I think this really depends on what you want to run. With an 8GB laptop and a couple of SSDs, you can run 4-5 VMs without too many issues – even I/O intensive ones like SCOM or Exchange. But this would mainly be for testing things on an ad hoc basis
If you’re looking to have a permanent lab running, and actually build up data in databases, then you’ll probably need a desktop machine. Most mid-high end ones will go to 16GB RAM, and the workstation class ones will give you 24+ GB That all said, the more VMs you run, the more I/O throughput you need. So, get SSDs. Trying to run 10 VMs off 2 regular disks (for example) will just be painful. Cheers Ken From: ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com [mailto:ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com] On Behalf Of Tejas Goradia Sent: Thursday, 9 June 2011 6:21 PM To: ozDotNet Subject: Re: Calling out to all you geeks to help me buy\build a machine (preferably laptop) that can support following System Requirements. Hi Ben, Thanks for the info. Would you suggest building a desktop instead? I'm happy to invest in a laptop but these days no amount of RAM is good enough. Tejas. On Thu, Jun 9, 2011 at 7:29 PM, <ben.robb...@jlta.com.au<mailto:ben.robb...@jlta.com.au>> wrote: I'm not sure if any laptops exist that have the option of having Win Server 2008 R2 installed. If they do they are likely pretty expensive. Here's a reasonable Acer laptop for $1,050 (after cash back from Acer) that will meet your specs once you add another 4GB of RAM (comes with 1x 4GB but can be upgraded to 2x 4GB) and install your OS of choice. I've bought a couple of things from MWave before and had no problems with them (I have no affiliation with them). http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-31010931-Acer_AS5750G_2634G64Mn_Notebook_Intel_Gen2_Core_i7_2630QM_Processor_%282_0GHz_up_t There are faster processors but this is pretty good (the entry-level Sandy Bridge mobile CPU with 4 cores and hyper threading): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge Ben ________________________________ From: ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com<mailto:ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com> [mailto:ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com<mailto:ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com>] On Behalf Of Tejas Goradia Sent: Thursday, 9 June 2011 5:14 PM To: ozdotnet@ozdotnet.com<mailto:ozdotnet@ozdotnet.com> Subject: Calling out to all you geeks to help me buy\build a machine (preferably laptop) that can support following System Requirements. System Requirements ________________________________ * Supported Operating Systems:Windows Server 2008 R2 Additionally you will need: * Windows Server 2008 R2 with the Hyper-V role enabled. * Drive Formatting: NTFS * Processor: Intel VT or AMD-V capable * RAM: 8 GB or more recommended * Hard disk space required for install: 50 GB This machine is going to be dedicated for running Virtual Machines made available from Microsoft like the 2010 Information Worker Demonstration and Evaluation Virtual Machine <http://goog_1420228367> (RTM)<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=751fa0d1-356c-4002-9c60-d539896c66ce&displaylang=en> I naturally don't want to spend a fortune so please suggest good value for money. Thanks, Tejas
