB RAM (thinking 32GB would be a good start but could go to 64GB for longer life and more overhead)
Drives - go with SSD and thank yourself you did later. I don't suspect mass storage is a need here, but faster storage would be appreciated)
case and PS - your choosing
OS/Hypervisor - ESXi, Proxmox, Xen, Windows Hyper-V (all free)

Keep the Synology for bulk storage of movies, music, etc. along with VM backups. You can also mount it as a volume in your VMs if you want.
I chose a D-1521 as the core count is lower but faster. The Magnys (AMD proc above) were great in their day but were are talking about a 7+ year old CPU with a slow 1.9Ghz core speed. The D series lithography is smaller and has a faster core speed, win-win. Typically you will run out of RAM, then storage long before CPU. Just some thoughts.

 

[Fodmidoid]

Keeping the budget in mind (low output of $$) and in keeping a sense of "get in and be done". Hearing that you will run some Linux VMs and not really knowing what those VMs will do, this is difficult to give you any educated guidance. However, here are some thoughts.

You can run a nested ESXi install with a NAS VM, client OS VM, Vcenter, DC, and router on 16GB with a SSD or two. It will run and run okay, but may start to bog down due to RAM constraints quickly if you start trying to do anything outside of the basics, or load for VMs.

If you can swing it budget wise I'd do the following:
Home server (assuming it's a router, DHCP, possibly Plex for a couple of users, etc.):
D-1521 with 16GB or 32GB RAM (thinking 16GB will do you but could go to 32GB for longer life)
mirrored drives (SSD or HDD)
case and PS - your choosing
OS/Hypervisor - ESXi, Proxmox, Xen, Windows Hyper-V (all free)

Lab server (your playground and the home VMs/network stays up and everyone can stay happy):
D-1521 with 32GB or 64GB RAM (thinking 32GB would be a good start but could go to 64GB for longer life and more overhead)
Drives - go with SSD and thank yourself you did later. I don't suspect mass storage is a need here, but faster storage would be appreciated)
case and PS - your choosing
OS/Hypervisor - ESXi, Proxmox, Xen, Windows Hyper-V (all free)

Keep the Synology for bulk storage of movies, music, etc. along with VM backups. You can also mount it as a volume in your VMs if you want.
I chose a D-1521 as the core count is lower but faster. The Magnys (AMD proc above) were great in their day but were are talking about a 7+ year old CPU with a slow 1.9Ghz core speed. The D series lithography is smaller and has a faster core speed, win-win. Typically you will run out of RAM, then storage long before CPU. Just some thoughts.

Thanks for the detailed reply.

To be clear, you're saying buy two D-1521's? One for production, and one for lab? That could be nearly $4k. I don't mind putting some money into this project, but that might be too rich for my blood.

I was hoping I could run it all on one box,if it's actually possible.

ESXi is usually my go to hypervisor, but I've been very curious about KVM solutions. Proxmox seems interesting, but I'm wondering about Ovirt even more. Do we know if the Xeon D's are compatible with Proxmox and Ovirt and if that is a nice choice for a home server and/or lab, compared to vSphere?

 

[Peanuthead]

Where are you finding a d-1521 for $4K?!? I can easily build your lab setup all in for about $8-900.

 

[Fodmidoid]

Where are you finding a d-1521 for $4K?!? I can easily build your lab setup all in for about $8-900.

I was saying of you were suggesting I build two of them, it would be nearly $4k.

That's what I was asking you... If you were suggesting two separate 1521 builds.

 

[Peanuthead]

If your budget can swing it sure. What I am saying is for a single system I can easily build it for 8 to $900. I'm not sure where you're getting your number from unless you are possibly outside of the USA.

 

[Angus]

looks like 1800 to me just based on math...

Although not cheap I would go the two server route if you can swing it.. that we you don't have to deal with the why is xxx not working when you need to work on or re-configure something.. saves you a lot of headache in the long run.

 

[Peanuthead]

I was just typing the same thing. You asked for advice with very little to go on and this was just a recommendation.

 

[Fodmidoid]

looks like 1800 to me just based on math...

Although not cheap I would go the two server route if you can swing it.. that we you don't have to deal with the why is xxx not working when you need to work on or re-configure something.. saves you a lot of headache in the long run.

