On 2023-07-20 16:25, Todd Cole via PLUG-discuss wrote:
> I use a lot of proxmox servers and very happy with them most are for
> small office use running a router, win server and samba file server
> and a win 10 for remote users to vpn into
> most of the hardware is used dell 4-6th gen I-7 (cheap 4 cores 8
> virtual) with zfs raid 1 2 SSD's for redundancy and a spinner HDD for
> back up 32-64 gb ram and meet my needs
> with ease. both at home and work.
>
> I have used rack servers but they are hard to fit on a shelf, HOT and
> use a lot of power and sound like a jet taking off. (I have a few to
> donate free)
> my point is do not over think or spend money to build a home lab or
> hardware that you will need to replace due to your use case.
> I still have one on a duel core 8 gb ram 2 250GB spinning disks that I
> use as a router and zoneminder camera DVR in a un air conditioned
> vacant office it just chugs along in 118 heat
> I have a twin to it that is all set up ready to run that I would be
> willing donate also. Todd
>
---
I'm starting to understand what a vCPU is and that I really do not need
a bunch of cores and threads. I have an old Dell i5 with 4 cores, 4
threads, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.
I'm a PHP developer and use the Proxmox box for testing and development.
Currently I have one LAMP VM configured.
This is what I come away with from this thread:
1) a vCPU is akin to a process.
2) One can configure lots of VMs that will share the CPUs.
3) Do not overload the server by adding too many VMs that all want
resources. I assume top can be used to evaluate the amount of load on
the server.
3) When I configure a VM the amount of RAM is static (not shared). If I
have 16GB of RAM then I realistically can only have around 12 - 14GB of
RAM in use at any given time. That would be running VMs. I can have
tons of VMs that are not running and not using resources/RAM and their
RAM is no counted. Its the active VM's that count. RAM is not shared.
4) The amount of file space allotted to a VM is also static and is taken
up even when the VM is off. For example if I have 10 VMs that are
assigned 20GB of disk space each, then that would total 200GB that are
allocated and are always assigned and not shared with the other VMs.
---
OK, another question. If commercial rack mount servers are so noisy and
use a lot of electricity... then why not use consumer grade computers?
Around 2005/2006 I was working as a level 1 at iPower. A manager showed
us some pictures of the server room in downtown L.A. and they had a ton
of HP mini towers on storage racks that were being used as hardware
servers for hosting. I think they called them dedicated servers.
---
> On Thu, Jul 20, 2023 at 3:09 PM George Toft via PLUG-discuss
> <plug-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org> wrote:
>
>> Be very careful with ESX. I know someone who bought a random server
>> and ESX7 was not supported. It used to run on anything, now, not so
>> much. Check the support matrix before you buy.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> George Toft
>>
>> On 7/20/2023 1:12 PM, greg zegan via PLUG-discuss wrote:
>>
>>> Hello,
>>> I appreciate this topic. I have been wondering for a while now
>>> if there is an affordable home server out there for EXSi and such.
>>> Is there any way for someone to come up with a few choices for
>>> people like me? Is there a low end, mid range, and high end home
>>> server for someone to list with parts or suggested parts?
>>>
>>> thanks,
>>> Greg
>>>
>>> On Thursday, July 20, 2023 at 01:01:13 PM MST, Keith Smith via
>>> PLUG-discuss <plug-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> Thanks!!
>>>
>>> On 2023-07-20 11:36, Ryan Petris via PLUG-discuss wrote:
>>>> I personally wouldn't even go for a used server. They're
>>> generally
>>>> loud, and even when they aren't they use much more electricity
>>> than
>>>> what you would get from a consumer platform. There's really no
>>> benefit
>>>> unless you have room in your house to make a real server room
>>> with
>>>> racks and the electrical capacity to go along with it.
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Jul 20, 2023, at 10:59 AM, Stephen Partington wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> the downside for these processors is their mainboards are still
>>> very
>>>>> pricy to buy. much more than the CPU itself. you are almost
>>> better
>>>>> off looking for and buying a refurbished server which you can
>>> get
>>>>> for almost ludicrously inexpensive prices.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, Jul 20, 2023 at 1:56 PM Ryan Petris via PLUG-discuss
>>>>> <plug-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> The CPU's cheap because it's old and no one wants them anymore
>>> --
>>>>> it's of the same generation as 6000 series intel processors
>>> (i.e.
