Server Choice

Exos

Exos

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Been looking around to buy myself a server and at the moment I have two manufacturers in mind:

Fujitsu:
Fujitsu Primergy MX130 S1
Fujitsu Primergy MX130 S2

Hewlett Packard:
HP Microserver

Scope:

  • I'm looking something with a relatively small footprint as it needs to sit on a shelf
  • I need it to have sufficient capability to run either VSphere 5 or Citrix XenServer 5.6SP2 / 6.0
  • I need to be able to run two - three Virtual Servers
  • The servers will have memory upgrades as standard (8GB Min)
  • Minimal Cost

Does anyone have any other recommendations over and above those listed?

Whilst I really like the small footprint of the HP Microserver, I'm not convinced it has the raw power to do the above, and has limited upgrade capabilities. Do people agree?

The Fuji has a larger footprint but can be upgraded easier, but I also can't help thinking its just a desktop PC with some added content, thoughts?
 
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you will be really struggling to use vsphere on the microserver.

TBH, the two you have highlighted pretty look like desktop PCs.

I would look at something like HP ML110 either G6 or G7, Come with option of dual or quad core xeon CPU and ECC memory for greater reliability. But what really sets them apart from desktop PC is LIO card which allows remote management and monitoring.
 
oneman said:
you will be really struggling to use vsphere on the microserver.

TBH, the two you have highlighted pretty look like desktop PCs.

I would look at something like HP ML110 either G6 or G7, Come with option of dual or quad core xeon CPU and ECC memory for greater reliability. But what really sets them apart from desktop PC is LIO card which allows remote management and monitoring.
Click to expand...

That was one criticism of the reviews for the Fuji server was that they didn't appear to have made any effort with the chassis.

I've read a few forums with people running ESXi on the N36L Microserver, and I'll be honest but I did pretty much think the same, I just needed some re-assurance about it.

I'll have a look at the ML110. I've got so much on at the moment I've had little time to go looking.
 
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You don't say what you want to do? vSphere and Citrix virtualise different things. Citrix virtualises the desktop, not servers.

The hardware you mention will struggle with vSphere and three VMs - two will be okay but not on the HP which looks too small to me. The Fujitsus will just about cope. Minimum 8Gb RAM and hardware RAID 1 with minimum 500Gb but check the VMware compatability guide - I'm guessing you'll need to add a network card (like an Intel Pro).

I'm running a Dell SC440 with 4Gb RAM and RAID 1 500Gb and it just about copes with 2 VMs. I had to do some major tweaks just to get it running...
 
Him Her said:
You don't say what you want to do? vSphere and Citrix virtualise different things. Citrix virtualises the desktop, not servers.

The hardware you mention will struggle with vSphere and three VMs - two will be okay but not on the HP which looks too small to me. The Fujitsus will just about cope. Minimum 8Gb RAM and hardware RAID 1 with minimum 500Gb but check the VMware compatability guide - I'm guessing you'll need to add a network card (like an Intel Pro).

I'm running a Dell SC440 with 4Gb RAM and RAID 1 500Gb and it just about copes with 2 VMs. I had to do some major tweaks just to get it running...
Click to expand...

Sorry, need to correct you. There are actually two elements to Citrix, XenDesktop and XenServer. XenServer is the hypervisor where Xendesktop runs from a DDC/PVS server on Windows for VDI (a bit like VMWare View)

Already looked on the guide, and think I would have issue with the network cards. I know what I need to a degree, just can't afford what I want and I need a small test bed to work on:



  1. - DC (DNS/DHCP/KMS)
  3. - Member Server (WSUS/MDT/SCCM)
  5. - Spare (Possible Squid Server for testing)


If I could afford it I would be getting a DL380 or Dell 610, but my limited salary prevents such lavish hardware lol. If only I had kept that one I had on my desk a year ago !

I like the idea of the ML110, but just need to gauge it's footprint/noise level.

EDIT: What bugs me even more is I decommission servers every summer, some of them are pretty decent spec, but will they let me use any, no...straight to the recycling centre...
 
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I have deployed quite a few ML110 and apart from initial 20 seconds or so when fans blow at full speed, they are pretty quite. Definitely no more noisy then a regular desktop PC. And size is about the same as a midi tower but deeper. They also have a onboard USB socket so you can boot O/S from there if you want.

there is no way I would have the DL380 or Dell 610 in my house, they are both just too noisy.

There are probably two reasons why they won't let you have old servers, either leased or there is actually potentially a tax liability for the company if they give old equipment to employees as tax office see is as a benefit of the job and therefore tax should be paid on it.
 
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I would be very wary of that. The microserver has a dual core 1.5GHz AMD Neo CPU. Its designed for low power applications like laptops. Even if you could install ESXi, you would be struggling to install more then one instance while retaining any sort of usable performance, even for testing.
 
