Earlier this year I built a custom server with a few goals in mind:
- Very powerful & capable of running multiple machines for an extended time
- Must be quiet
- Fault tolerant
- Not requiring a hardware upgrade for a few years
The specs for this box have made it something that’s turned into a great business expense as I’ve got so much use out of it. It’s a nice strong machine that runs VERY quiet:
- Dual Quad Core Intel Xeon 2.33Ghz (8 cores total)
- 32GB RAM FBDIMM DDR2-800
- 1.5TB 7200 RPM fault tolerant storage (RAID 0+1)
I documented the build out experience in a series of three posts ( part 1, part 2 & part 3) which explained how it was built and the parts used. Since then, and for some reason since posting a few pictures to Facebook of a cabinet I built over the last week to house it (along with my other computer equipment), I’ve received a lot of questions about not just the build out and box, but also general use and management. So instead of sending people to multiple links across my blog, I’ve written up a new article that supplements these other posts. In it I cover:
- Primary Virtualzation Server Goals
- First Failed Attempt
- Hardware List & Tech Specs
- Buildout & Placement
- Server Software Set up
- Virtual Machine / Client Connectivity - Working with the VMs on a Daily Basis
I hope this is helpful to some folks out there considering on doing something similar. You can read the whole article here: