It's a shopping list to build an ESX home lab with compatible hardware for as cheap as possible. There are 2 host designs.
a dual core AMD host for $337
a quad core Intel host for $695.
General things to make sure you do
Get a CPU that supports 64-bit guests - this is generally an Intel CPU that starts with the letter "Q" not the letter "E" (or just check the specs). Any Athlon 64 or opteron works.
Get a motherboard that supports a minimum of 4 GB of RAM - 8GB is nice (all ESX servers are generally constrained by RAM)
Get a decent (but still super-cheap) GigE switch - something that supports VLANs so you can create configs that work with less physical NICs.
Make sure you have a motherboard that has onboard VGA - you don't need a good graphics card, but you need something for initial config.
AMD ESX configuration (as cheap as it gets, but you have everything you need) = $337
This config leverages the fact that ESX 3.5 supports Nvidia NICs - and there will only be one NIC for VMotion, network, and IP storage. Name of the game = how cheap can you go
Athlon x2 4000 retail - dual core (comes with the heatsink/fan) = $55 ()
Generic ATX Motherboard - based on the 430, 6100 or 6150 chipsets - just MAKE SURE it has the Nvidia NIC, not a Realtek NIC = $54 () NOTE - THIS ONE HAS A REALTEK NIC, so you need to by an additional intel NIC (good catch Dan Baskette).... I use an old ASUS A8N-VM CSM socket 939 motherboard, and it has a Nvidia MAC and works great - but you need to find an older Athlon that fits that socket 939 form factor.....
cheap as dirt HDD = $49 for a 160GB drive ()
cheap as dirt ATX case/PS = $23 ()
big 2GB DDR2 memory sticks (you can start with 2, and add another 2 later) = $72(2 x $36)
cheap as dirt DVD/CD (to install the ISO) = $29 ()
If you're not sure what MAC the NIC uses on the motherboard, or just want to be safe - add 1 Intel GbE NICs (these are a trick - you need specific ones for the Intel e1000 driver that comes with ESX 3.5 to work - hard to find, and DON'T buy the server MT versions - find the cheapo desktop GT PCI or PT PCIe versions - hundreds cheaper and work fine) = $42
Intel ESX configuration (a super cheap quad core, 8GB, lotsa GbE powerhouse) = $695
This config leverages the fact there are ridiculously cheap multi-core CPUs and RAM these days. the NICs on Intel motherboards are usually based on older Intel or Realtek chipsets, (no driver support in VMware) - so you need to find some fancier (but still cheap) NICs. Name of the game here = how cheap can you build a powerhouse that you can run 10 VMs at once?
Lots of CPU Intel Q6600 retail - quad core (comes with the heatsink/fan) = $270 ()
Intel G33/P35 based motherboard (you want ram slots and PCIe slots) = $54 ()
cheap as dirt HDD = $49 for a 160GB drive ()
cheap as dirt ATX case/PS = $23 ()
Lots of RAM - big 2GB DDR2 memory sticks = $144(4 x $36)
cheap as dirt DVD/CD (to install the ISO) = $29 ()
3 Intel GbE NICs (these are a trick - you need specific ones for the Intel e1000 driver that comes with ESX 3.5 to work - hard to find, and DON'T buy the server MT versions - find the cheapo desktop GT PCI or PT PCIe versions - hundreds cheaper and work fine) = $126
OK - what now?
You will need to buy two of whatever model you get - for VMotion, VM HA, DRS, Storage VMotion, etc... (so AMD total cost = $674, Intel cost = $1390)
Most importantly - HAVE FUN! Of course you can buy better and expensive servers. Source VMETC.com site!
If you found this information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful". Thanks!!!
Regards,
Stefan Nguyen
iGeek Systems LLC.
VMware, Citrix, Microsoft Consultant
If you found this information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful". Thanks!!!
Regards,
Stefan Nguyen
VMware vExpert 2009
iGeek Systems Inc.
VMware vExpert, VCP 3 & 4, VSP, VTSP, CCA, CCEA, CCNA, MCSA, EMCSE, EMCISA
