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Well I just went ahead and installed virtual box and a Win7 VM to run VSphere. Thanks for setting me straight
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Sep 16, 2014 23:43
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dox posted:My buddy is taking his machine back that I have been using ESX on for my lab (i5-2550 + P8P67 running ~10 VMs). I need to build a new machine and specc'd out: May crib this for a lab setup for myself. Looking to get something small I can use to lab MCSA/MCSE and VCP. I've got a NAS I can use if I need to do any remote storage, so I figure just throw in a 1TB black and that outta be good enough. I shouldn't need to spring for an SSD, should I?
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Nov 18, 2014 19:31
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For the same money you could get a Lenovo TS140 with an E3-1225v3 and 4GB RAM; just add up to 3 drives. There's also an i3-4130 version for $220 if you don't need quad cores. The TS440 is similar but has hot swap bays and can hold up to eight 3.5" drives, but you'll need to add a suitable HBA (e.g. IBM M1015) and drive sleds. Something to think about, anyway. 
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Nov 18, 2014 21:14
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Man those are awfully tempting. The fact that's OEM hardware and has AMT is probably enough to push me over the edge, now to just decide between the TS140 and TS440.
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Nov 18, 2014 21:48
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FISHMANPET posted:Man those are awfully tempting. The fact that's OEM hardware and has AMT is probably enough to push me over the edge, now to just decide between the TS140 and TS440. I just put a TS140 together with 16GB of RAM. Works great running ESXi. You said you have a supported NIC already, so you're good there. This is what I used for RAM - Crucial 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR3L 1600MT/s ECC UDIMM
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Nov 19, 2014 20:14
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I ended up getting the TS440, since it was only 5 cents more expensive (well, $18.04 because I needed to get the drive sled as well) and I could maybe someday use it as a NAS, along with that same set of RAM and a 1TB black drive. I'm starting with MCSA/MCSE, so the hardware it ships with should be good enough for that for now. It was the other guy that had an existing Intel NIC, but I might actually have one laying around myself somewhere.
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Nov 21, 2014 23:02
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Whoops! I found a new i340-T4 on Amazon so that's what I went for. Works pretty well. I didn't know the TS440 were only a few dollars more, probably should have gotten that instead.
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Nov 22, 2014 19:40
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Spent all weekend trying and failing to install Server 2012 R2 Eval on my TS440. Tried mounting the ISO with AMT, cryptic error, copied the install ISO contents to a bootable flash drive, cryptic error. I've made a DVD at work with the image, and it's working on a random desktop I grabbed, if it fails on TS440 I'm going to get pretty mad.
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Nov 24, 2014 21:05
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Lenovo TS140 (Intel Xeon E3-1225 v3 version) is on sale for $319.99 from Newegg via Ebay if anyone is interested.
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Nov 25, 2014 06:43
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Are cisco 2821s still decent for a home lab? Also what is a decent cheap cisco gigabit switch? I am looking at buying three routers and three switches to make a small cisco home lab.
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Nov 25, 2014 18:20
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I'm still partial to the (exceedingly noisy) WS-3550-12T, I believe when it was current it was positioned as a distribution layer switch. I really want to upgrade to a WS-C2960G-8TC-L (skipping over the differences between the 3500 and 2900 lines) but they're just so drat expensive. Do you really need Gig on all three? If it's really for labbing, 10/100 switches are mad cheap compared to their Gig kit unless you go really old like I did. I think I paid like $150 for the 12-port, and a while before that I got a 3548XL for something absurd like 
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Nov 25, 2014 23:24
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Its partially for labbing but I do have like 5 servers in my lab and want at least gigabit so I can do cool things with them. Going to check out those models you listed.
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Dec 2, 2014 17:29
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Dilbert As gently caress posted:If you take the drives and RAID controller away this becomes a cheaper option, you'll also get more cores* So I already have a case/power supply on hand and wanted to build an all in one gaming/lab machine. Would I be OK putting something together like this and just throwing in a decent mid-level graphics card? Also has anyone used Microsofts technet virtual labs? Are they any good? I've been thinking about just buying lab time online by some cloud provider so I can start working on stuff ASAP instead of waiting to get a machine built. If only DAF wasn't probated! He was actually a big help in this thread.
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Dec 8, 2014 18:12
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BaseballPCHiker posted:So I already have a case/power supply on hand and wanted to build an all in one gaming/lab machine. Would I be OK putting something together like this and just throwing in a decent mid-level graphics card? Also has anyone used Microsofts technet virtual labs? Are they any good? I've been thinking about just buying lab time online by some cloud provider so I can start working on stuff ASAP instead of waiting to get a machine built. I'd just build a nice gaming PC and throw some extra RAM in it so you can run more VMs. Head over to the parts picking thread and they'll steer you the right way (i.e. not AMD).
