HP DL120 + OCZ PCI express SSD as a RDS server

[MrWu]

Hi

Been thinking of replacing a single self built terminal server running Xeon E3 and 8 gb RAM, at most I see 12 teachers log in running SIMS , Office etc, peaks no more than 4GB RAM usage, its on 4 x 500gb SATA running RAID 10....so thinking of upgrading to a RDS farm for say upto 50 staff?

Thinking of buying 2 of these DL120 with 16gb RAM each:

HP 644706-425 ProLiant DL120 G7 Rack Server | ServersPlus

And add each with a 240gb SSD:

OCZ 240GB RevoDrive 3 X2 PCI-E SSD - Read 1500MB/s.. | Ebuyer.com

Anyone tried fitting PCI SSDs to HP servers?

I will MDT these so they pretty much treat them like a PC if they fail...

Cheers all

[Arthur]

Anyone tried fitting PCIe SSDs to HP servers?

@jamesfed has... www.edugeek.net/forums/hardware/86672-ocz-revodrive-3-x2-hp-dl165-g7.html

Personally I would get a Samsung 830 SSD instead. Not only is it just as fast as (and in some cases faster) than the RevoDrive 3 X2, but it will be more reliable, cheaper and TRIM works too.

[j17sparky]

I'd say sata SSD too. If you really wanted to you could raid 1 / raid 10 a few of them but TBH I'd say 1 with be plenty.

[MrWu]

@jamesfed has... www.edugeek.net/forums/hardware/86672-ocz-revodrive-3-x2-hp-dl165-g7.html

Personally I would get a Samsung 830 SSD instead. Not only is it just as fast as (and in some cases faster) than the RevoDrive 3 X2, but it will be more reliable, cheaper and TRIM works too.

Cool, do you know whether I could fit a 3.5 inch adaptor to the Samsung 830 and fit it into the 3.5inch caddy on the HP? Have to find out where I can get HP caddies since ones supplied are just blanking plates....

[Arthur]

do you know whether I could fit a 3.5 inch adaptor to the Samsung 830

All of the 830 SSDs that have a 'D' in their model number include a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter in the box (MZ-7PC128D / MZ-7PC256D / MZ-7PC512D).

Have to find out where I can get HP caddies since ones supplied are just blanking plates....

I think @Millgate sell empty caddies for HP servers.

[jamesfed]

Cheers for the mentions guys
@MrWu you maybe intrested in my latest project - Series: Custom RemoteFX RDS Farm « my world of IT

We have custom built some RDS servers using 2U cases (2 in each case cookie sheet style!) and they run off.......SATA SSDs

Personaly though I will be sticking with PCI-E in things like my HP servers - at least I know 100% that the RAID array wont muck up on me.

[Millgate]

I think @Millgate sell empty caddies for HP servers.

I certainly do!

[3s-gtech]

If it's just an RDP server, a single SATA SSD should be fine, should mean that TRIM works happily that way. Many RAID controllers (if not all still) prevent the TRIM command from working.

[MrWu]

Cheers for the mentions guys
@MrWu you maybe intrested in my latest project - Series: Custom RemoteFX RDS Farm « my world of IT

We have custom built some RDS servers using 2U cases (2 in each case cookie sheet style!) and they run off.......SATA SSDs

Personaly though I will be sticking with PCI-E in things like my HP servers - at least I know 100% that the RAID array wont muck up on me.

I have been following the stufff you do, with the budget you have you are creating some damn amazing things, i have seen the stats on your VDI supporting 20 users on an SSD drives which what inspired me to use SSDs for my RDS servers, with 2 of them(DL120s) for redundancy, i could get away with single SSD and PSUs..i'm also hoping RDS is not write intensive so the SSDs should last a while.

So i could get a pair of DL120 G7 with 16gb RAM and 256gb SSD for less than £1400 hopefully...

Luke you up for the challange lol?

[Millgate]

I think that might be a bit of a stretch! Ha

[MrWu]

No worries mate, give it a go, i will PM you. :-)

[jamesfed]

Bearing in mind that the parts I used in the custom RDS farm were all desktop parts the 4 'servers' came in at just under £1,300 + licencing and that happily runs 30 sessions for me (looking at the stats from the servers I could probably push that to 60 easily as well).

[VeryPC]

If the HP comes way over budget and is a write off, I would recommend having a look at a supermicro,intel or tyan based custom server. You can probably shave quite a bit off of the HP price for the same performance and be much more flexible on specification / SSD etc .

Luke@Millgate you can quote these right ?

Andy

[Millgate]

Yes matey, i can supply pretty much anything. I know MrWu likes his HPs though so it'll be a tough choice!

[jamesfed]

Yes matey, i can supply pretty much anything. I know MrWu likes his HPs though so it'll be a tough choice!

If only I could've built the RDS servers out of HP SL series cookie sheets - would be even cooler than blades :P HP all the way for me all the same!