Used server or powerful PC?

Question

Virtualization

Greetings.
For a home laboratory, I want to buy a used machine for studying virtualization (ESXi, Hyper-V, as well as containers), with adequate operation of the virtual machines themselves (the ability to work comfortably, for example, in a virtualized Win Server 2016). I am faced with a choice, either to take a decommissioned server by purchasing new HDDs for it (for example, this one ), or to assemble a powerful PC on my own from ordinary desktop hardware, saving on the absence of a video card.
The budget is desirable within 40 thousand rubles. Maybe someone faced a similar choice? What would you choose for yourself and why? Noise from server cooling does not bother, because there is where to put it, first of all, the ratio of performance to price is of interest.

Answer 1

Alex , server hardware and its use is its own, certain specificity. The server is not ushatan, but the processors are old, and not very multi-core (if we are talking about the one on your link, on Avito). It is possible that it can only use ECC REG memory, and you still have to look for it if you suddenly need to replace or throw in RAM. Well, colleagues correctly noticed - there will be decent noise, because the layout in 1U servers is dense, and it’s a bit tight with cooling. This is offset by an increase in fan thrust. There are no coolers on the CPU heatsinks, so a comb of coolers is installed that cool everything at once, drawing air from the front to the back panel through all the electronics, plus there are coolers in the power supplies.
By the way, this is a moment that you need to check especially in the servers. Processes and memory that will work in a server motherboard are easier to find. But coolers, as a rule, are strictly specific to a particular model. Therefore, their presence, quantity and performance must be checked very carefully when buying.
Well, in general, the answer to your question will depend on what exactly you are going to do on virtual machines. If ordinary labs - the domain is there, mail, infrastructure network services, etc. - this is one thing. And if there are some Java applications with a high load or dozens of virtual machines, this is completely different. Under the second profile of use the server is better, of course. And for the first, the desktop is enough. In addition, the desktop can always be repurposed as a working computer, or sold if such a desire arises. And the old server will be much more difficult to sell.

Answer 2

It is worth noting that "just a powerful computer" may not be entirely suitable for virtualization. I remember the old hyperv, for example, refused to deploy to non-reg memory

Answer 3

There is an option to take a Chinese motherboard plus a bushy server processor, it turns out to be very budgetary . ECC memory is very cheap there.
Everything is fine with the noise level, desktop coolers are installed for the 2011 socket. True, to mount the cooler, you may have to order a plastic cross (also in China, for a penny), it depends on what fee and what kind of cooler you will take.

Answer 4

The processor is, of course, a bit old, and the latest versions of VMware ESXi will not support it soon. Yes, and colleagues are right about the noise. A rack server is often noisier than a tower server. In a rack server, there are small-sized high-speed coolers; in a tower, coolers can be installed quieter if there is control. Quiet rack I met only Dell r420-430. I would look for a tower server, in a server case and with a server motherboard on an Intel or Asus platform. Self-collection can be cheaper, but from my experience, later it can also cause more hemorrhoids. As an example, the requirement of server network cards and raid controllers for ESXi to work.

Answer 5

Buy an inexpensive new SuperMicra , and then smoothly buy additional components for it. Buying an old branded server is dangerous in terms of the availability of spare parts, which cannot always be replaced with consumer goods.

Answer 6

Selling 4u quiet server with 12 cores for a penny. You can even without a case and RAM up to 120GB or even more with 16GB dies. There is an even newer home and if you wish, you can calculate the details. I took it earlier for the same purposes as the author. But in the end, the beast server is already 3, and the rest is now on Avito. Who cares, I'll throw it in a personal.
Lots of misconceptions about servers. On server motherboards, not only ecc usually works. Yes, and ecc memory is more accessible than usual and even cheaper. On a normal computer, virtualization is possible only with memory limits of 32/64 GB. Yes, and vmware is extremely bad with drivers for ordinary mothers.

Answer 7

In China, they sell a lot of used server equipment, including riveting budget motherboards for it. This allows you to get a rather powerful machine relatively cheaply, albeit with a relatively large power consumption and heat generation.
You can learn more about the equipment here: https://xeon-e5450.ru/
I recommend paying attention to the LGA2011 socket, but the question is whether there will be enough money and whether pumping will be needed.
You can buy either in Chinese markets such as Aliexpress and TaoBao, or from resellers who can sometimes advise, buy a little cheaper in bulk, check, fix and patch. Sometimes overclock the equipment.