Suggest me to select a perfect processor for my lab

[GaneshNetworks]

I have a plan to setup a lab. This setup will look like:

I have a plan to buy 12GB DDR3 RAM and 1TB HDD to implement my lab. I am bit confused to select processor. Thats the reason why i post this question to you people.

Someone suggests, go for i5-760 and someone suggests, go for i7-950. I am totally fed up with this options.Can someone tell me, which one is perfect either i5 or i7 or Xeon (ha ha ha) ?

I am looking for CHEAP and BEST, also a perfect one. If i select i7, i have to pay 20,000 bucks (INR) more against i5. Is it possible to build my lab with i5? Like this, i have lot of questions to ask. So i will let the decision to you people. Please get me out of this rid with your valuable suggestion.

Also i wanna a link for best comparison of i5 / i7 / Xeon.

Thanks in advance,

Ganesh

[EshuunDara]

First off - VMWare Server is likely a better fit for what you want to do than VMWare Workstation is.  I would also recommend that you NOT run ESX under another hypervisor.  Your performance is going to suck.  You'd be much better off just getting two weaker servers running ESX/ESXi native and running vCenter as a VM on one of them.

Secondly - the size of the disks, while important, is not the most important thing to consider.  When you've got multiple VMs on the same disk, performance will suffer terribly. That's why it's better to go with smaller disks with more spindles over big disks.  Creating a RAID stripe across multiple fast drives is the way to go (15k is best, 10k is good, 7200rpm or slower is going to be painful).  Your ESX servers don't need a lot of space if you're using shared storage however.  Imagine two esx servers with cheap 8G SSD drives that use a NAS with NFS shares to house the VMs.

Finally, for multiple VMs running simultaneously, your best performance will kick in when you've got enough cores.  I'd recommend you get two hex-core processors.  If two procs is an option, you might look at AMDs offering, because theirs are cheaper (although they don't have the performance of intel's offering).  If you're going single proc, you need to get the fastest hex core you can swing.

[DSTAVERT]

Either processor will work just fine although you will have a little more to work with in the i7 but it costs more.

i5  http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=48496

i7  http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=37150&processor=i7-950&spec-codes=SLBEN

VMware workstation would be my choice since it is in current development and supports running ESX(i) as a guest. I would run your vCenter directly on the base OS or as a VM on Workstation rather than a VM as a guest on a virtual ESX(i) host. The difference between the two processors is the addition of hyperthreading in the i7. I would put the extra money towards more RAM but you should be OK especially if you move the vCenter VM back to a workstation VM or directly on the hardware. You can use Windows 7 64 or XP 64 for vCenter.

[AureusStone]

Have you considered AMD.

There hex CPUs would be ideal.

Or if you are going to be waiting a bit before you buy you could get an Bulldozer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulldozer_(processor)

[GaneshNetworks]

Thanks for your valuable suggestion - EshuunDara and DSTAVERT

Things Decided:

• VMware Server or VMware Workstation - " VMware Workstation"
• i5 or i7 - "i7"
• VC - "As a VM rather than as a guest on ESX"

Questions Again:

• Is i5 good enough to configure 2 ESX and 3 VMs each on it?
• Is there anything, do i need to concentrate more on?
• Which UNIX OS is best to build knowledge for a novice, especialy command line administration?

Note: When i click on Correct Answer or Helpful Answer, page scrolls up automatically. whats that?

Thanks Again,

Ganesh