Suitable ESXi Spec

Question

Finally I have some money to buy a new server and replace the one I have been using for 10 years.

Im thinking of running ESXi on the new server. And intend to use it as follows;

• One W2008 R2 Guest running Exchange, File store, SVN and an accounting
  application for day to day running of the company.

• Multiple Guest VMs W2K, XP, Vista &
  WIN7 that were setup for testing in-house & real
  customer images also for testing.

• Probably Two Server Guest Os's W2003 & W2008 running at the same time again for testing.

• One Guest VM for builds & Continuous integration.

• Possibly one Guest running W220R2 for a customer website (Portal)

This server will have to last another 10 years so I want to get the spec right. Althought I am clear on the memory and disk requirments I am not so clear on the processor(s). Im thinking of 2 Quadcore processors but welcome advice on this.

Proposed Spec

• 10GB Ram
• 2TB Sata Drives (Hardware Raid 1)
• 2 Processors (TBC)

Normally 3 Server VM's will running concurrently and the other VMs will be started as required. Max expected VMs running about 7. Max users = 4.

TIA..

Answer 1

That config should work, just make sure you have room to add more RAM if you need to in the future. ESX loves RAM and although you say you will only be running 3 concurrently I always find myself cranking up a few more to 'try something out' :-).

Dual quad core should do you well but it really comes down to how busy your machines will be.

Cheers'

Answer 2

I agree that the dual quad-cores should perform well for you.

The RAM is the big question for me, and whether 10gb is suitable depends entirely on how much ram you intend each VM to be equipped with. If possible, I find its always best to have some extra room on this front, as updates to operating systems or potential unforeseen additional VMs can easily eat up your 10gb. If you are sure it will only ever be two concurrent VMs and they each only need 2gb of RAM, you should be fine.