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cookieme
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

New bigger setup. Please critique.

Hi

The setup will be at my home with local and remote users. 10-15 production VMs on ESXi 5.1 with ~5 users relying on the system for day-to-day work.

It will also function as a small development/lab environment (only for me at the moment.)
The internet connection has just been upgraded to VDSL 30Mbit/12Mbit.

Here's a list of the most important VMs:

1x AD/DNS/DHCP Windows Server 2012
1x RDS (Terminal Server) Windows Server 2012
1x File & Print Windows Server 2012 <-- not 100% sure on this or alternative
1x Veeam B&R Windows Server 2012 <-- maybe on File & Print don't know yet
1x Zimbra Email Ubuntu Server
1x HylaFAX Ubuntu Server
1x Vyatta Core <--may change for hardware solution
1x vMA
1x vCenter Appliance
1x Monitoring/ logging server <-- not sure what solution

Bill of Materials

1. Servers

2x Supermicro X9SCM-IIF
2x Intel E3-1230V2 BX80637E31230V2
4x 8GB RAM <-- See my question below.
2x Antec EarthWatts EA-380D Green
2x Intel Dual Port NICs <-- See my question below.
2x X-Case RM 204 2U
2x Sandisk Cruzer Blade USB 2.0 4GB

2. Shared Storage
1x Synology DS1512+
Disks or SSDs <-- See my question below.

3. Networking
1x Ubiquiti Unifi Pro
1x HP V1810-24G
1x Dovado Tiny 4G Router <-- For WAN Failover
1x MOXA Nport 5110 <-- For Serial Fax Modem

4. Additional Hardware
All of the following I already have, but will be part of the setup.
HP LaserJet P3015x
Zyxel VDSL Modem
HP Document Scanner + AXIS Document Server
Multitech Modem (FAX)
Thin clients
APC Smart-UPS 1500VA

Questions

- I'm confused by all the RAM choices in (http://astore.amazon.com/rootwyrm-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=18")
RootWyrm's BabyDragon Store. Is (http://astore.amazon.com/rootwyrm-20/detail/B008LMNXS0) this the right RAM?

- Each X9SCM-IIF comes with 2 onboard Intel NICs and looking at other users' setups I think I should get an Intel dual port NIC per server.
Chris Wahl lists "Intel 82571EB dual port GbE NIC" on his home lab site (http://wahlnetwork.com/home-lab/). Something like HP NC360t or Intel EXPI9402PTBLK?

- I'm really uncertain about the shared storage. I know that the DS1512+ is extremely popular and I have read several blog posts about different types of drives and configurations. I can really use the community's help with picking drives, e.g. 5x SATA, 5x SSD or a mix (2x SSD, 3x SATA). What RAID level, 5?

- I've tried to source the components from the cheapest places (superbiiz for most server stuff) as of posting this, but if anyone knows any cheaper vendors please let me know.

I will be the only one responsible for this environment and the users can tolerate some downtime if shit hits the fan, but losing a complete workday is unacceptable.

I think I've put together a reliable and suitable list of hardware, but I welcome all input/ advice/ help from all of you Smiley Wink

Thanks so much!
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