How much Windows 2003 VM's can I run with the following hardware

[Muckv]

Hi guys,

Suppose I buy the server below. How much Windows 2003 VM's can I ru without performance issues. With resource allocation obv.

PowerEdge R610 Rack Chassis for Up to 6x 2.5" Hard Drives

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Catalogusnummer:	282823 SV4R610REL
Module	Beschrijving	Productcode (verbergen)\	Sku (verbergen)\	Id (verbergen)\
Base	PowerEdge R610 Rack Chassis for Up to 6x 2.5" Hard Drives	205064		1
Additional Processor	No Additional Processor	205078		2
Geheugen	32GB Memory for 2 CPUs, DDR3, 1066MHz (8x4GB Dual Ranked RDIMMs)	205192		3
Optische stations	16X DVD+/-RW ROM SATA Drive	205109		16
Shipping Documents	R610 EMEA1 Shipping Documentation (English/French/German/Spanish/Russian/Hebrew)	205065		21
Base warranty	1 jaar basisgarantie - Next Business Day	206049		29
Ondersteuningsdiensten	3Yr Basic Warranty - Next Business Day	206123		30
Installation Services	You have chosen not to take the Dell PowerEdge installation service	76588		32
Systeembeheer	Electronic System Documentation and Dell OpenManage DVD for PowerEdge R610	205116		49
Rails voor rackmontage	No Rack Rails Included	11433		88
Order Information	PowerEdge Order - Belgium	32377		111
Processor	Intel® Xeon® E5540, 2.53Ghz, 8M Cache, 5.86 GT/s QPI, Turbo, HT, 1066MHz Max Memory	205495		146
Powercord	Power Cord, PDU (Rack)	5605		207
2nd Hard Drive	(4) 300GB, SAS, 2.5-inch, 10K RPM Additional Hard Drive (Hot Plug)	205590		217
1ste RAID- of SCSI-controllerkaart	SAS 6iR Internal RAID Controller Card	212046		278
In de fabriek voorgeïnstalleerd besturingssysteem	Not Included	8007		285
Omlijsting vooraan	R610 Rack Bezel	205115		669
RAID-connectiviteit	CFI: RAID 5 + Hotspare. Min 4 HDD	274642		1009
Voeding	High Output Power Supply, Non-Redundant (1 PSU), 717W, Performance BIOS Setting	205113		1015
1st Hard Drive	300GB, SAS, 2.5-inch, 10K RPM Hard Drive (Hot Plug)	205569		1209
TCP/IP Offload Engine Enablement	Embedded Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet LOM with 4P TOE	77384		1310
Serverbeheerkaarten	iDRAC6 Express Server Management Card	205619		1314

[Troy_Clavell]

the answer is always going to be "it depends". However, at a high level, a good rule is 4- 6 VM's per core.

[RParker]

You NEED the additional processor, and with that . . .

I would say 40-60 depending on what the VM's are doing and how often they are running intensive.

[Muckv]

Why do I need the additional CPU?

[Troy_Clavell]

you will be ok with a single CPU, make sure you hyper thread it. If nothing else a second CPU will offer some redundancy. Also, If this is a production system, just ensure everything is on the VMware HCL

[RParker · Accepted solution]

> Why do I need the additional CPU?

Uh.. because you are asking how many Windows 2003 VM's you can run.. I ASSUME that means getting the most out of it.. That plus the more CPU the better the performance of ESX overall, the VM's and the ESX OS are designed to run across ALL the cores, so the more cores better performance.

As your config stands right now, I wouldn't go above 20 VM's. also are you planning to only use 1 hard disk?

If you do use 1 disk you realize you have only 1 disk doing all the work.. right?

[Muckv]

I got 5 disks of 300 GB in raid 5

It's not very clear on the list. I think I'm going to upgrade the processor. If I add the additional CPU, than I would have to add more HD drives.