[AusNOG] Server/HD Question

[Skeeve Stevens]

OK, so today is a day of learning.

As I said.. I am NOT a server hardware guy.  Based on some of the
responses, I now have learned that SATA drives will fit into a SAS
interface (but not the reverse).  This is awesome... I thought they were
completely different.

So, it is a DELL 1950 with 32Gb ram, 2 x Dual Core 3Ghz processors.  I am
still unclear what, if any RAID is on board.

The server will be used for a dozen VMs.  Centos, general purpose, DNS,
radius, etc with httpd front end and some mySQL backend, but all low
performance.  The sort of VMs you commit 128mb of ram to and max at 1-1.5Gb
ram.

FYI, I know how to manage Vmware and staggering the boots, and so on.

Oh yeah.. and I did mean 7.2k drives.. ;-)

So.. now that I know I can use SATA drives... it opens things up a bit.

I am looking at Ingram.. still some thing I don't understand.

HP 2TB SATA 6Gb/s 7200
HDD<https://au.ingrammicro.com/_layouts/CommerceServer/IM/ProductDetails.aspx?id=AU01@@2210@@10@@000000000001885395>
-
$292
HP 2TB SATA 3Gb/s NCQ 7200
HDD<https://au.ingrammicro.com/_layouts/CommerceServer/IM/ProductDetails.aspx?id=AU01@@2210@@10@@000000000001551449>
-
$342

No idea what NCQ is, and why the faster TP drive is cheaper.  Anyone?

These look nice:

SEAGATE Constellation CS SATA 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM 64
Cache<https://au.ingrammicro.com/_layouts/CommerceServer/IM/ProductDetails.aspx?id=AU01@@2210@@10@@000000000002145465>
-
$159 lots in stock
SEAGATE Constellation CS SATA 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM 64
Cache<https://au.ingrammicro.com/_layouts/CommerceServer/IM/ProductDetails.aspx?id=AU01@@2210@@10@@000000000002145467>
  - $219 lots in stock

I see some NL drives (assuming what someone said was Near Line) - no idea
what that is though.

I was also thinking that if the chassis had the space, I should put a
little SSD of CF on board to install the ESX onto to keep the OS off the
drives... thoughts?  My assumption is that once VMware is booted, its disk
access is minimal.


...Skeeve

*Skeeve Stevens - *eintellego Networks Pty Ltd
skeeve at eintellegonetworks.com ; www.eintellegonetworks.com

Phone: 1300 239 038; Cell +61 (0)414 753 383 ; skype://skeeve

facebook.com/eintellegonetworks ;  <http://twitter.com/networkceoau>
linkedin.com/in/skeeve

twitter.com/networkceoau ; blog: www.network-ceo.net

The Experts Who The Experts Call
Juniper - Cisco - Cloud


On Thu, Feb 14, 2013 at 1:10 PM, Skeeve Stevens <
skeeve+ausnog at eintellegonetworks.com> wrote:

> Hey guys,
>
> I know a bit about operating servers, but know bugger all about the
> hardware, especially when it comes to hard drives.
>
> I am needing to deploy a server for some low performance VM's, and it has
> 32Gb ram, Dual core dual processor 3Ghz... so all good.  Should run a few
> linux VM's on ESX.
>
> But... hard drives I really don't know about.
>
> The chassis takes SAS drives.  In it are some small drives and I want to
> upgrade.
>
> Will 7.5k speed drives be ok on a VMware server if its not for high
> performance processing?  The cost of 15k SAS drives still seem to be rather
> expensive.  I was hoping for 500Gb-600Gb of space.
>
> Any thoughts on which brand is ok... I will be putting a single drive in
> mirrored (only 2 bays).
>
> ...Skeeve
>
> *Skeeve Stevens - *eintellego Networks Pty Ltd
> skeeve at eintellegonetworks.com ; www.eintellegonetworks.com
>
> Phone: 1300 239 038; Cell +61 (0)414 753 383 ; skype://skeeve
>
> facebook.com/eintellegonetworks ;  <http://twitter.com/networkceoau>
> linkedin.com/in/skeeve
>
> twitter.com/networkceoau ; blog: www.network-ceo.net
>
> The Experts Who The Experts Call
> Juniper - Cisco - Cloud
>
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