Recommendations for a hyper-v Server

[e-son]

I'm looking to build a quiet server that is going to be up 24/7 for home use. It needs to be powerful enough to run Hyper-v with at least 4 hosts. Hosts will run Windows Server 2003 & 2008 and run Exchange 2007/IIS, primarily for self-learning but also to act as my file server.

Preferably with an Intel processor and a case that's not to big. I really would like processor + motherboard recommendations that has been proven to run hyper-v succesfully.

I found this, http://www.andrewconnell.com/blog/artic ... yperV.aspx
to be an interesting article, but Im looking for something a bit cheaper.

Please post your experience and suggestions if you have built something similar.

[ilovejedd]

From what I can see, the guy spent a small fortune on RAM. In fact, more than half his budget went to RAM. Fortunately, RAM prices have gone down and instead of paying $835 for a kit of Crucial 8GB FB-DIMMs, it's down to $380 which is less than half the original price. You could save even more by going with Kingston (KVR800D2D4F5K2/8G, $315).

Checking the prices using the store links from the article:
Motherboard: ASUS DSEB-DG, $490
CPUs: Intel Quad Core Xeon E5410 2.33Ghz (quantity 2), $540 ($270/ea)
Heatsinks: Thermalright HR-01-X, $110 ($55/ea)
Memory: Crucial 8GB kit FBDIMM DDR2-800 (each kit = 2x 4GB modules; quantity 4 kits for 32GB), $1,520 ($380/ea)
Drives: Western Digital Caviar 7200RPM SATA 3.0GB 16MB Cache (quantity 4), $300 ($75/ea)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower W0132RU 1000 watt, $300
Case: Cooler Master Cosmos 1000, $195
TOTAL: $3,455

Substitute:
Memory: Kingston 8GB kit FBDIMM DDR2-800 (each kit = 2x 4GB modules; quantity 4 kits for 32GB), $1,260 ($315/ea)
TOTAL: $3,195

A lot of the guys on this thread are using Hyper-V. Even if you're not looking into building a massive storage server, it might be worthwhile to ask the question there.

[didi]

Loads of RAM is idd the key. Windows server, Exchange, IIS can have high RAM needs, depending on how heavy they'll be used.

[protellect]

I think two quad-cores is overkill for what you're doing. You need to spend some more on RAM, and possibly disk access. You might consider separate hard disks for each instance you're running.

I have no problem running multiple ubuntu instances [usually running ruby on rails, which is a memory hog in the linux world].

RAM and disk access are more performance factors than CPU, I find.

I'd recommend the cheapest "good" motherboard you can find.

I'd recommend 2 fairly large disks [500GB+] in RAID1 for your base OS/hypervisor, backups of images, and your file system.

I'd recommend additional single disks for each disk for each intensive host, especially the exchange one.

Back up images to your root file system if they are important to you, but be able to keep all your disk access to your main system when you need/want it.

Any CPU [AMD or Intel] shouldn't have any problem running Hyper-V.

I'd consider the Q6600, and 8GB of DDR2 [<100$]

I don't think there is any reason you need to consider server class hardware if this is for your personal usage.

[bgiddins]

Have a look at the specs in my signature - that's my home server for virtualisation.

All of my VMs run from a single 300GB VelociRaptor - but disk issue slows them down horribly if I try to start several concurrently, so if you have two or more VMs that are disk intensive, consider the suggestion of the poster above and move each intensive VM onto it's own disk. 2.5" disks might be appropriate if you have space considerations. Think about whether or not you want to put them in RAID 1 for some redundancy as well.

I can max out my CPU when running folding VMs, but haven't approached maxing out RAM yet - but for the money, just get 8GB and be done with it.

[Bootay]

I think two quad-cores is overkill for what you're doing. You need to spend some more on RAM, and possibly disk access. You might consider separate hard disks for each instance you're running.

I'd consider the Q6600, and 8GB of DDR2 [<100$]

I don't think there is any reason you need to consider server class hardware if this is for your personal usage.

I have a P182-based system built over a year ago that ran virtual server and now hyper-v just fine. Q6600, 8GB DDR2, 10 drives...more drives = more use of a home lab/learning VM machine. I can spin up a new VM from a template using SCVMM in seconds, can keep 10 guests or so running at the same time, and it makes for a great file server. And it's totally silent - drives are set to power down when not in use, consumes 120w idle and maybe 180-200w under load. Just had to be careful with every component, and really careful with fans and temp sensors to make sure the drives weren't overheating.

$2000 total, I believe.