VMWare Hardware for Server 2016

[talksr]

Hi there,

 

I am looking to set up our first VM Ware system to host a couple of Server 2016 installations. Initially, these will be serving around 20 users, so I expect the following spec will more than accommodate what we need. Just wonder what people's thoughts are on the hardware:

 

HP ML350 G9

2 x PSU

2 xE5-2620V4 CPU

64GB RAM

4 x 2TB drives

LTO5 drive

 

1 x Academic Vmware vSphere 6 Essentials for 3 hosts (max 2 processors per host).

 

Can anyone suggest a good raid configuration for a setup like this?

[mikkydoos]

I'm finding Server 2016 doesn't run very well on exsi 6.5. My specs are double what you've got there.

 

Server 2012, 2008, Win7, Win10 are fine but 3 of my 2016 vm's run pretty slowly even when installed vanilla.

 

Still haven't worked out why ????:confused:

[Michael]

I have several Hyper-V 2016 hosts and Hyper-V guests running fine, why not just run this?

[mikkydoos]

I'm finding Server 2016 doesn't run very well on exsi 6.5. My specs are double what you've got there.

 

Server 2012, 2008, Win7, Win10 are fine but 3 of my 2016 vm's run pretty slowly even when installed vanilla.

 

Still haven't worked out why ????:confused:

 

 

EDIT: just reread your post properly !!

 

 

RAID 10 with spares is what I'd do. I'm running Raid10 on 4 discs at the mo but one of my host server chassis wont take any more than 4.

 

BTW, that's a massively over spec'd server for a handful of vm's.

I'm running 12 vm's on a host maybe a 1/3 better than yours and its only at half capacity. Obviously that depends on what you're going to do with them.

 

Veeam Backup and Replication (or similar) is a must plus consider a second host to restore to if host1 dies.

 

Why not consider 2 servers at half spec each. Having everything sat on 1 host is something I wouldn't advise. (believe me I've done it and suffered).

Edited November 24, 2017 by mikkydoos

[mikkydoos]

I have several Hyper-V 2016 hosts and Hyper-V guests running fine, why not just run this?

 

That'd be simple lol.