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Exos said:
Just found this while looking around at the ML110:

HP RB-404, RB-414, SH-S222AB/BEBE, KVR1333D3N9/4G, ESXI5-HYPERVISOR, 658553421-VMSKIN Special Edition ProLiant MicroServer N40L 'ESXi 5 Testbed' Bundle | ServersPlus

Hmm, still not convinced over it's capability to adequately run VMWare (even if it has a big sticker!)
Click to expand...
It has the same integrated CPU as the N36L that you've seem to have already ruled out.

Have you considered just a desktop? Something like this perhaps: Zoostorm Business Desktop PC - Desktops | Ebuyer.com

You could possibly build something for a similar price...
 
I have a spare desktop anyway (i7) and a older one, but again it's the footprint.

I hardly have any floor space, therefore it needs to sit comfortably on a shelf (bearing in mind the shelf depth is only 250mm, so would have to sit long ways)

I've sized the ML110 against another tower PC I have and put it on the shelf just to get a feel and I'll be honest it looks totally out of place.

The other thought that cross my mind was 2 x Microservers in a pool (the £100 cashback is still on)

I'm in a state of flux over this as I don't want to invest in them and realise It's not good enough, but then equally I don't want to spend hundreds out (will be around £380 - £420 for a Xeon G6) to find out its overkill and I don't use it for what I wanted/thought; as at the moment its for me to try and get some benefit over some solutions using VMWare i'm putting in and will possibly become redundant.
 
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Here is one that is slight more expensive @ £125 + £13 P & P But it does come with 3GHz CPU and 2GB RAM. Hard drive is a bit small at 80GB but it should be enough for testing.

Dell Optiplex 755 C 2 D E8400 3.00ghz 2gb 80gb DVD SFF.. REDUCED 14-12-2011.. | eBay


Dimensions are,

Small Form Factor:
12.45" x 3.65" x 13.4"
(31.63cm x 9.26cm x 34cm)



This one is even smaller but I would not recommend it as uses laptop components and we had a higher failure rate with these at work compared to SFF.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DELL-OPTI...t=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item231844ca15

Ultra Small Form Factor:
10.3" x 3.5" x 9.9"
(26.3cm x 8.9cm x 25.28cm)
 
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Cheers guys much appreciated. I've resigned myself to the fact the HP MicroServer certainly isn't good enough having read some reviews with them using VMWare. Many people seem have issues with the RAID controller and thus there is no hard drive redundancy.

On the point about it becoming useless after a period, that's purely me being subjective/speculative as I want something to toy around with anyway, but would prefer it had server based architecture. Still leaning towards the ML110 despite size, and I've seen a few deals where HP are offering £50 cashback on their base models. Just looking at other places to locate it where i don't get an ear bashing ;) but having not moved the slightly larger desktop PC from the shelf since I put it there, it doesn't seem all bad.

Good point is I had a TV on the wall near the shelf, so potentially use the mount for a spare monitor i have.
 
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The ML110 is not that noisy once its booted.
 
Well ok, finally did it; ordered an ML110 Dual Core plus 8GB Ram, I have 2 x 72GB SAS Disks that I now need to find a cheap controller for :)

Cost me £280 but I get £50 cashback from HP


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
it is quite funny when you switch one of those servers on in an office for the first time as the fans make a right racket whilst server goes through bios, you can see the relief on the faces of the staff when the fans settle down.

what generation have you gone for ? i see they are at G7 now.

i do like the hp array controllers the but they do come in pricey, are you looking for a full raid 5 controller or just a raid 1 card ? we did some installs last year with these servers g6 they had onboard raid 0 + 1 i am sure.

ill try and check tomorrow
 
HP do their own controllers but I am using Dell Perc controller in mine. It accepts up to 8 sas or sata drivers in RAID 5 configuration, hardware xor and 258MB cache. My 10TB array can beat most SSD on everything except seek times. Cost around
 
hatab said:
it is quite funny when you switch one of those servers on in an office for the first time as the fans make a right racket whilst server goes through bios, you can see the relief on the faces of the staff when the fans settle down.

what generation have you gone for ? i see they are at G7 now.

i do like the hp array controllers the but they do come in pricey, are you looking for a full raid 5 controller or just a raid 1 card ? we did some installs last year with these servers g6 they had onboard raid 0 + 1 i am sure.

ill try and check tomorrow
Click to expand...

Went for a G6, it's only for 2 drives in Raid 0/1 so wasn't looking to use it as storage as I have my 8TB NAS for that (6TB RAID5). My ultimate intention was to use the raid array for the ESXi install as they are only 2 x 72Gb 10k SAS and then present an iSCSI LUN from the NAS for the data store.

I have ESXi running from USB stick at the moment with the data store for some of the VM's on the local sata drive.

I wold prefer HP, but this looks a bargain for a PERC 6i

As an aside, does anyone have an 100i ILO key for the advanced pack i can use?

Thanks.

(Oddly for some reason, I'm not being notified of some new posts, specifically this, or threads I've subscribed to, but not important.)
 
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