Proposed (unsupported) hardware for ESX server - c...

Does anyone have anything good or bad to say about this setup? Also do i need a keyboard / mouse / monitor to do the setup or can i do everything over the network?

Any input is much appreciated.

Dave_Mishchenko · ‎05-16-2007

The motherboard has been confirmed to be working with ESX 3.0.1 in other posts and you'll want a the keyboard / mouse / monitor for the install.

You'll also want to make sure that the 2 drives are configured in a RAID array (RAID 1 preferred) as this will mask the fact that they are SATA drives to ESX.

davidbarclay · ‎05-16-2007

You didn't specify if you wanted positive or negative comments, so here goes

Don't do it. Buy an entry level supported server instead. If budgets the problem, go secondhand and try and transfer/extend the warranty.

Dave

mikelane · ‎05-16-2007

"Don't do it. Buy an entry level supported server instead".

I don't mind if comments are good or bad - it would be helpful if you could elaborate rather than just saying don't do it.

mikelane · ‎05-16-2007

Well the Dell Poweredge 1950 comes to $2,529.82

\* 1.6 Ghz Quad Xoen

\* 4Gb Ram

\* 2x250Gb HD

\* Integrated SAS/SATA RAID 0, PERC 5/i Integrated

\* Dual Embedded Broadcom® NetXtreme II 5708 Gigabit Ethernet NIC

\* PCI Riser with 2 slots

So this is more than i wanted to spend.

Otherwise the best alternative I have been able to find so far is refurbished Poweredge 1950

Processor: 2 x Dual Core Intel® Xeon® 5110, 1.60GHz, 4MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB

Operating System: None

Memory: 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz (4 DIMMS)

Backplane: 1x2 Backplane for 3.5-inch Hard Drives

Storage Controllers: Integrated 5/i On-Board SAS/SATA, No RAID

Hard Drives: 1 x 80GB SATA Hard Drive, 7200 RPM

Optical Drive: CD-ROM Drive

Power Supply: Single Hot-Swappable Power Supply

Networking: Dual Embedded Broadcom® NetXtreme II 5708 Gigabit Ethernet NICs

This comes to $1850 + 8.25% tax - I am waiting for clarification of the warranty.

Paul_Lalonde · ‎05-16-2007

It depends if this is going to be a "test lab" server or a production server. If it's only test/dev stuff or training use, then the whitebox PC approach will probably work fine.

The bottom line the guys are trying to get across is this... to buy the product, you need to buy support. Support is only useful if you have a supported system because if you don't, VMware may not provide the same level of support as they do with supported configurations.

If you really want a supported whitebox solution, check into the supported Intel servers on the HCL. You can always build a box based on the motherboards used in the Intel servers themselves.

Paul

mikelane · ‎05-16-2007

Yes this is just for testing / training it's not for production at all.

davidbarclay · ‎05-16-2007

>it would be helpful if you could elaborate rather than just saying don't do it.

Production: You won't get support, you may have issues.

Test: You will still spend your time "making it work" instead of "working on it"

Dave

CWedge · ‎05-17-2007

One thing to keep in mind is the fact that ESX UNLIKE Windows does not have drivers for it.

What you see is what you get, If the driver doesn't exist...it won't work. No way of making it work period end of story.

All

Proposed (unsupported) hardware for ESX server - comments please