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Dec 8, 2014 18:19
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SamDabbers posted:I'd just build a nice gaming PC and throw some extra RAM in it so you can run more VMs. Head over to the parts picking thread and they'll steer you the right way (i.e. not AMD). One big thing in that build that you wouldn't normally have on a gaming PC is the NAS setup that you'd use in that build. Those 4 HDs would be assigned direct access to a FreeNAS vm and run as RAID10 and then presented as a datastore. Since this is going to double as a gaming PC, I assume it'll be running workstation instead of ESXi and you probably don't want to be running a VM every time you want to use your hard drive. Virtualization is one of the times that hyperthreading might actually be worth it, so keep that in mind.
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Dec 8, 2014 18:51
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Anyone have any experience with Cisco 6500 switches? I see the chassis selling for $200ish on ebay and the various cards going from $10-$50. It would be cool to buy one and have a big rear end switch to play around with. Plus it would make my rack look even more cool.
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Dec 8, 2014 22:54
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They're very loud and use a lot of power. You don't want one in the same room with you.
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Dec 9, 2014 02:19
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FISHMANPET posted:Spent all weekend trying and failing to install Server 2012 R2 Eval on my TS440. Tried mounting the ISO with AMT, cryptic error, copied the install ISO contents to a bootable flash drive, cryptic error. I've made a DVD at work with the image, and it's working on a random desktop I grabbed, if it fails on TS440 I'm going to get pretty mad. Oh dear this is exactly what I am planning. It looks I'll be getting mine this afternoon. Hope it is not a indication of things to come.  Stupid question: Did you check your RAM? Tried it with the factory installed RAM? Came with 4GB right?
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Dec 19, 2014 11:12
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It's installing Server 2012R2 from USB disk. Fingers crossed. And it's installed, maybe you got a dud? Mr Shiny Pants fucked around with this message at 15:29 on Dec 19, 2014 |
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Dec 19, 2014 15:22
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Whats the deal with GBICs? I read about how they function and what their purpose is but I am mainly wondering which ones are actually used? Half the 'recommended lab' guides are super outdated. I have a few servers in my home lab and I was thinking of getting some sort of fiber GBIC and then getting a card like http://www.stikc.com/Intel-PRO-10000-SR-Single-PCI-E-10Gb-Fibre-Network-Adapter-RN219 and seeing if I can make it work together. I don't actually know anything about fiber but I would like to learn how it works. I bought a cisco switch with two GBIC ports and I see that the modules are fairly cheap.
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Dec 19, 2014 16:39
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Stealthgerbil posted:Whats the deal with GBICs? I read about how they function and what their purpose is but I am mainly wondering which ones are actually used? Half the 'recommended lab' guides are super outdated. I have a few servers in my home lab and I was thinking of getting some sort of fiber GBIC and then getting a card like http://www.stikc.com/Intel-PRO-10000-SR-Single-PCI-E-10Gb-Fibre-Network-Adapter-RN219 and seeing if I can make it work together. I don't actually know anything about fiber but I would like to learn how it works. I bought a cisco switch with two GBIC ports and I see that the modules are fairly cheap. You can't mix remote ends of 1Gbps -vs- 10Gbps fiber. The linked NIC is a 10Gb NIC, what Cisco switch do you have and what model GBIC is installed? The fiber "modules" themselves are called transceivers and also come in flavors and should be paired up with the correct wavelength/core fiber cabling. 1Gbps - Usually 1000Base-X (GBIC) or 1Gbps SFP 10Gbps - SFP+ (or you can have twisted pair or DAC cables, but we are talking fiber here) Both of these come in SX (ShortHaul so MultiMode) or LX (LongHaul so SingleMode). Cabling you have SingleMode, used for long distances and MultiMode, used for intra-building and Server to Switch. You don't want to have LX and SX transceivers connected (without some attunator) because an LX transmits more mW and can burn out the SX receiver after awhile. H.R. Paperstacks fucked around with this message at 17:13 on Dec 19, 2014 |
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Dec 19, 2014 17:03
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Stealthgerbil posted:Whats the deal with GBICs? I read about how they function and what their purpose is but I am mainly wondering which ones are actually used? Half the 'recommended lab' guides are super outdated. I have a few servers in my home lab and I was thinking of getting some sort of fiber GBIC and then getting a card like http://www.stikc.com/Intel-PRO-10000-SR-Single-PCI-E-10Gb-Fibre-Network-Adapter-RN219 and seeing if I can make it work together. I don't actually know anything about fiber but I would like to learn how it works. I bought a cisco switch with two GBIC ports and I see that the modules are fairly cheap. GBICs themselves have mostly been replaced with SFPs, which do the same thing but in a smaller format. The most common GBICs that I see are the WS-G5484 for multi mode fiber, and the WS-G5486 for single mode fiber. Occasionally I find a WS-G5483, which is a 1gig copper GBIC.
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Dec 19, 2014 17:12
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I did buy a switch and it came with two Cisco 30-0759-01 Base-SX transceivers but I feel like those were tossed in the auction to make it seem better. Definitely going to check out those gbics and maybe buy a few off of ebay. They are going for really cheap on there. I mainly just want to spend a little money to learn about the hardware side of fiber networks just in case I see it in the field and so I don't look even more dumb.
