Asus motherboard for virtualization

[ilya_ca]

Hi, I have a choice of two motherboards - Asus Z9PE-D8 WS (workstation motherboard) and Asus Z9PE-D16 (server motherboard).

Will there be any difference in performance between the two and which one should I go for if my sole purpose is running lots of VMs on vSphere?

Thank you in advance!

[krishna_v78]

Hi,

I would have choose Asus Z9PE-D16 m/b as it has more memory support and Intel Quad-port NIC

Regards,

Balu.

[ilya_ca]

Will I be able to achieve the same performance with D8 WS (given that I use only 8 slots of RAM, not 16 and need only 2 NICs)? What does it mean that it's a workstation motherboard? Is it still good for virtualization?

[krishna_v78]

Hi,

We can still run Virtualization on Workstation m/b, but only difference would be for higher hardware support(Future upgrade)

As you mentioned earlier, you are expected to run more VMs and this require more NICs(teaming, vmotion Network, VM network and management network). However, please make sure that Asus workstation m/b is compatible for ESXi 5. Are these VMs will be in production??

Regards,

Balu.

[ekholm · Accepted solution]

I would go for the server board as well for two resons. First the the nic chipset on the server board supports Intel's MDq / SR-IOV Virtualization technology which enables higher throughput, and reduces CPU overhead for network processing.

Second, and most important is that this motherboard is closer to what is on the HCL list. The Asustek sever  RS700-E7 is on the ESXi HCL for ESXi 5.0 and 5.0U1, which uses the Z9PP-D24 motherboard (and the Intel® C602-A PCH chipset - same as the Z9PE-D16).

Now if it where me, I would be selecting the Z9PP-D24 motherboard, as it is exactly what is on the HCL.

[akuznetsov]

Hello !

I'm looking forward to one of these MBs too. Did you buy that MB finally ? What works and what doesn't ?

Thanks!