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MrAlvin

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    Episode 6x13

    in Hak5

    Posted

    I like how the season 6 episodes are so different.

    A comment about this episode: Carbon Footprint - Never knew it was a matter of religion (to believe or not to believe) - Always thought it was a matter of scientific hypothesis and now evidence by many of the indicators in the hypothesis.

    At one point when scientists have presented evidence, politicians need to take part, as they lead our communities in whatever we do as a group. With a two party system I can however understand how it can become a part of the show rather than part of a practical approach to a scientific dilemma.

    FYI, in Europe, carbon emissions are now a matter of economics, as a limit has been set in the Kyoto agreement of how much carbon emission can be made around the world. And persons (or rather companies) can now trade emission quotas – or have to stay within the agreed limits of emissions.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol

    Oh, looking at the charts about the Kyoto agreement, I now see how it can be a question of religion to an American. As the US is the only country on the planet where the politicians have managed to make it SO MUCH a part of the political show that it has completely left any and all scientific realm – making it impossible for an individual to know what is scientific information and what is political propaganda – and thus individuals have to resort to basic convictions only.

    Or am I misunderstanding something here?

    Either way, still love the hak5 show and its community! Maybe even because of the strong personalities and their convictions.

    SO: Keep up the good work and keep the shows coming! B)

    Episode 5x19

    in Hak5

    Posted

    Okay, I have now taken a second look at this ESXi design. I know that there is a competition, but I find this project so much fun, that I decided to just go ahead and enter a second entry to the competition. And then again it may not really be AN entry, as six case designs are described - but hey, it must give points for creativity and entertainment.

    After learning more about what hardware CAN actually be used, the challenge now seems to be, to find the right combination of cpu socket, amount of ram and number of sockets for ram supported. 775 socket mdb's mainly support 8Gb of ram, which I find to be too little for an ESXi setup. This leaves you with the choice of 1366 socket and ddr3 ram - and the affordable solution with 12Gb of RAM.

    The options

    Anyway, I have looked at:

    - One case RACK solution

    - Dual ESXi system with iSCSI drive solution

    And three iSCSI solutions emerged

    - ultimate low power mini-ITX w. 2.5" disks and a book size case

    - apartment size FreeNAS w. 2.5" drives very Slim MicroATX case

    - apartment size FreeNAS w. 3.5" drives (MicroATX case)

    ONE Case RACK solution @ $ 1743 this is what I have come up with

    RACK CASE $80

    - iStarUSA D-406-ND Black 1.2mm SECC Zinc-Coated Steel 4U Rackmount Chassis 6 External 5.25" Drive Bays - Retail

    Best priced 6x external 5.25" drive bay at the Egg.

    PWR $40

    Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE

    - RAIDMAX RX-500AF 500W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Power Supply - Retail

    Maybe a bit on the low side, but there will be no 2-400W Video card in this computer, so 500W will actually be plenty.

    MBD $158

    - DFI LANPARTY JR X58-T3H6 LGA 1366 Intel X58 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

    Best priced socket 1366, X58, 2x PCI-e x16 slots, 4.8/6.40 GT/sec board available. And I trust the DFI Lanparty boards!

    CPU $310

    Xeon Quad-Core - 4.80 GT/s

    - Intel Xeon W3520 Bloomfield 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Server Processor - Retail

    To move from the 4.80 GT/s to the 6.40 GT/s CPU is just prohibitively expensive. I doubt you get the best price/performance/value with the 6.4 models.

    RAM $158

    12GB CL7

    - Crucial 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model CT3KIT25664BA1067 - Retail

    Best priced CL7 the day I looked

    RAID-Controller $340

    3ware 4x SATA II RAID-5

    - 3ware 9650SE-4LPML PCI Express Lanes: 4 SATA II Controller Card RAID Levels 0, 1, 5, 10, Single Disk, JBOD, KIT - Retail

    Right now, its the best price 4x SATA RAID 5 card available. The previously selected Adaptec RAID controller seems to have vanished from stores.

    HD $360

    - Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 750GB 3.5" Hard Drive

    Highest performing 3.5" 1Tb disk according to Tomshardware HD charts. Prices for HD's seem to fluctuate on a daily basis, today 1Tb disks are about $90 - a few days ago you might have be able to find them closer to $75 - for price calculation I'll use the price I find TODAY.

