Virtualization noob need recommendations.

H

HApyM3al

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Good day/ Night (I am posting this at night for those that see this at night...)

Background:
I am young (21)
I am Not most clued up with servers and virtualization.
I Know there is other threads covering this, however they seem bit outdated.
I know you get Xen; HyperV and ESXi.

I work for a pretty large Networking company currently. I am self studying in free time at moment : Python and CCNA route and switching. Future plan is to learn some Java so I have knowledge moving into Node.js. learning some SQL and Oracle 12c as well... Then as well going to try do CCNA voice and security + CCNP in Route and switching and Voice. Mikrotik certifications is also sort of in pipeline.

Seems like a lot of different areas, I know. I want to learn all these for my own valid reasons. I have Ideas that I want to try out and I think having all that as my experience and knowledge is going to help me greatly.


Want:

recommendations on virtualization software, reasons as well please.
recommendations on Hardware needed to run all the VMs.
funding if want to be nice guy/girl :love: lol

does these vendors as well have recommended configuration for running these kind of instances? A guide if you will? I know they have requirements, 1.4ghz 64bit isn't gonna run a server 2012 r2 that great I think.


Expect:

The hardware must can run the following all day everyday:

Windows server 2012 R2 - will be running AD; Exchange; remote access; Backup services; PXE if possible; iTunes share if possible; Storage server (NAS) as well.
Windows 7 64bit - media machine replacement, watching series and media encoding. no gaming will be done on this.
Router OS x86 (Mikrotik gateway)

Not running all day everyday:
Ubuntu
Other OS's for dev stuff and learning purposes. (SQL servers; web servers; centOS)

That the Storage on Servers can be accessed on SMB and AFP (Think thats what apple calls it) so accessible from OS X and Windows.

That all VM's can remotely be managed, locally and externally. I have two DNS names if it could be done this way.
 
Last edited:
I'd suggest adding a 2 sentence summary of what you want/expect as a response at the top. Your post suffers from wall of text syndrome.
 
HavocXphere said:
I'd suggest adding a 2 sentence summary of what you want/expect as a response at the top. Your post suffers from wall of text syndrome.
Click to expand...

Sorry but i have that difficulty.

want: recommendations on hardware and software that meets the above requirements.
expect: everything to work well and together. an have future expandability...

like I said as well, id rather give too much information than less in this situation.
 
Yeah, this is nuts....nobody who has a job is gonna go through all of that. Summary as HavicXphere suggested
 
HApyM3al said:
Sorry but i have that difficulty.

want: recommendations on hardware and software that meets the above requirements.
expect: everything to work well and together. an have future expandability...

like I said as well, id rather give too much information than less in this situation.
Click to expand...
No...click the edit button on your first post and add a concise 2 sentence summary.

HApyM3al said:
Sorry but i have that difficulty.
Click to expand...
No. This is the internet. You play by internet rules or you don't play at all. Add the summary to the first post.

Nobody is going to read the wall of text (hell I haven't - and I'm clearly one of the more active participants).
 
HavocXphere said:
No...click the edit button on your first post and add a concise 2 sentence summary.


No. This is the internet. You play by internet rules or you don't play at all. Add the summary to the first post.

Nobody is going to read the wall of text (hell I haven't - and I'm clearly one of the more active participants).
Click to expand...

hope the edit pleases you all.
 
Start off with Virtualbox. This you can run on any desktop/laptop given enough RAM.

Install a guest OS and play around with it. Change network settings etc.

Virtualbox is free, great to start off with.

This will give you an idea on how and what you can do and cannot do.

PS : I haven't read your wall of text in the OP, I just is suggesting some place to start off with virtualization.

When you're comfortable with Virtualbox, you can then try the hypervisor on server2008 or server2013.

VMWare is a different beast, I would suggest getting good experience with the above before tackling VMWare, the concept is the same, it just is a lot different.

There's also Proxmox and other hypervisors for you to jiggle your mouse at.

Enjoy!
 
HApyM3al said:
hope the edit pleases you all.
Click to expand...
:D Yes it did.

Personally I'd investigate Docker & similar trends. Sure you can ask the various experts as to what their view of virtualization is...but the world has moved beyond bare metal virtualization. I recommend docker not because its technically superior (it is ) but rather because it embodies the "adapt or fall behind" mindset.
 
1. Start with Oracle Virtualbox, especially if you are also virtualising desktops.
2. Then Hyper-V.
3. Then VWware
4. Then RHEV
5. Then Citrix XenServer
6. Then Parallels.
 
The_Librarian said:
VMWare is a different beast, I would suggest getting good experience with the above before tackling VMWare, the concept is the same, it just is a lot different.


Enjoy!
Click to expand...

I find VM Ware to be the easiest to work with, I dont know why you would make it sound difficult to use?
 
