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    Spec'ing a new workstation rig for my office

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved IT Discussion
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    • DashrenderD
      Dashrender @A Former User
      last edited by

      @Hubtech said:

      @JaredBusch said:

      I recently dropped a SSD in my desktop and it now flies right along. I would go with this:

      @Hubtech said:

      sounds like you should just get a workstation (vanilla) and a esxi host.

      I am still trying to get some gear for my office to have for testing. but no money for it and no used gear has fell in my lap yet.

      Dude, I picked up some g5 dual quad xeon's for under 200 each. ebay bay bay
      are you talking HP server?

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • alexntgA
        alexntg
        last edited by

        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.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • T
          technobabble
          last edited by

          Thanks @alexntg

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • scottalanmillerS
            scottalanmiller
            last edited by

            Use SSD no matter what. Best investment for a desktop.

            T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • T
              technobabble @scottalanmiller
              last edited by

              @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.

              alexntgA 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • scottalanmillerS
                scottalanmiller
                last edited by

                We've been essentially all in SSD for years now. Haven't lost one yet. No issues at all. They've been amazing.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • alexntgA
                  alexntg @technobabble
                  last edited by

                  @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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                  • scottalanmillerS
                    scottalanmiller
                    last edited by

                    SSD are okay in RAID 5 too.

                    alexntgA 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • alexntgA
                      alexntg @scottalanmiller
                      last edited by

                      @scottalanmiller said:

                      SSD are okay in RAID 5 too.

                      RAID5 SSDs seem a bit overkill for a system drive.

                      scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • T
                        technobabble
                        last edited by

                        @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.

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                        • alexntgA
                          alexntg
                          last edited by

                          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.

                          scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • scottalanmillerS
                            scottalanmiller @alexntg
                            last edited by

                            @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 🙂

                            alexntgA 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • scottalanmillerS
                              scottalanmiller @alexntg
                              last edited by

                              @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.

                              DashrenderD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • DashrenderD
                                Dashrender @scottalanmiller
                                last edited by

                                @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

                                scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • alexntgA
                                  alexntg @scottalanmiller
                                  last edited by

                                  @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.

                                  scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • scottalanmillerS
                                    scottalanmiller @Dashrender
                                    last edited by

                                    @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.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • scottalanmillerS
                                      scottalanmiller @alexntg
                                      last edited by

                                      @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.

                                      alexntgA 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • alexntgA
                                        alexntg @scottalanmiller
                                        last edited by alexntg

                                        @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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                                        • scottalanmillerS
                                          scottalanmiller
                                          last edited by

                                          For a lab those are often one and the same.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • T
                                            technobabble
                                            last edited by

                                            Thanks guys for all the input.

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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