    HD Cage $85

    5-in-3 Trayless hot-swap SATA HD cage

    - BPN-350SAS SATA / SAS Hot-Swappable Trayless Raid Backplane for 5 Hard Drives, fits in one of the 3x high external 5.25" drive bays

    LAN $162

    Dual port PCI-Express PRO/1000 PT

    - Intel EXPI9402PT 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI-Express PRO/1000 PT Dual Port Server Adapter 2 x RJ45 - OEM

    The dual port card was the only (affordable) Intel PCI-E card available at TheEgg today.

    Video $30

    - SAPPHIRE 100262L Radeon HD 2400PRO 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail

    Best priced 512MB, HDCP videocard the day I looked

    USB Stick

    If you buy the 3ware card right now, you get a free 4Gb USB stick with it.

    USB connector

    I have not yet located a USB connector, but I have $15 in the budget for one. Should be enough.

    This one case solution seems to me to be a good performance and good value solution. It does however not have any redundant or server like characteristics (apart from the Xeon processor). So I looked into options where some kind of redundancy might be more pronounced.

    This would primarily involve a dual case ESXi solution with an iSCSI drive box (and still at less than $2000 for the whole solution)

    The single points of failure would move from any part of the one case system, to the network and the iSCSI box.

    For fun I might later have a look at how to overcome these last redundancy limitations as well, but I highly doubt it can be done for less than $2000.

    The Dual ESXi and iSCSI solution @ $1914 with add-on options

    The ESXi cases @ $642 each

    CASE $20

    - Rosewill R102-P-BK 120mm Fan MicroATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

    A perfect MicroATX case. I have used a few Micro ATX cases in the past, and this one has all of the advantages and none of the drawbacks (IMHO) of the MicroATX cases. And its an unbeatable price!!!

    PWR $30

    80 PLUS BRONZE (mail-in rebate)

    - RAIDMAX RX-400AF 400W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Power Supply - Retail

    Its only a 400W power supply, but this will be plenty for Mbd, CPU and RAM, as no HD's will be in this case.

    MBD $158

    - DFI LANPARTY JR X58-T3H6 LGA 1366 Intel X58 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

    Still the best priced X58 card the day I looked - and its MicroATX, so it will fit the low volume (as in taking up less space) MicroATX tower case.

    CPU $230

    Xeon Quad-Core

    - Intel Xeon E5504 Nehalem 2.0GHz LGA 1366 80W Quad-Core Server Processor Model BX80602E5504 - Retail

    Best priced Quad-core CPU the day I looked.

    RAM $158

    12Gb (6x2Gb) CL7 (mail-in-rebate)

    - 2x Crucial 6GB (3 x 2GB) kit 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model CT3KIT25664BA1067 - Retail

    Best priced CL7 DDR3 ram the day I looked.

    LAN $22

    - PCI PRO/1000 GT PCI Intel PWLA8391GT 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI PRO/1000 GT Desktop Adapter - OEM

    Only a PCI card but very affordable.

    Video $24

    GeForce 8400

    - SPARKLE SFPX84GS256U2LF GeForce 8400 GS 256MB 64-bit DDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card - Retail

    Best priced video card the day I looked.

    This gives you a Xeon Quad-core 12Gb ESXi case for teh low, low price of only $642. Its not the fastest system on the block, but it very good value for the money - and on good days, you could setup your system so you get the performance from TWO systems. That's probably comparable to 4Ghz and 24Gb of performance for less than $1300. Sorry, but THAT IS just good value for your money.

    The iSCSI box @ $492

    An Appartment size FreeNAS w. 3.5" drives (MicroATX case)

    CASE $20

    - Rosewill R102-P-BK 120mm Fan MicroATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

    This case is still unbeatable for the price, and it will either house 4x internal SATA drives (the price entry listed above), or an external 3-bay 5.25 HD trayless hot-plug 4-5 hd drive cage for just $85-105 extra depending on your preferences. If you choose the $85 3-in-5 drive cage solution, its still only 1999 for the whole setup.

    PWR $30

    80 PLUS BRONZE (mail-in rebate)

    - RAIDMAX RX-400AF 400W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Power Supply - Retail

    This power supply is is still more than enough for the "simple" (low-power) mdb needed for an iSCSI case. And its still a 80 plus bronze PFC solution.

