Spec'ing a new workstation rig for my office
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If you're considering running multiple VMs on your computer rather than running them on a server, you're going to need more IOPS. Consider using an SSD for a system drive and perhaps some tiered storage, such as Windows Storage Spaces, for your VM and data volume.
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Thanks @alexntg
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Use SSD no matter what. Best investment for a desktop.
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@scottalanmiller said:
Use SSD no matter what. Best investment for a desktop.
The last SSD I used died a horrible death 2 months ago. It was less than a year old. Many times a day it would show 100% disk usage and my PC would come to a crawl. I am guessing that I just had a lemon.
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We've been essentially all in SSD for years now. Haven't lost one yet. No issues at all. They've been amazing.
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@technobabble said:
@scottalanmiller said:
Use SSD no matter what. Best investment for a desktop.
The last SSD I used died a horrible death 2 months ago. It was less than a year old. Many times a day it would show 100% disk usage and my PC would come to a crawl. I am guessing that I just had a lemon.
In that case, perhaps SSD system drive in RAID1
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SSD are okay in RAID 5 too.
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@scottalanmiller said:
SSD are okay in RAID 5 too.
RAID5 SSDs seem a bit overkill for a system drive.
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@alexntg
I was also looking to make my "desktop" a VM as well running on Hyper-V. I wanted to be able to test out backing up VM's and other cool stuff I read on ML. - 
In that case, someone's prior suggestion of a basic workstation and an ESXi host would be the way to go. Don't use Hyper-V.
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@alexntg said:
@scottalanmiller said:
SSD are okay in RAID 5 too.
RAID5 SSDs seem a bit overkill for a system drive.
So does RAID 1

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@alexntg said:
In that case, someone's prior suggestion of a basic workstation and an ESXi host would be the way to go. Don't use Hyper-V.
HyperV has an option for a VM with direct access with a local console.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@alexntg said:
In that case, someone's prior suggestion of a basic workstation and an ESXi host would be the way to go. Don't use Hyper-V.
HyperV has an option for a VM with direct access with a local console.
That makes it a much better solution for a small home lab than ESXi
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@scottalanmiller said:
@alexntg said:
@scottalanmiller said:
SSD are okay in RAID 5 too.
RAID5 SSDs seem a bit overkill for a system drive.
So does RAID 1

The OP expressed concern about their SSD failing. RAID1 would alleviate that. I don't see the justification of the third drive's cost.
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@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@alexntg said:
In that case, someone's prior suggestion of a basic workstation and an ESXi host would be the way to go. Don't use Hyper-V.
HyperV has an option for a VM with direct access with a local console.
That makes it a much better solution for a small home lab than ESXi
If on a desktop, yes.
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@alexntg said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@alexntg said:
@scottalanmiller said:
SSD are okay in RAID 5 too.
RAID5 SSDs seem a bit overkill for a system drive.
So does RAID 1

The OP expressed concern about their SSD failing. RAID1 would alleviate that. I don't see the justification of the third drive's cost.
Potentially smaller, cheaper drives.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@alexntg said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@alexntg said:
@scottalanmiller said:
SSD are okay in RAID 5 too.
RAID5 SSDs seem a bit overkill for a system drive.
So does RAID 1

The OP expressed concern about their SSD failing. RAID1 would alleviate that. I don't see the justification of the third drive's cost.
Potentially smaller, cheaper drives.
It's the system drive, not a data drive. A basic 120GB drive would work just fine.
Edit: Besides, by the time you get a RAID5 card installed, it'd overshoot the cost of the drive.
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For a lab those are often one and the same.
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Thanks guys for all the input.
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VM's would run on the data drive, correct?