Build Cheap and Simple Home ESXi Server to test

[carrotpapaya]

I'm thinking of building up a desktop (you can call it home server) for VMware vSphere Hypervisor to test at home for educational purposes.  I'm currently using a >6yr old Dell laptop which cannot support VMware vSphere Hypervisor.  I do not have opportunity in my working environment to have hands on VMware.  VCP5 course is expensive here in Malaysia, about 3 times salary of a fresh grad. If you have 1/3 savings, it would take 9 months of saving to just register for the course.  Also i would need to take 5 days leave for the course, they do not have weekend class.

My plan is to setup for lab testing (VCP5 exam) and eventually setup 4 VMs.  What are the cheapest way to build this ESXi server for testing?

Processor - AMD FX-6100

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103962

Motherboard - ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX [Micro-ATX]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157323

RAM - 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231606

Network adapter - Realtek 8111E (embedded with Mobo)

HDD - WD Green WD10EZRX 1TB IntelliPower (do not plan for any RAID setup)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236070

Casing - COOLER MASTER Centurion 5

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119068

Power Supply - COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power Plus 500W or  COOLER MASTER GX 450W RS450

I do have experince in building my own desktop back in the years of pentium - pentium 4.  But i certainly do not have experience in building such a complicated system also I'm total newbie for VMware.  I would need your need help and advice to avoid buying wrong devices for my setup.

my budget would be RM3000 which is about USD1000. (Now I think I can have below USD600 after opt to have AMD over Intel i7)

Thanks

*Some useful links that I have found

Hardware setup

http://wahlnetwork.com/2012/03/13/building-esxi-5-whitebox-home-lab-servers/

http://vdestination.com/2011/01/19/building-a-home-lab-101/

Configuration (setup Lab environment, may not apply to me)

http://professionalvmware.com/2012/05/vsphere-5-autolab/

http://www.simple-talk.com/sysadmin/virtualization/vmware-lab-setup---a-virtualized-lab-for-testing-...

http://www.vmwarevideos.com/video-my-home-vmware-vsphere-lab

[karthickvm]

Hello,

Welcome to VMware communities,

Please read the below community thread, I hope it will answer your questions.

http://communities.vmware.com/message/2123200#2123200

[carrotpapaya]

Thanks for the pointer.

Do I need to have SAN Storage likes iSCSI RAID for EXSi server setup? Not neccesary right?

But if for lab testing to prepare for VCP course, I would need one?

I would also need to setup two EXSi server in the machine for the lab? (virtual ESXi in EXSi)

Thanks again.

[weinstein5 · Accepted solution]

You do not need a SAN to install ESXi but if it is for studying for the VCP than a SAN would be beneficial as would a second ESXi host - that way you will be able to test vMotion, DRS, HA -

[aravinds3107]

You would need minimum of 2 ESXi host to test all the advance feature, You can use VMware Workstation to install 2 ESXi host and used Open filer as shared storage or use Microsft W2K8 server as NFS or iSCSI storage for the ESXi host.

Check this to build a home lab

http://boerlowie.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/building-the-ultimate-vsphere-lab-part-1-the-story/

[carrotpapaya]

can the SAN be a virtual SAN?  means can i set one virtual EXSi and one virtual SAN inside my physical EXSi server?

I read somewhere we can use the free opensource "openfiler" to create a iSCSI target, and it can acts likes a physical SAN but it is actually access to our DAS? (if i understand it correctly)

thanks

[carrotpapaya]

Thanks for the infomartive links and reply.

This method certainly works great for home users like me.

by using WMware workstation, we have to install it on top of a host operating system (Ubuntu, Win 7 or etc.) just like VMware Player?

can we still test features likes vMotion, DRS, HA using this setup?

but the big problem is that WMware workstation is not a free product while VMware Vsphere Hypervisor is. :smileyplain:

Thanks again.

[carrotpapaya]

For motherboard, I’m looking at ASRock Z77 Pro3 and Pro4 (Both we can enable the VT-d)

The spec for SATA RAID(from newegg), I’m a bit confused.  For Pro3, without mention anything means all SATA ports can be used for RAID connection?

For Pro3: 0/1/5/10

For Pro4: 4 x SATA2 3.0 Gb/s and 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s by Intel Z77, support RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10

The LAN Chipset is Realtek 8111E, from http://www.vm-help.com//esx40i/esx40_whitebox_HCL.php#NICs

This seems to be a compatible NIC for VMware Vsphere Hypervisor.

Onboard Video Chipset is none for this motherboard, but since we do not have any requirement for VMware, I can just buy a cheap one?

[shaithis]

I went with Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 and FX-6100 for utter cheapness but it performs admirably with esx.

[aravinds3107]

Yes you can test the advanced features using VMware workstation by downloading vCenter and ESXi for a 60 day trial period.

free product while VMware Vsphere Hypervisor

Yes its a free but would be a standalone host and cannot be Managed by vCenter and you wont be able to use the advanced feature

[carrotpapaya]

can i have two virtual esxi inside my physical esxi and create a VM for Vcenter, and use that Vcenter to manage the virtual two esxi?

that way i can also try all the advanced feature?

thanks

[carrotpapaya]

thanks....with your setup it is actually saving up to USD280 which is a lot of money to me.

great to hear that it is performing nicely, may I know how you use that machine? (I mean how do you set it up? likes how many VMs or etc. )

[aravinds3107]

can i have two virtual esxi inside my physical esxi and create a VM for Vcenter, and use that Vcenter to manage the virtual two esxi?

that way i can also try all the advanced feature?

Yes it is possible.. Please see the below links

http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-8970

http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2012/08/how-to-enable-nested-esxi-other.html

[carrotpapaya]

I have updated my OP thread with my ESXi home server setup.  I opt for AMD over Intel to bring the overall cost down.

Since I'm not using it for any real works but testing or educational only.

Feel free to comment on the setup, I'm open for other alternative. Thanks

Not too sure if the motherboard is ESXi compatible

ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX due to I want to have at least 16GB RAM max.

I have checked in http://www.vm-help.com/esx40i/esx40_whitebox_HCL.php

and cannot find it in the list.

I don't really know how to use here

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&ved=0...

Another thing is that, I do not go for RAID setup for my HDD.  I shall go for one HDD and may add more later for RAID setup.

Thanks

[shaithis]

Have 2 of them configured with 16GB RAM each running 12 VMs (8 in HA mode)....mostly 2008 R2, a few Ubuntu and the VDR appliance. CPU utilisation is low most of the time. I am finding RAM capacity and disk perforamce to be the main bottlenecks.

[carrotpapaya]

Thanks.  "have 2 of them" means you have 2 host with the same configuration as my plan whitebox setup above?

[dzar]

Hi carotpapaya. Lucky to have someone from m'sia. You may contact me at mohdzahidi@gmail.com as I already have Intel Ivy bridge for vmware homelab. But the setup was postpone since June 2012. We might have a TTS session to gather and share knowledge. Please do contact me.