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uniqueusername
Contributor
Contributor

Replacement Home Pc's with ThinClients and ESXi 3.5

Hello VMware friends,

I have the following case and I would be great to hear some reactions!

Situation:

I have @ home 3 desktop Pc's and 1 notebook.

I want to buy 1 new desktop/server system and install it with ESXi 3.5.

On this system I want to install the following operation systems: 3x Windows XP and maybe in the future Windows 7.

Configuration trough notebook with VMware Infrastructure Client.

Thinclients connect trough RDP with the virtual machines.

Questions:

1. What kind of hardware would be great for the ESXi 3.5

2. What kind of hardware for the ThinClients

Any kind of information about this subject would be great.

Kind regards.

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11 Replies
KKrtz
Contributor
Contributor

hello.

great minds. i also thougt about such an solution. first you must keep in mind to cover the i/o of all machines by an quick hdd-system !! (in the case of running all machines on the same time)

i was aware about issues regarding multimedia (like sound / video streams) ... an thin client solution seems for me expensive. perhaps a small computer with an atom-cpu ...

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Formatter
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I did this in the las 2 years.

I started with a hp 6110n dual core 4 gig of ram and had to put in a sata raid card and 2 nics to make it work and I use thin clients for the house.. like you said works great except the video streaming could be slow other then that the usb work when rdping. This was my first attempt and used it for a while it worked great.

Then, I took my wifes computer a HP 6345f and converted it put 8 gig in it and installed on that to the driveconnected to the MB. Much faster for the vm's and still use it for home stuff.

Next got a Dell T610 with a 5500 grade processor and 12 gig ram, This is a vmware approved machine, Running Mapguide server and Arcgis server with one person using remote desktop for their business. brought in another DSL.

All three esxi servers are still running and work well.

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uniqueusername
Contributor
Contributor

Thx for your reply

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uniqueusername
Contributor
Contributor

That's great to hear that al three ESX3i Servers are still runinng Smiley Happy

Thx for your reply

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

Are you looking at getting a supported server or a whitebox. For a whitebox see the list at vm-help.com. For a new MB I'd also look at getting something that supports Intel vt-d (directed I/O) or AMD IOMMU . That'll come in handy with ESXi 4.0

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Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Dave are you saying that my old HP machines are going to die with esxi 4.0 Smiley Sad

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

ESXi 4.0 will require a 64 bit processor. You can get away with a CPU that doesn't have Intel VT/AMD-V but you would only be able to run 32 bit VMs (same as today with ESXi 3.5).

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Formatter
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Whew thanks then I sould be ok and of course the t610 dell pe will be fine.

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uniqueusername
Contributor
Contributor

Thx for your information, it would be a waste when I buy a server that will not work fully with the ESXi 4.0.

New question:

When I install Windows XP on ESXi Server and control it with RDP then functions like streaming video and sound are not so good.

Does somebody have a solution for this!!

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Formatter
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I don't know if its true, however I understand esxi 4 should have more ability for video and audio? maybe Dave or someone could confirm this. The dell pe t610 is fully compatible with ESXI although it is more costly than a desktop that will run esxi. depends on what you want to spend $.

I like Chip-pc thin clients. Google it

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

I didn't check audio capability but video there have been some improvements.Some other stuff at the link below.

http://blog.chinaunix.net/u1/40976/showart_1844128.html

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