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    Lab/Demo/Training Server, Refurb

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved IT Discussion
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    • MattSpellerM
      MattSpeller
      last edited by

      What's your first project for it?

      Deleted74295D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Deleted74295D
        Deleted74295 Banned @MattSpeller
        last edited by

        @MattSpeller said in Lab/Demo/Training Server, Refurb:

        What's your first project for it?

        Drop a 2016 VM onto it. Run some bench marks. It's already got a raid-1 of the 2 disks and XenServer is installed along with Orchestra.

        Orchestra as a UI does not feel intuitive. XenCenter is almost exactly the same as Hyper-v Or VMWare, Orchestra feels very different. Too many things spread out on the screen for me.

        A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • A
          Alex Sage @Deleted74295
          last edited by

          @Breffni-Potter said in Lab/Demo/Training Server, Refurb:

          Orchestra as a UI does not feel intuitive.

          @olivier is working on it 🙂

          BRRABillB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • BRRABillB
            BRRABill @Alex Sage
            last edited by

            @aaronstuder

            Yeah the new version looks sweet.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
            • DustinB3403D
              DustinB3403
              last edited by

              @Breffni-Potter awesome glad you're trying out XenServer.

              How do you have XS installed?

              Deleted74295D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • hobbit666H
                hobbit666 @Deleted74295
                last edited by

                @Breffni-Potter said in Lab/Demo/Training Server, Refurb:

                The goal

                A server which can be used for proof of concepts, training, demonstrations and a panic disaster server if needed but no one will cry if the server is damaged on site.

                XenServer is the hyper visor of choice, trying out Xen Orchestra for the first time with it but with XenCenter as a backup.


                I found this Dell T310 from a UK refurb company.

                Arrived in very good condition.

                • All settings properly reset to factory.
                • Working iDrac
                • Disks were wiped and clean.

                0_1463521974516_upload-9566c0ba-f737-4c1a-8632-eca8dc4c2ba3

                Spec
                CPU 1 x INTEL XEON X3430 8MB Cache 2.4GHz QUAD CORE PROCESSOR
                RAM 32GB (4x 8GB)
                HDD 2x DELL 500GB 7.2K 3.5" SATA
                RAID CONTROLLER Perc 6i SAS/SATA
                BACKPLANE 4x LFF
                OPTICAL MEDIA DVD
                PSU 1x PSU

                Price
                Was about $315.

                Let's see how it does.

                What refurb company did you get it from?
                Might be in the market for 2 servers for a Citrix Farm soon.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • Deleted74295D
                  Deleted74295 Banned @DustinB3403
                  last edited by Deleted74295

                  @DustinB3403 said

                  How do you have XS installed?

                  Installed on a 16GB USB inside the machine so it never gets unplugged during transport.

                  XenServer seems to do almost everything out of the box VMWare can and it was stupidly easy to install & setup. I fat fingered during the install though. XenServer allows you to install the OS to the same media as you are installing from, so I managed to trash my install USB the first time because they were both identical 16 GB USBs.

                  The only thing I'm not happy about, is getting the iDrac 6 virtual console working. Trying a few things out.

                  BRRABillB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • Deleted74295D
                    Deleted74295 Banned
                    last edited by Deleted74295

                    @hobbit666

                    There were 5 of them yesterday, they went really quick

                    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262381932250?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

                    Though to be honest, I could get double the processor performance if I went for rackmount for the same money. It's only because I wanted a tower format that I went with this one.

                    I've got a friend whose a genius at finding servers on Ebay, so if you are shopping, let me know 🙂

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • BRRABillB
                      BRRABill @Deleted74295
                      last edited by

                      @Breffni-Potter said

                      The only thing I'm not happy about, is getting the iDrac 6 virtual console working. Trying a few things out.

                      Is the iDrac6 like the 7 and later models? Where it is installed with very basic functionality in every server, and things like the virtual console have to be licensed?

                      Deleted74295D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • Deleted74295D
                        Deleted74295 Banned @BRRABill
                        last edited by

                        @BRRABill said in Lab/Demo/Training Server, Refurb:

                        @Breffni-Potter said

                        The only thing I'm not happy about, is getting the iDrac 6 virtual console working. Trying a few things out.

