[ale] Looking for 2 solutions. ???

[Robert Harris]

I'm good with a 2U. The one I have now is a Dell C6100 which is great 4
nodes in 1 chassis but the processors are too old to run anything newer
than ESXi 6.7 (VMware is a requirement right now).  If I could find a 2node
x 2U that's quieter I couldn't mind giving up space for 2 of them.

On Wed, Oct 13, 2021, 6:25 PM Jim Kinney <jim.kinney at gmail.com> wrote:

> +1 on loud. Especially 1U screamers.
>
> That said you can pick up used Dell servers on ebay for $100-$300 that
> will run for years. If you choose rack mount, go for 2U. Much quieter and
> easier to add parts.
>
> On October 13, 2021 3:58:21 PM EDT, Robert Harris via Ale <ale at ale.org>
> wrote:
>>
>>
>> I'm saying server as it's a home server to mimic some things we are doing
>> at work which is vmware esxi/vcenter based including the HA ( luckily no
>> vsan ).   I've already got the rack and being 15U vs 40U I don't want
>> desktop sized chassis's in there and am using the rack to minimize noise
>> and heat in the guest bedroom.
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Oct 13, 2021 at 12:27 PM DJ-Pfulio via Ale <ale at ale.org> wrote:
>>
>>> On 10/13/21 12:22 PM, Robert Harris via Ale wrote:
>>> >
>>> > I'm looking to replace some machines that are way past their prime.
>>> > Just moved and got a 15U, 32" deep rack to house them.  So I'm
>>> > looking for 2 solutions.
>>> >
>>> > 1) A standalone baremetal box to run linux.  Only real qualification
>>> > is it has to take a full-sized video card.  Ideally a 1 or 2U rack
>>> > mount.
>>> >
>>> > 2) I currently have an old 4 node C100 Dell system. a)  It's running
>>> > my media solution ( Plex and some additional dockerized tools),
>>> > letsencrypt, and some other house-hold systems for the family. b)
>>> > Using unsupported CPUs I can get to esxi 6.7 at the best. c) I would
>>> > like to get this on modern CPUs and RAM and if possible stay with a 4
>>> > node system but if not, I can go with some 1U or 2U solutions for my
>>> > vsphere cluster. d)  So I want something I can keep in my HA cluster
>>> > but it's not super performance. e)  And very importantly, it's going
>>> > in the rack in the guest bedroom, I'll be venting the top vents out
>>> > the window but noise and heat are pretty important.
>>> >
>>> > Looking for any suggestions including where to get it, model, etc.
>>>
>>> For a home setup, avoid "server" stuff.  It just isn't needed anymore.
>>> If you aren't tied to VMware ESXi, there are plenty of better options
>>> (for certain values of "better").
>>> If you are stuck with ESXi, then you'll want to check out the "white
>>> box" lists.  I gotta say, dumping ESXi in 2011 was the best decision I've
>>> make regarding hypervisor choice. It is nice to have excellent, free,
>>> backup tools too. Perhaps that has changed, but in 2011, the only real
>>> backup tools cost $1000 for VMware.
>>>
>>> A typical desktop CPU today can provide 22K passmarks of CPU power and
>>> 64G-128G of RAM, if you need to run bloated RAM processes like Windows.
>>> For containers with a few VMs (not all things run in containers), 16G of
>>> RAM should meet most home needs easily.  Setup 2 systems with nearly
>>> identical CPUs+RAM and you can have automatic failover with block-level
>>> replication.
>>>
>>> With a little care, you can stick with 6-core, 65W CPUs easily - last
>>> week I picked up a 6-core Ryzen-G + MB for just under $350.  It is only 20K
>>> passmarks - there is a price to avoid having to buy a GPU (which was my
>>> goal).
>>>
>>> Racks might look cool, but they are loud, power-sucking, with expensive
>>> parts that just aren't needed in a home environment.
>>>
>>> IHMO.
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>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> :wq!
>>
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Robert L. Harris
>>
>> DISCLAIMER:
>>       These are MY OPINIONS             With Dreams To Be A King,
>>        ALONE.  I speak for                      First One Should Be A Man
>>        no-one else.                                     - Manowar
>>
>
> --
> Computers amplify human error
> Super computers are really cool
>
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