    MBD $32

    - ASRock N68PV-GS AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7050 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

    The mbd needs 4x SATA II connections and a Gbps LAN chip, thats basically it, for it to be able to serve its FreeNAS iSCSI purpose, so this mbd was the best price.

    CPU $40

    - Athlon 64 / 2.6 GHz / Socket AM2 / 1 MB L2 / AMD Processor in a Box (PIB)

    Thermal Design Power 45 W

    For the FreeNAS any CPU that fits the mbd will probably do just fine. I have not yet looked into FreeNAS performance, so I am uncertain where the speed bottle necks are for an iSCSI setup, but I expect that the on-board SATA controllers or the on-board LAN chip will be the primary bottle necks in this system.

    Another bottleneck will be that the ESXi HD's are network connected, but thats another issue all together.

    RAM $10

    - Kingston 512MB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

    With a FreeNAS setup any RAM size will likely do, as it is designed to run on systems with as little as 32Mb of RAM.

    LAN

    Uses the Gbps built-in network chip.

    HD $360

    3.5" - low-power

    - WD Caviar Green

    These drives are still the lowest power consumers on tomshardware HD charts, and I suspect they will have plenty of performance for an iSCSI box - as bottlenecks are probably to be found elsewhere in the system.

    Gbps Switch $138

    - HP 8-port Gbps ProCurve managed Switch

    Finally you need a good Gbps switch to tie the three boxes together. I like managed switches, and this one from HP can currently be had at a very good price at NewEgg.

    This wraps up the Dual ESXi and iSCSI system.

    But there is more.......

    During my search for the "right stuff" I came across these iSCSI options, that have very, very small cases (as 4x 2.5 500Gb drives are used.

    The funny iSCSI boxes alas slightly more expensive

    Apartment size FreeNAS w. 2.5" drives @ $542

    CASE $45

    - APEX DM-318 Black Steel MicroATX Slim Case Computer Case ATX12V Flex 275W Power Supply

    4x SATA - software raid

    This was the smallest MicroATX case I could find, that had a fullsize external 5.24" drive bay

    MBD $32

    - ASRock N68PV-GS AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7050 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

    Same mbd as before, as its still the cheapest MicroATX mbd at NewEgg.

    CPU $40

    - Athlon 64 / 2.6 GHz / Socket AM2 / 1 MB L2 / AMD Processor in a Box (PIB)

    Thermal Design Power 45 W

    Still the same CPU

    RAM $10

    - Kingston 512MB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

    Still the same ram.

    HD Cage for 2.5" drives $55

    - 5.25" Internal Hard Drive Cage for 4 x 2.5" SATA II Notebook Hard Drives, BP-SATA1842B

    This cage is what does the trick for the small case. It fits in an external 5.25 drive bay, and fits 4x 2.5" drives inside it.

    HD $360

    - 4x 2.5" Western Digital Scorpio Blue WD5000BEVT 500GB 5400 RPM 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive - OEM

    Good data speed 2.5" HDs at a reasonable 2.5" 500Gb price.

    The ultimate low power mini-ITX w. 2.5" disks and a book size case @ $632 - and about 7-25W (idle/streaming)

    CASE $39

    - Winsis Wi-01 Black SGCC / ABS Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 200W Power Supply - Retail

    A 10x10" Mini-ITX CASE w. 1 external full size 5.25" drive bay

    MBD $129 + $39

    - Jetway J7F2WE-1G Mini-ITX Mainboard - 1 GHz VIA C7 processor (9 W) with fan

    - Jetway 4x SATA Add-On Module with RAID Support

    Mini-ITX mbd w. CPU and 4x SATA add-on daughterboard

    RAM $10

    - Kingston 512MB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

    HD-Cage $55

    - 5.25" Internal Hard Drive Cage for 4 x 2.5" SATA II Notebook Hard Drives, BP-SATA1842B

    HD $360

    - Western Digital Scorpio Blue WD5000BEVT 500GB 5400 RPM 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive - OEM

    Very low power, good speed 2.5" 500Gb HDs

    Episode 5x19

    in Hak5

    Posted

    Well, you need at least a processor that supports some form of virtualisation. (A list which you can find here: Wikipedia link), but that's basically it.

    Thanks for sharing that link. Nothing beats real life experience (one of the reasons I find Hak5 and the community so interesting).

    Most hardware is supported through user-generated drivers (which are just mildly modified linux kernel modules).