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Dec 19, 2014 17:21
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Mr Shiny Pants posted:It's installing Server 2012R2 from USB disk. Fingers crossed. Oh yeah, never posted a followup. I remade the flash drive at work and also burnt a DVD at work just to be safe, tested them both on a machine sitting in the office to make sure they were good. Brought them home and had zero problems. So I was just sucking at copying files I guess.
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Dec 19, 2014 17:33
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Stealthgerbil posted:I did buy a switch and it came with two Cisco 30-0759-01 Base-SX transceivers but I feel like those were tossed in the auction to make it seem better. Definitely going to check out those gbics and maybe buy a few off of ebay. They are going for really cheap on there. I mainly just want to spend a little money to learn about the hardware side of fiber networks just in case I see it in the field and so I don't look even more dumb. https://www.nanog.org/meetings/nanog57/presentations/Monday/mon.tutorial.Steenbergen.Optical.39.pdf TON'S of good info on there for the Layer1/Layer2 aspect of Optical Transport.
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Dec 19, 2014 17:35
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Thank you for linking that PDF Its really helpful.
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Dec 19, 2014 18:00
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Anyone here run ArcSight ESM in a lab setting? Just wanted to bounce a few questions off 'ya if you do.
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Dec 20, 2014 18:36
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So i just redid my NAS and i've got a TS440 running 2012R2. I want to export Zvols for use as VM disk. Using Hyper-V gen 2 VMs it is possible to pass-through a raw disk. Anybody know what the preferred blocksize of a zvol and the corresponding NTFS blocksize is?
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Dec 21, 2014 19:59
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X-post, but I have some leftover gear from a home lab: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3689858 Cisco Catalyst 3750G-24TS $325 Shipped Cisco Catalyst 3560G-48TS - $150 Shipped Juniper EX4200-24T - $450 Shipped
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Dec 23, 2014 23:33
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Mr Shiny Pants posted:So i just redid my NAS and i've got a TS440 running 2012R2. I want to export Zvols for use as VM disk. Using Hyper-V gen 2 VMs it is possible to pass-through a raw disk. Use iscsi luns instead. But ideal block size depends on workload. What are the vms doing?
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Dec 24, 2014 00:18
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evol262 posted:Use iscsi luns instead. But ideal block size depends on workload. What are the vms doing? I've read that there is some voodoo with block sizes where the zvol can end up way bigger than the file system it contains but I don't have any good links handy, sorry.
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Dec 24, 2014 00:51
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evol262 posted:Use iscsi luns instead. But ideal block size depends on workload. What are the vms doing? I've got two machines, one Microserver running OpenIndiana and an TS440 running 2012R2 with Hyper-V installed. The exported disks are luns, they are Zvols exported with comstar mounted with the Iscsi initiator on the hypervisor host. I'll install a domain controller, an IIS server and maybe a couple of Linux machines. Nothing too fancy, I thought there might a good rule of thumb like keeping the NTFS block size the same as the Zvol blocksize. I don't know, I thought you guys might know.
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Dec 24, 2014 09:34
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File system block size should generally match the storage block size or be evenly divisible by it to avoid wasted space. What the ideal block size is will be determined by the application workload.
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Dec 25, 2014 01:27
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I'm looking for a smart switch on the cheap. I've had Dell Powerconnect 5324 suggested in the past and I see a bunch on ebay in the 50-60 range. Any other suggestions? This is going in a rack in the basement at work and being powered on my employers dime so noise and power draw are not concerns.
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Dec 26, 2014 01:12
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If you don't need gigabit and want to learn a little Cisco a 2950 24pt switch would fit that budget and give you a bunch of layer 2 stuff to play around with. I'd say get two.
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Jan 1, 2015 06:10
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Are there any managed gigabit switches that are fanless other than the HP 1810 series? I'd like to get a 16 or 24 port one and I am in the room where this is going so I'd rather not have a jet engine on it if possible.
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Jan 1, 2015 14:45
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Has anyone put together a whitebox nested vmware lab lately? I am looking for a quality motherboard reccomendation.
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Jan 7, 2015 03:50
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Cactus Jack posted:Are there any managed gigabit switches that are fanless other than the HP 1810 series? I'd like to get a 16 or 24 port one and I am in the room where this is going so I'd rather not have a jet engine on it if possible. Juniper EX2200-C is Fanless, but only 12ports. http://www.juniper.net/us/en/products-services/switching/ex-series/ex2200/
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Jan 7, 2015 15:46
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Cactus Jack posted:Are there any managed gigabit switches that are fanless other than the HP 1810 series? I'd like to get a 16 or 24 port one and I am in the room where this is going so I'd rather not have a jet engine on it if possible. The Cisco 2960C and 3560C range of switches are fanless but only go up to 12 ports. The ones with the CG part number are Gigabit
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Jan 7, 2015 15:57
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I'm pretty sure the 24pt Cisco 3750G I have is drat near silent once it has fully booted. I check again tonight.
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Jan 7, 2015 15:58
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