You can get good SSDs for around US$250 (well, I just buy them from Amazon). For the performance you get, I consider that cheap - I've bought 8 128GB SSDs in the past 12 months or so for home. I am only using 3.5" mechanical drives for bulk storage now.
For running a few VMs, like DCs etc, they don't really take up much space, so you can probably run a couple of DCs, Exchange, TMG, SCOM off 2 x 128GB SSDs. Given the amount of time you save, I think they pay for themselves very quickly. Cheers KEn From: Raper, Jonathan - Eagle [mailto:jra...@eaglemds.com] Sent: Wednesday, 3 November 2010 11:40 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: Recommendations for cheap and cheerful virtual server How does SSD = cheap? What size drives are you buying and where are you getting them? Jonathan L. Raper, A+, MCSA, MCSE Technology Coordinator Eagle Physicians & Associates, PA jra...@eaglemds.com<BLOCKED::mailto:%20jra...@eaglemds.com> www.eaglemds.com<BLOCKED::http://www.eaglemds.com/> ________________________________ From: Ken Schaefer [mailto:k...@adopenstatic.com] Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2010 11:03 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: Recommendations for cheap and cheerful virtual server SSDs... Cheers Ken From: Erik Goldoff [mailto:egold...@gmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, 3 November 2010 8:56 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: Recommendations for cheap and cheerful virtual server I might recommend that whatever 'cheap' hardware you find it has multiple drive slots. Dedicate a single drive to each VM as one thing I've found on older/slower hardware is multiple VMs contending for the same disk IO could become your obvious bottleneck regardless of installed memory and CPU. I've gotten better results with a single VM per volume/disk, at the very least to avoid head thrash delays, and sometimes benefit from separate IO ( like with multiple ESATA interfaces ) before it hits the mobo aggregation. That said, I haven't used a decent SCSI based array because it always added too much $$$ to the 'cheap' test hardware. Erik Goldoff IT Consultant Systems, Networks, & Security ' Security is an ongoing process, not a one time event ! ' From: James Rankin [mailto:kz2...@googlemail.com] Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2010 4:40 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Recommendations for cheap and cheerful virtual server I have recently overhauled my home systems and installed a NAS device and some new laptops....however, due to the neglect my AD and SCOM skills are currently receiving, I have decided to get myself a few virtual systems fired up at home to ensure I don't go too rusty. I'm looking for a cheap and cheerful system that can run either ESXi or XenServer (or even Hyper-V), probably to host about 8 or 9 VMs (not all in use at the same time, though). I guess the kicker is the storage, as I won't be using my NAS device for this. I'd prefer something small and inobtrusive, although that's in the ideal world. I read an article where someone recommended getting hold of an old Compaq ML110 G4 and adding some SCSI disks, so I'd also be willing to re-use some second-hand stuff, if needs be. I can back up the VMs to an external drive (if it is supported) so I wouldn't be looking for any hardcore redundancy measures in the hardware. Anyone have any thoughts, or care to share what they are using for similar setups? TIA, JRR ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to listmana...@lyris.sunbeltsoftware.com<mailto:listmana...@lyris.sunbeltsoftware.com> with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ________________________________ Any medical information contained in this electronic message is CONFIDENTIAL and privileged. It is unlawful for unauthorized persons to view, copy, disclose, or disseminate CONFIDENTIAL information. This electronic message may contain information that is confidential and/or legally privileged. It is intended only for the use of the individual(s) and/or entity named as recipients in the message. If you are not an intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender immediately and delete this material from your computer. Do not deliver, distribute or copy this message, and do not disclose its contents or take any action in reliance on the information that it contains. ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to listmana...@lyris.sunbeltsoftware.com<mailto:listmana...@lyris.sunbeltsoftware.com> with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to listmana...@lyris.sunbeltsoftware.com with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