    I can live with that - so long as its stable! All I'm asking really. I see how there's money to be saved by proper research into finding good stable drivers for reasonably priced hardware.

    If you enable SSH support on your ESXi server and get basic networking going, you can pretty much mess around with everything and get most stuff working. (Don't expect to get extremely cheap-ass hardware working though, ESXi has SOME standards ;))

    SSH is good for other things too, like cloning VM's and creating templates (which ESXi can't do without the proper licence), although you don't have a nice GUI to do it for you.

    Ah, practical details. Good to know – once I get my hands on some of the right hardware.

    For the $2000,- part, it doesn't scare me as much, as our production rack-servers are even cheaper than that, so you can get a long way with just some basic hardware. (Rack-mountable cases are in most cases the most expensive part of the server, so for home-made, home-run servers, just stick a cheap Asus (or some other reliable mobo) in a cheap ATX case and off you go.
    Ah yes, rack mounted - easy accessable, smooth sliding drawers - The Stuff that nerd dreams are made of. :D

    For business the $2000 price is pretty average for server hardware these days I guess. I the past I have certainly bought more expensive servers for work, but now that computers, servers and networks are more of a hobby to me, my private budget gets “stressed” by even thinking about expenses at this level. B)

    Talking about the cost of stuff. I found this hardware makes an interresting price for a FreeNAS base.

    MBD - ASUS M3N78-VM - AM2+ - 5x SATA - dkr 447 - US$ 75

    LAN Gbps Realtek RTL8211CL - Video NVIDIA GeForce 8200

    CPU - Athlon 64 / 2.6 GHz / Socket AM2 / 1 MB L2 / AMD Processor in a Box (PIB) - dkr 244 - US$ 40

    Thermal Design Power 45 W

    RAM - 1 x 512 MB / DDR2 SDRAM / PC2-6400 800 MHz CL5 - dkr. 46 - US$ 10

    All-in-all dkr 737 - US$ 125 - which is less than some ITX MDBs - and even less than most routers with USB ports!

    Episode 5x19

    in Hak5

    Posted

    @OverSoft

    That is really great to hear! Gives some hope for the rest of us, as I find the $2000 expence a bit off-setting, for a thing to just play around with.

    I'll probably try out some of my old hardware then. I have also noticed that there is community support for some of the hardware parts that are not typically used in the large mainstream systems.

    Episode 5x19

    in Hak5

    Posted

    From the ESXi Hardware Compartibility List web page I extracted this list of approved CPU and Chipset.

    You might also find these pages interresting:

    http://www.vm-help.com/esx40i/esx40_whitebox_HCL.php

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeon

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opteron

    http://techreport.com/discussions.x/13036

    CPU

    <option value="64-bit Intel Xeon Processor">64-bit Intel Xeon Processor</option>

    <option value="64-bit Intel Xeon Processor MP">64-bit Intel Xeon Processor MP</option>

    <option value="AMD Opteron 13xx Series">AMD Opteron 13xx Series</option>

    <option value="AMD Opteron 2000 Series">AMD Opteron 2000 Series</option>

    <option value="AMD Opteron 24xx Series">AMD Opteron 24xx Series</option>

    <option value="AMD Opteron 8000 Series">AMD Opteron 8000 Series</option>

    <option value="AMD Opteron 83xx Series">AMD Opteron 83xx Series</option>

    <option value="AMD Opteron 84xx Series">AMD Opteron 84xx Series</option>

    <option value="AMD Opteron Processor Model 246">AMD Opteron Processor Model 246</option>

    <option value="AMD Opteron Processor Model 252">AMD Opteron Processor Model 252</option>

    <option value="AMD Opteron Processor Model 254">AMD Opteron Processor Model 254</option>

    <option value="Dual Core Intel Xeon 5200">Dual Core Intel Xeon 5200</option>

    <option value="Dual Core Intel Xeon E5200 Series">Dual Core Intel Xeon E5200 Series</option>

    <option value="Dual Core Intel Xeon E72xx Series">Dual Core Intel Xeon E72xx Series</option>

    <option value="Dual Core Intel Xeon LV">Dual Core Intel Xeon LV</option>

    <option value="Dual Core Intel Xeon SL8P2">Dual Core Intel Xeon SL8P2</option>

    <option value="Dual-Core AMD Opteron 2214 HE">Dual-Core AMD Opteron 2214 HE</option>