                        Is the iDrac6 like the 7 and later models? Where it is installed with very basic functionality in every server, and things like the virtual console have to be licensed?

                        I thought that only happened with 7 and up but in looking at it it seems they did it by the card.

                        So you can get an express card or an enterprise card, but not a license.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                        • Deleted74295D
                          Deleted74295 Banned
                          last edited by

                          Pair of drives in raid-1. Don't do too badly on this box.

                          0_1466028612177_upload-7790dd1f-d245-4696-9d41-ee9cbd44dddd

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • Deleted74295D
                            Deleted74295 Banned
                            last edited by

                            So Xen has been running for weeks now.

                            I've thrown everything under the sun at it. I've seen VMWare and Hyper-v on boxes of a similar spec but Xen is out-performing them, not by a huge amount but enough to make me consider it as a choice for deployments.

                            If only more vendors supported it....

                            travisdh1T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • travisdh1T
                              travisdh1 @Deleted74295
                              last edited by

                              @Breffni-Potter Most vendors don't support it because it includes everything you need already, not much value add with that. Unless you really do mean Xen instead of XenServer.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                              • Deleted74295D
                                Deleted74295 Banned
                                last edited by

                                Bit of a bump.

                                Added a pair of drives, everything is running on a single raid-10 array, 1.3TB usable storage.

                                XenServer has been replaced with an eval install of 2016 Server for now. I've really liked XenServer but parking it to one side for now.

                                DanpD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • DanpD
                                  Danp @Deleted74295
                                  last edited by

                                  @Breffni-Potter said in Lab/Demo/Training Server, Refurb:

                                  XenServer has been replaced with an eval install of 2016 Server for now. I've really liked XenServer but parking it to one side for now.

                                  Why didn't you install the 2016 server as a VM under XS?

                                  Deleted74295D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • Deleted74295D
                                    Deleted74295 Banned @Danp
                                    last edited by

                                    @Danp said in Lab/Demo/Training Server, Refurb:

                                    @Breffni-Potter said in Lab/Demo/Training Server, Refurb:

                                    XenServer has been replaced with an eval install of 2016 Server for now. I've really liked XenServer but parking it to one side for now.

                                    Why didn't you install the 2016 server as a VM under XS?

                                    I did that when I first got the system.

                                    I'm messing about with 2016 as a host with Hyper-v.

                                    dafyreD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                    • dafyreD
                                      dafyre @Deleted74295
                                      last edited by

                                      @Breffni-Potter said in Lab/Demo/Training Server, Refurb:

                                      @Danp said in Lab/Demo/Training Server, Refurb:

                                      @Breffni-Potter said in Lab/Demo/Training Server, Refurb:

                                      XenServer has been replaced with an eval install of 2016 Server for now. I've really liked XenServer but parking it to one side for now.

                                      Why didn't you install the 2016 server as a VM under XS?

                                      I did that when I first got the system.

                                      I'm messing about with 2016 as a host with Hyper-v.

                                      How does it run?

                                      Deleted74295D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • StrongBadS
                                        StrongBad
                                        last edited by

                                        Were you new to XS? What is your impression of XS vs. Hyper-V?

                                        Deleted74295D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • Deleted74295D
                                          Deleted74295 Banned @dafyre
                                          last edited by

                                          @dafyre said in Lab/Demo/Training Server, Refurb:

                                          @Breffni-Potter said in Lab/Demo/Training Server, Refurb:

                                          @Danp said in Lab/Demo/Training Server, Refurb:

                                          @Breffni-Potter said in Lab/Demo/Training Server, Refurb:

                                          XenServer has been replaced with an eval install of 2016 Server for now. I've really liked XenServer but parking it to one side for now.

                                          Why didn't you install the 2016 server as a VM under XS?

                                          I did that when I first got the system.

                                          I'm messing about with 2016 as a host with Hyper-v.

                                          How does it run?

                                          It's running as a server cluster with nested virtualisation (It's a lab, don't panic because it's a single physical box)

                                          Really really liking 2016 so far, some nice new features they have snuck into it.

                                          Apart from the CPU which is obvious, the system runs fairly quickly, everything nice and snappy. It's been up since Sunday.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • scottalanmillerS
                                            scottalanmiller
                                            last edited by

                                            What cool, new features are you finding?

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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