>>>>> skylake). It also uses a server socket, so the only
>>> motherboards
>>>>> you're going to be able to find are server motherboards. Those
>>> are
>>>>> going to be expensive and/or have other quirks, such as
>>> requiring a
>>>>> vendor specific heatsink, or a vendor-specific power supply, or
>>> take
>>>>> 5 minutes to start up, etc.
>>>>>
>>>>> You'd be better off spending money on a last-gen cpu and
>>>>> motherboard, for instance here's a combination that is
>>> relatively
>>>>> cheap:
>>>>>
>>>>> $174 for an i5-12400, which according to cpubenchmark.net [1]
>>> [1] is
>>>>> nearly 30% faster than the Xeon you linked (score of 19501 vs
>>> 15146,
>>>>> much faster single-core score as well):
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
> https://www.amazon.com/Intel-i5-12400-Desktop-Processor-Cache/dp/B09NMPD8V2/
>>>>>
>>>>> $139 for a compatible motherboard:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
> https://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-B760M-DS3H-AX-Motherboard/dp/B0BSP61QZC/
>>>>>
>>>>> I also wouldn't pay so much attention to the number of
>>> "threads" you
>>>>> think you'll need; you can run many VMs with a total number of
>>>>> virtual processors that is much more than what you actually
>>> have,
>>>>> and as long as you're not trying to go whole hog on every
>>> machine at
>>>>> the same time you'll be fine, and even if you do, you'll still
>>> be
>>>>> better off with a faster processor with a few fewer threads
>>> than an
>>>>> older slower cpu with more.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, Jul 20, 2023, at 10:26 AM, Keith Smith via PLUG-discuss
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>> I was surfing the Inter Web when I happened upon a Xeon server
>>> CPU.
>>>>> It
>>>>>
>>>>> is marked at $32.49 at Newegg. It has 12 cores and 24 threads
>>> and
>>>>> has a
>>>>>
>>>>> good benchmark score.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
> https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+Silver+4116+%40+2.10GHz&id=3179
>>>>>
>>>>> https://www.newegg.com/p/274-000A-007K2?Description=Xeon
>>>>>
>>>>> In the future at some point I would like to build something
>>> with 20
>>>>> plus
>>>>>
>>>>> or minus cores and 40 threads more or less for Proxmox. This
>>> would
>>>>> be
>>>>>
>>>>> over kills because I only need 1 or 2 VMs active at one time...
>>>>> maybe 3
>>>>>
>>>>> in an extreme situation.
>>>>>
>>>>> This 12 core/24 thread CPU with 64Gb of Ram and a 1Tb SSD would
>>>>> really
>>>>>
>>>>> be more resources than I would ever need. Off the top of my
>>> head
>>>>> this
>>>>>
>>>>> means I might be able to build a decent Proxmox server for $500
>>> -
>>>>> $600.
>>>>>
>>>>> I do not need fancy video except for one VM that might be
>>> running
>>>>> Win 10
>>>>>
>>>>> or 11... I assume a server grade CPU would handle Win 10 and
>>> 11?
>>>>>
>>>>> Am I on the right track?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thank You For Your Feedback!!
>>>>>
>>>>> Keith
>>>>>
>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------
>>>>>
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>>>>>
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>>>>>
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>>>>>
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>>>>
>>>> --
>>>>
>>>> A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent
>>> you from
>>>> rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze
>>> button.
>>>>
>>>> Stephen
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Links:
>>>> ------
>>>> [1] http://cpubenchmark.net
>>>
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>
> --
>
> Todd Cole
> Ubuntu Arizona Team
> 2928 W El Caminito
> Phoenix AZ 85051-3957
> toddc@azloco.com
> 602-677-9402
>
>
> Links:
> ------
> [1] http://cpubenchmark.net
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