    <option value="Dual-core AMD Opteron 22xx">Dual-core AMD Opteron 22xx</option>

    <option value="Dual-core AMD Opteron 8222">Dual-core AMD Opteron 8222</option>

    <option value="Dual-Core AMD Opteron 8224SE">Dual-Core AMD Opteron 8224SE</option>

    <option value="Dual-core AMD Opteron 82xx">Dual-core AMD Opteron 82xx</option>

    <option value="Dual-Core AMD Opteron Processor">Dual-Core AMD Opteron Processor</option>

    <option value="Dual-Core AMD Opteron Processor Model 275">Dual-Core AMD Opteron Processor Model 275</option>

    <option value="Dual-Core AMD Opteron Processor Model 280">Dual-Core AMD Opteron Processor Model 280</option>

    <option value="Dual-Core AMD Opteron Processor Model 285">Dual-Core AMD Opteron Processor Model 285</option>

    <option value="Dual-Core AMD Opteron Processor Model 290">Dual-Core AMD Opteron Processor Model 290</option>

    <option value="Dual-Core AMD Opteron Processor Model 865">Dual-Core AMD Opteron Processor Model 865</option>

    <option value="Dual-Core AMD Opteron Processor Model 875">Dual-Core AMD Opteron Processor Model 875</option>

    <option value="Dual-Core AMD Opteron Processor Model 880">Dual-Core AMD Opteron Processor Model 880</option>

    <option value="Dual-Core AMD Opteron Processor Model 885">Dual-Core AMD Opteron Processor Model 885</option>

    <option value="Dual-Core AMD Opteron Processor Model 890">Dual-Core AMD Opteron Processor Model 890</option>

    <option value="Dual-core Intel Xeon 5000 Series">Dual-core Intel Xeon 5000 Series</option>

    <option value="Dual-core Intel Xeon 5060">Dual-core Intel Xeon 5060</option>

    <option value="Dual-core Intel Xeon 5080">Dual-core Intel Xeon 5080</option>

    <option value="Dual-core Intel Xeon 5100 Series">Dual-core Intel Xeon 5100 Series</option>

    <option value="Dual-core Intel Xeon 5110">Dual-core Intel Xeon 5110</option>

    <option value="Dual-core Intel Xeon 5120">Dual-core Intel Xeon 5120</option>

    <option value="Dual-core Intel Xeon 5130">Dual-core Intel Xeon 5130</option>

    <option value="Dual-core Intel Xeon 5140">Dual-core Intel Xeon 5140</option>

    <option value="Dual-core Intel Xeon 5150">Dual-core Intel Xeon 5150</option>

    <option value="Dual-core Intel Xeon 5160">Dual-core Intel Xeon 5160</option>

    <option value="Dual-core Intel Xeon 7000 Series">Dual-core Intel Xeon 7000 Series</option>

    <option value="Dual-core Intel Xeon 7020">Dual-core Intel Xeon 7020</option>

    <option value="Dual-core Intel Xeon 7040">Dual-core Intel Xeon 7040</option>

    <option value="Dual-core Intel Xeon 7041">Dual-core Intel Xeon 7041</option>

    <option value="Dual-core Intel Xeon 7100 Series">Dual-core Intel Xeon 7100 Series</option>