Get yourself some IBM X3650's, two to start off with. Give each 60 to 140GB ram, and two 8-10 core Xeon CPU's. And 4-6 network cards to each. Add two FC cards to each. Get a decent SAN with 4 minimum FC connections. Maybe one shelf with 24 10K drives to start off with, or two shelves, depending on your space needs. You could also add NL SAS drives (7200rpm) for storage
There is R400 000 - R1 000 000 right there. (Depending on your SAN, can get much more expensive)
ESXi is very easy to start off with and free, but if you want to vmotion servers across the two hosts you will need a vCenter server and license everything, so it does become expensive.

You can probably run everything on one host, but you don't want all your eggs in one basket.

Company I work for has now bough two new hosts, both Fujitsu, was almost half the price of the IBM x3650 M4's that we bought a year ago, with more memory and better/newer CPU's. So Hardware wise, you just need something with enough power to run everything you have. And then buy two of them in case one goes down.

I would just choose between Hyper-V and VMware if I were you, don't bother with the rest.
For me personally VMware a much better choice. Played with Hyper-V only for a week and then decided not for us, still not sure why they are trying to call it a bare metal hypervisor like VMware if you need to install Windows first.... (or has that changed now?)

Best way to learn ESXi (or any other hypervisor) is to grab a old pc and load it on there and start fiddling around. You will see it's actually pretty straight forward.
 
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Proxmox needs to get more love.

Especially since it's completely free like Virtualbox but for servers.
 
thanks everyone for input.

Ive played around on virtual box last two years, running OS X and ubuntu stuff on it. i understand it half nd half.

Will try the couple stated above in virtual box for now and see how they all stack up.

@arthur - how does parallels stack up?
@irbosotter - dude epic name lol. I dont have millions guy! was thinking more like dual socket LGA 2011 board with 32GB ram and 2 x hex core cpu's. using old HDD i have. I believe ESXi is a bare metal now? but it has little own OS i think
@HavocXphere - going to check it out now.

I have XenServer and HyperV already downloaded so can test.

Got a flight to OR tambo tomorrow - will test them on flight. (better than sitting and trying to look pretty)
 
HApyM3al said:
thanks everyone for input.

Ive played around on virtual box last two years, running OS X and ubuntu stuff on it. i understand it half nd half.

Will try the couple stated above in virtual box for now and see how they all stack up.

@arthur - how does parallels stack up?
@irbosotter - dude epic name lol. I dont have millions guy! was thinking more like dual socket LGA 2011 board with 32GB ram and 2 x hex core cpu's. using old HDD i have. I believe ESXi is a bare metal now? but it has little own OS i think
@HavocXphere - going to check it out now.

I have XenServer and HyperV already downloaded so can test.

Got a flight to OR tambo tomorrow - will test them on flight. (better than sitting and trying to look pretty)
Click to expand...

There is no true bare metal virtualization, yes it has direct access to hardware but it all needs to run a minimal kernel.
I use ESXi for most of my virtualization and its rock solid.
You dont need a massive server, just lots of ram and as many cores as possible.
Just start somewhere and go from there.
 
Rocket-Boy said:
There is no true bare metal virtualization, yes it has direct access to hardware but it all needs to run a minimal kernel.
I use ESXi for most of my virtualization and its rock solid.
You dont need a massive server, just lots of ram and as many cores as possible.
Just start somewhere and go from there.
Click to expand...

Ah ok that makes sense.

ESXi seems like good option, i mean VMware... can't go wrong with them.
 
irBosOtter said:
Get yourself some IBM X3650's, two to start off with. Give each 60 to 140GB ram, and two 8-10 core Xeon CPU's. And 4-6 network cards to each. Add two FC cards to each. Get a decent SAN with 4 minimum FC connections. Maybe one shelf with 24 10K drives to start off with, or two shelves, depending on your space needs. You could also add NL SAS drives (7200rpm) for storage
There is R400 000 - R1 000 000 right there. (Depending on your SAN, can get much more expensive)
ESXi is very easy to start off with and free, but if you want to vmotion servers across the two hosts you will need a vCenter server and license everything, so it does become expensive.

You can probably run everything on one host, but you don't want all your eggs in one basket.

Company I work for has now bough two new hosts, both Fujitsu, was almost half the price of the IBM x3650 M4's that we bought a year ago, with more memory and better/newer CPU's. So Hardware wise, you just need something with enough power to run everything you have. And then buy two of them in case one goes down.

I would just choose between Hyper-V and VMware if I were you, don't bother with the rest.
For me personally VMware a much better choice. Played with Hyper-V only for a week and then decided not for us, still not sure why they are trying to call it a bare metal hypervisor like VMware if you need to install Windows first.... (or has that changed now?)

Best way to learn ESXi (or any other hypervisor) is to grab a old pc and load it on there and start fiddling around. You will see it's actually pretty straight forward.
Click to expand...

That's like recommending a Bugatti Veyron for someones first car, who cant afford it.
 
Hyper-v would also suit your needs and it's the easiest hypervisor to start with.
 
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