Oh, excuse me. There was more I was trying to say and it was not there. I will edit my post.

 

[Fodmidoid]

If your budget can swing it sure. What I am saying is for a single system I can easily build it for 8 to $900. I'm not sure where you're getting your number from unless you are possibly outside of the USA.

Wait. I thought the Xeon D-1541 motherboard/cpu alone was $899? And the other day, when I quickly added up the cost of adding drives, memory, and a case, it was around $1,900 for a single system, so I was thinking it would be around $3,800 for two separate systems. Also, bear in mind that I was factoring in 64 GB RAM for each build, but still, I'm seeing $900 just for the board and cpu. Am I wrong?

If I could spend around $1,800 or so for both, that could actually work.

Here is an example of what I'm talking about:
SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SDV-TLN4F-O Mini ITX Server Motherboard Xeon processor D-1541 FCBGA 1667-Newegg.com

Thanks again for the info. I apologize for the confusion in my last reply.

 

[Fodmidoid]

Wait. I thought the Xeon D-1541 motherboard/cpu alone was $899? And the other day, when I quickly added up the cost of adding drives, memory, and a case, it was around $1,900 for a single system, so I was thinking it would be around $3,800 for two separate systems. Also, bear in mind that I was factoring in 64 GB RAM for each build, but still, I'm seeing $900 just for the board and cpu. Am I wrong?

If I could spend around $1,800 or so for both, that could actually work.

Here is an example of what I'm talking about:
SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SDV-TLN4F-O Mini ITX Server Motherboard Xeon processor D-1541 FCBGA 1667-Newegg.com

Thanks again for the info. I apologize for the confusion in my last reply.

Okay, I am realizing that I made another mistake. I thought we were talking a out the D-1528 vs D-1541 as possible replacements for my R715. Reading through the posts again, I can see that your recommendation was for a D-1521 which would explain the lower price. Sorry about that.

Okay. So, you think that would be a better way to go? There are so many different models, I'll have to research this. Thank you again.

 

[Peanuthead]

You are incorrect of sorts. I am using the D-1521 and you are referring to the D-1541. I doubt you would need beyond a quad core for both. Once again we don't really have specifics so just SWAG on our part.

You referenced the above board. Are you planning on going to 10Gbe too? If so, that is another layer of complexity as you have multiple nodes with RJ-45 10Gbe. (Read that as you will need a switch to handle the 10Gbe part if the above is true.) It also seems that 64GB for a home server may be overkill. You could use those funds elsewhere it save it.

 

[Fodmidoid]

You are incorrect of sorts. I am using the D-1521 and you are referring to the D-1541. I doubt you would need beyond a quad core for both. Once again we don't really have specifics so just SWAG on our part.

You referenced the above board. Are you planning on going to 10Gbe too? If so, that is another layer of complexity as you have multiple nodes with RJ-45 10Gbe. (Read that as you will need a switch to handle the 10Gbe part if the above is true.) It also seems that 64GB for a home server may be overkill. You could use those funds elsewhere it save it.

Okay, thanks

No, I don't need 10 Gbe, and by the time I do, I'll probably be shopping for a new server anyway.

I don't know what you mean by SWAG but so far, I'm planning to be running a Windows AD server, router, plex, Nagios, ElkStack/GrayLog, Asterisk (virtual PBX), file server, and possibly more.

I realize the Opteron 6168 is several years old and that I'll run out of memory and storage before CPU, but do you really think I can get by with a quad-core build? Do the 24 physical cores make up for the lower clock speed of the Opteron vs a newer quad-core Xeon D?

 

[Fodmidoid]

If I were to choose the Xeon D-1521, would you suggest going with Supermicro or Gigabyte for the board? I usually lean towards Supermicro with built-in IPMI, but I see that Gigabyte has a management NIC as well, plus they have two SFP+ ports, instead of 10Gbe ports.

 

[Evan]

D-1521 boards have been less than. $500 but this week a little over...
Amazon.com: Supermicro Mini-ITX SoC Xeon D-1521 4-Core, FCBGA 1667 Motherboard - X10SDV-4C-TLN2F-O: Computers & Accessories

So can for sure build a system under $1000 and maybe a lot less depending on what case etc you use.