    <option value="Dual-core Intel Xeon 7130M">Dual-core Intel Xeon 7130M</option>

    <option value="Dual-core Intel Xeon 7140M">Dual-core Intel Xeon 7140M</option>

    <option value="Intel Xeon">Intel Xeon</option>

    <option value="Intel Xeon 30xx Series">Intel Xeon 30xx Series</option>

    <option value="Intel Xeon 31xx Series">Intel Xeon 31xx Series</option>

    <option value="Intel Xeon 32xx Series">Intel Xeon 32xx Series</option>

    <option value="Intel Xeon 33xx Series">Intel Xeon 33xx Series</option>

    <option value="Intel Xeon 54xx Series">Intel Xeon 54xx Series</option>

    <option value="Intel Xeon 55xx Series">Intel Xeon 55xx Series</option>

    <option value="Intel Xeon E5410">Intel Xeon E5410</option>

    <option value="Intel Xeon E5430 ">Intel Xeon E5430 </option>

    <option value="Intel Xeon MP">Intel Xeon MP</option>

    <option value="Intel Xeon X5260">Intel Xeon X5260</option>

    <option value="Quad Core AMD Opteron 2356">Quad Core AMD Opteron 2356</option>

    <option value="Quad Core AMD Opteron 23xx">Quad Core AMD Opteron 23xx</option>

    <option value="Quad Core AMD Opteron 8356">Quad Core AMD Opteron 8356</option>

    <option value="Quad Core AMD Opteron 8360">Quad Core AMD Opteron 8360</option>

    <option value="Quad Core AMD Opteron 83xx">Quad Core AMD Opteron 83xx</option>

    <option value="Quad Core Intel Xeon 5200">Quad Core Intel Xeon 5200</option>

    <option value="Quad Core Intel Xeon 5400">Quad Core Intel Xeon 5400</option>

    <option value="Quad Core Intel Xeon 7400 Series">Quad Core Intel Xeon 7400 Series</option>

    <option value="Quad Core Intel Xeon E5400 Series">Quad Core Intel Xeon E5400 Series</option>

    <option value="Quad core Intel Xeon E5440">Quad core Intel Xeon E5440</option>

    <option value="Quad Core Intel Xeon E73xx Series">Quad Core Intel Xeon E73xx Series</option>

    <option value="Quad Core Intel Xeon X3300 Series">Quad Core Intel Xeon X3300 Series</option>

    <option value="Quad core Intel Xeon X5460">Quad core Intel Xeon X5460</option>

    <option value="Quad-Core AMD Opteron 13xx">Quad-Core AMD Opteron 13xx</option>

    <option value="Quad-core AMD Opteron 2372">Quad-core AMD Opteron 2372</option>

    <option value="Quad-core AMD Opteron 2374">Quad-core AMD Opteron 2374</option>

    <option value="Quad-core AMD Opteron 2376">Quad-core AMD Opteron 2376</option>

    <option value="Quad-core AMD Opteron 2378">Quad-core AMD Opteron 2378</option>

    <option value="Quad-core AMD Opteron 2380">Quad-core AMD Opteron 2380</option>

    <option value="Quad-core AMD Opteron 2382">Quad-core AMD Opteron 2382</option>

    <option value="Quad-core AMD Opteron 2384">Quad-core AMD Opteron 2384</option>

    <option value="Quad-core AMD Opteron 8372">Quad-core AMD Opteron 8372</option>

    <option value="Quad-core AMD Opteron 8374">Quad-core AMD Opteron 8374</option>

    <option value="Quad-core AMD Opteron 8376">Quad-core AMD Opteron 8376</option>

    <option value="Quad-core AMD Opteron 8378">Quad-core AMD Opteron 8378</option>

    <option value="Quad-core AMD Opteron 8380">Quad-core AMD Opteron 8380</option>

    <option value="Quad-core AMD Opteron 8382">Quad-core AMD Opteron 8382</option>

    <option value="Quad-core AMD Opteron 8384">Quad-core AMD Opteron 8384</option>

    <option value="Quad-core Intel Xeon 5100 Series">Quad-core Intel Xeon 5100 Series</option>

    <option value="Quad-core Intel Xeon 5300 Series">Quad-core Intel Xeon 5300 Series</option>

    <option value="Quad-core Intel Xeon 5365">Quad-core Intel Xeon 5365</option>

    <option value="Quad-core Intel Xeon E5320">Quad-core Intel Xeon E5320</option>

    <option value="Quad-core Intel Xeon E5330">Quad-core Intel Xeon E5330</option>

    <option value="Quad-core Intel Xeon E5335">Quad-core Intel Xeon E5335</option>

    <option value="Quad-core Intel Xeon E5345">Quad-core Intel Xeon E5345</option>

    <option value="Quad-core Intel Xeon MP 7300 series">Quad-core Intel Xeon MP 7300 series</option>

    <option value="Quad-core Intel Xeon X5350">Quad-core Intel Xeon X5350</option>

    <option value="Quad-core Intel Xeon X5355">Quad-core Intel Xeon X5355</option>

    <option value="Quad-core Intel Xeon X7350">Quad-core Intel Xeon X7350</option>

    <option value="Rev F F3">Rev F F3</option>

    <option value="Second-Generation AMD Opteron Processor Model 2218">Second-Generation AMD Opteron Processor Model 2218</option>

