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PostPosted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 8:08 pm 
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1.5TB storage
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Like the poster jdomi below me, I too wonder about overkill on specs. You know how it goes on NewEgg, you just start creating wishlists and reading reviews and picking the best of the best and before you know it, you have a nuclear powered system that's quite a few hundred more than you thought you'd have.

In my case, I'm committed to WHS 2011, but as a VM in an ESXi system. Now I was already taken with the great reviews of the SuperMicro MoBo's - especially the one with the Atom CPU soldered onto it for about $200. But once I went from WHS to WHS inside of ESXi, I realized that I might need a little more CPU power to handle VMs. That brought me to another SuperMicro Board. The SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SCL+-F Micro ATX Server Motherboard LGA 1155 Intel C202 DDR3 1333.

This board seemed to go well with the following CPU. Intel Xeon E3-1230 Sandy Bridge 3.2GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 80W Quad-Core Server Processor BX80623E31230

So, before you know it, you're over $400 for just these two items!

Reviews: Excellent
Right equipment for the environment? Server. VMs. Yes.
Energy Efficient? Seems to be.

So, you get what you pay for. But then again. Why not get a desktop board for $75 and a CPU for $75??

On the other hand, if this server serves me well for 3,4 or 5 years, then why not take the long view?

Sigh. I welcome other builder's views on this.


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PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 5:59 am 
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Everything really boils down to what your going to use the server for, how active will it be, and the million dollar question how much capacity over time will be needed to accomodate your growing storage needs and how will you tackle the backups and redundancy.

When you can define all those parameters then you can best determine if you are under or over building and adjust the build accordingly. If your project is tied to a budget then that becomes the benchmark for what you can do but then again you may be able to build part of the system today and add components over time thus spreading the cost out so your not going to get hit with the big up front cost.

I suggest you take some time and review what others have built in the past mostly WHS v1 systems some with Desktop Components others with Server Components. With WHS be it v1 or 2011 you can build a fine server using Desktop Components and still have a very powerful server. I have both types running here in the house and has WHS2011 supported 2 processor boards I would have evaluated using a server motherboard but to utilize that I could of built a Small Business version of WHS which I may still do down the road for other reasons but I am not prepared to spend those kinds of funds while I am considering if the DE Replacement Software which if it doesn't pan out I will go with a full Hardware Raid Solution and Raid Class Drives which means a very high cost not just for the drives but the controller itself is costly and well beyond the cost of the 3 Supermicro MV8's I currently have in HIGHLANDER.

So your on the right track with your thought process but I do think you need to better define what you want from your server as I mentioned at the beginning of this post. I wish you lots of luck with your build.

_________________
Exploring the possibilities!

Migrated from WHS2011 to WS2012E: HIGHLANDER

~ Norco 4220 Enclosure
~ Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5
~ AMD Phenom II X4 995 3.2 GHz
~ 8 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
~ 3 Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8


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PostPosted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 6:41 am 
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1.5TB storage
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Good suggestions and I'm almost back to the drawing board.

My main motivation for building an ESXi box is so that I could have it contain an WHS2011 box and a Win7Box for TV Recording (through the purchase of an additional HD HomeRun antenna). Plus, I'd be able to build other VMs for fun and testing. Then I could turn off my personal workstation and use it when I need to and not leave it on 24x7. I also believed that it would give me the flexibility to upgrade to other OS's when they came out. I think that was a key advantage. Let's say that WHS 2015 comes out (I know that's unlikely). I could then build that as a VM. Test it. And then migrate the data over (assuming I had the space within the machine).

If I go from an ESXi build back down to a WHS2011 build on the hardware, my CPU requirements drop, my Mobo requirements drop, my memory requirements drop (2-4GB instead of 8, 16 or 32), I won't need to buy the HD Home Run to record TV shows because my current workstation will do that. Now no one said I had to go with higher end equipment for ESXi, but it seemed prudent. So, I'd estimate that as a $500 savings.

Somethings will remain constant: Still need HDs, still need a PSU and a case. And I think I'll still need to get another GB Switch because my current one is full.

Luckily, my 3 yr + MSS is still running. Still have 300GB free. Just going to take my time and obsess until I pull the trigger.


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PostPosted: Sun Feb 22, 2015 8:03 pm 
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Server vs. desktop differences are mainly on chassis, main board and maybe power supply. Rest is about the same.

_________________
WHS 2011: Intel S3420GPLX/Intel SC5650UP/Xeon 3470/Hardware RAID 6-Bay Hot Swap/5x1TB RAID 5
WHS 2011: Intel DQ965GF/Core 2 Duo E7500/6GB RAM/5x500GB RAID 5
WHS v1: Asus NRL-LS/Pen 4 2.67 Prescott/2GB RAM/Adaptec SCSI


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