cjlee89 Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 (edited) Hello! I am getting ready to build my Gen8 server and wanted to run my plan by everyone. Any/all suggestions are welcome! My plan: HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 G1610T 2x3TB WD Red drives -- This should last me quite a while. Should I Raid into one logical drive? 16GB Ram -- Still looking for this. Now this is where it gets foggy for me. I want to run ESXi but the cpu does not support vt-d. Is this a huge issue? What am I losing if I do not upgrade to a Xeon? Can I install ESXi on to an SD card, or put a 2.5" drive in the ODD to run ESXi? I do not want to upgrade the CPU at this time and if I can't run ESXi without doing this, I can just install Windows 2012R2 onto a hard drive in the ODD. Thanks in advance! Edited November 21, 2013 by cjlee89 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmwills Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Virtualization happens at the processor level so if that processor can't handle it...no dice. For the money you are going to spend to go to a Xeon chip, you might as well build a custom box. Yes, the GEN8 form factor is cute, but i'ts a server... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjlee89 Posted November 21, 2013 Author Share Posted November 21, 2013 Virtualization happens at the processor level so if that processor can't handle it...no dice. For the money you are going to spend to go to a Xeon chip, you might as well build a custom box. Yes, the GEN8 form factor is cute, but i'ts a server... The stock chip can do vt-x but not vt-d. What am I losing here without a Xeon chip? ESXi is not entirely necessary. If I need to upgrade to the Xeon, i will just install Server 2012R2 by itself. I was mainly going to do this for experience with an ESXi environment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmwills Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 vt-d, as I understand it, will give you virtual device control. The Xeon chip is going to do a lot more powerful and will cost as much or more than the base Gen8. ESXi-i is free and you can get a trial copy of 2012 so I'd say test away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjlee89 Posted November 22, 2013 Author Share Posted November 22, 2013 Agreed! I am going to give it a shot. This pretty much answers my question: http://homeservershow.com/forums/index.php?/topic/6080-do-we-really-need-vt-d-on-our-processors/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmwills Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 There was a similar question to yours about two weeks ago and once I started adding up the parts (Gen8 + a new Xeon chip) you could have built a nice custom system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjlee89 Posted December 1, 2013 Author Share Posted December 1, 2013 I already have the hard drives and I don't plan on using a Xeon chip..Would you say a Microserver is a good deal? I want a low power consuming box since it will be running 24/7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneWolf Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 There was a similar question to yours about two weeks ago and once I started adding up the parts (Gen8 + a new Xeon chip) you could have built a nice custom system. While in many cases I agree with you, there are several factors I'd consider. -Is IPMI, or some form of lights-out management a huge plus? Very few DIY mainboards have this; the ones that do are in the $200 range (Supermicro, Intel, perhaps one or two others) which is halfway to the cost of the Microserver before buying any other parts. -Is hardware RAID important? Not huge here, but some would find it nice that HP's iLO 4 (their lights out management) integrates with some HP Smart Array controllers. If not, Adaptec has some competitive controllers in the same price range for a DIY build. I looked at my build options, and it was a fifty-fifty for me. To get a system that matched the Gen8 Microserver (mini-ITX board/case, with lights-out management and similar features) the price would have been similar. Knowing that HP's firmware support for their servers, iLO, and RAID cards is excellent was a big deal for me. I ended up going with the Microserver, though I also considered a BitFenix Prodigy case and a custom server build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikon Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 And it's a smaller form factor than the BitFenix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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