    <option value="Second-Generation AMD Opteron Processor Model 2220">Second-Generation AMD Opteron Processor Model 2220</option>

    <option value="Second-Generation AMD Opteron Processor Model 2220 SE">Second-Generation AMD Opteron Processor Model 2220 SE</option>

    <option value="Second-Generation AMD Opteron Processor Model 2222">Second-Generation AMD Opteron Processor Model 2222</option>

    <option value="Second-Generation AMD Opteron Processor Model 8216">Second-Generation AMD Opteron Processor Model 8216</option>

    <option value="Second-Generation AMD Opteron Processor Model 8218">Second-Generation AMD Opteron Processor Model 8218</option>

    <option value="Second-Generation AMD Opteron Processor Model 8220">Second-Generation AMD Opteron Processor Model 8220</option>

    <option value="Second-Generation AMD Opteron Processor Model 8220 SE">Second-Generation AMD Opteron Processor Model 8220 SE</option>

    <option value="Six Core Intel Xeon 7400 Series">Six Core Intel Xeon 7400 Series</option>

    Chipset

    <select multiple="multiple" size="2" name="chipset[]"><option value="-1">All</option>

    <option value="AMD 8111/8132">AMD 8111/8132</option>

    <option value="AMD 8131+ 8111 Chipsets">AMD 8131+ 8111 Chipsets</option>

    <option value="AMD Opteron 8000 series chipset">AMD Opteron 8000 series chipset</option>

    <option value="Blackford">Blackford</option>

    <option value="HP developed F8 chipset">HP developed F8 chipset</option>

    <option value="Hurricane 4">Hurricane 4</option>

    <option value="Hurricane4">Hurricane4</option>

    <option value="IBM XA-32">IBM XA-32</option>

    <option value="IBM XA-64e third generation chipset">IBM XA-64e third generation chipset</option>

    <option value="Intel 33xx - 32x0 - R">Intel 33xx - 32x0 - R</option>

    <option value="Intel 5000P Chipset">Intel 5000P Chipset</option>

    <option value="Intel 5000V">Intel 5000V</option>

    <option value="Intel 5000V Chipset">Intel 5000V Chipset</option>

    <option value="Intel 5000X Chipset">Intel 5000X Chipset</option>

    <option value="Intel 5000Z Chipset">Intel 5000Z Chipset</option>

    <option value="Intel 5100 Chipset">Intel 5100 Chipset</option>

    <option value="Intel 5400 ">Intel 5400 </option>

    <option value="Intel 55xx - 55x0">Intel 55xx - 55x0</option>

    <option value="Intel 55xx - 55x0 - R">Intel 55xx - 55x0 - R</option>

    <option value="Intel 55xx - X58">Intel 55xx - X58</option>

    <option value="Intel 55xx - X58 - R">Intel 55xx - X58 - R</option>

    <option value="Intel 72xx - 7000">Intel 72xx - 7000</option>

    <option value="Intel 73xx - 7000">Intel 73xx - 7000</option>

    <option value="Intel 74xx - 7000">Intel 74xx - 7000</option>

    <option value="Intel 82371AB">Intel 82371AB</option>

    <option value="Intel E7210 Chipset">Intel E7210 Chipset</option>

    <option value="Intel E7320 Chipset">Intel E7320 Chipset</option>

    <option value="Intel E7501 Chipset">Intel E7501 Chipset</option>

    <option value="Intel E7520 Chipset">Intel E7520 Chipset</option>

    <option value="Intel E8500 Chipset">Intel E8500 Chipset</option>

    <option value="Intel E8501 Chipset">Intel E8501 Chipset</option>

    <option value="Intel Tylersburg">Intel Tylersburg</option>

    <option value="nVidia">nVidia</option>

    <option value="nVidia 2200 2050 AMD 8132">nVidia 2200 2050 AMD 8132</option>

    <option value="nVidia ck8-04+io4">nVidia ck8-04+io4</option>

    <option value="nVidia MCP55">nVidia MCP55</option>

    <option value="NVIDIA nForce Pro 2200 + AMD-8131">NVIDIA nForce Pro 2200 + AMD-8131</option>

    <option value="nVidia nForce Professional 2200 (CK8-04 Pro)">nVidia nForce Professional 2200 (CK8-04 Pro)</option>

    <option value="San Clemente">San Clemente</option>

    <option value="Seaburg">Seaburg</option>

    <option value="ServerWorks">ServerWorks</option>

    <option value="ServerWorks GC HE">ServerWorks GC HE</option>

    <option value="ServerWorks GC LE">ServerWorks GC LE</option>

    <option value="ServerWorks HT1000 + HT2100">ServerWorks HT1000 + HT2100</option>

    <option value="ServerWorks HT2000 + HT1000">ServerWorks HT2000 + HT1000</option>

    <option value="Serverworks HT2100">Serverworks HT2100</option>

    <option value="ServerWorks HT2100 + HT1000">ServerWorks HT2100 + HT1000</option>

    <option value="ServerWorks HT2100 + HT1100">ServerWorks HT2100 + HT1100</option>

    <option value="Twin Castle">Twin Castle</option>

    <option value="Tylersburg DP (24D)">Tylersburg DP (24D)</option>

    <option value="Tylersburg DP (36D)">Tylersburg DP (36D)</option>

    <option value="Tylersburg IOH 24D">Tylersburg IOH 24D</option>

    <option value="Tylersburg IOH 36D">Tylersburg IOH 36D</option>

    </select>

    Episode 5x19

    in Hak5

    Posted

    Finding some hardware that was approved by the ESXi Hardware Compartibility List was the hardest nut to crack at first. It seems that only Intel Xeon and AMD Opteron processors are supported, and only a very select number of chipsets seem to be supported.

    Once you find an approved processor's socket, motherboards supporting that socket often has the right chipsets.

    Once I found combinations of CPU, MBD and RAM. Then I started looking at Power Consumption.

    For my personal PC, I have moved from desktop builds to laptop. And for my networked server needs I currently run hacked Routers with USB HD's.

    I do however often find myself wanting to test os's and do run a few virtual machines, but my laptop only works well with 1-2 virtual machines running at anyone time.

    For my current networked (24/7) storage needs I use 2.5" HD's. Supplemented with USB drives for seldom accessed files. For the sake of the competition though, I'll design for on-line HD storage.

    According to TomsHardware HD performance charts,

    3.5" disks use 3-9W idle and 4-10W full power usage.

    2.5" HD's use 0.3-1.7W idle and 0.9-4.1W full power usage.

    For an ESXi system I would likely leave it on 24/7, and I would consider 2.5" 500GB HD's, or one of the "green" 3.5" HD, that use less power.

    For the ESXi 4.0 system I found only a few CPU, MBD, RAM combinations that seem to work, according to the ESXi Hardware Compatibility List . I really tried to look for AMD Opteron parts, but it seems that one needs to get complete pc units for Opteron systems these days. :

    (dkr. means Danish Kroner, as that is what is used here in Denmark.)

    CPU Socket 1366 - Xeon

    - E5502 - 1.86 Ghz - 4.8 GT/sec - L3: 4Mb - (Dual-Core (2+0) Nehalem) triple-channel DDR3 RAM - dkr. 1.405

    Power State C1/C1E: 30 W - C3: 26 W - C6: 10 W - Thermal Design Power: 80 W

    - E5520 - 2.13 GHz - 5.86 GT/sec - L3: 8Mb - (Quad-Core (4+4) Nehalem) triple-channel DDR3 RAM - dkr. 2.815

    Power State C1/C1E: 30 W - C3: 26 W - C6: 10 W - Thermal Design Power: 80 W

    - X5550 - 2.66 GHz - 6.4 GT/sec - L3: 8Mb - (Quad-Core (4+4) Nehalem) triple-channel DDR3 RAM - dkr. 7.200

    Power State C1/C1E: 30 W - C3: 26 W - C6: 10 W - Thermal Design Power: 95 W

    - L5506 - 2.13 GHz - 4.8 GT/sec - L3: 4Mb - (Quad-Core (4+0) Nehalem) triple-channel DDR3 RAM - dkr. 3.190

    Low Power State C1/C1E: 22 W - C3: 18 W - C6: 8 W - Thermal Design Power: 60 W

    MBD - socket 1366

    - ASUS P6T - SE x58, GLAN (Realtek 8111C) - dkr 1.460

    3x PCI Express 2.0 x16 (x16/x16/x4)

    1x PCI Express x1

    2x PCI

    - ASUS P6T x58, GLAN (Realtek 8111C) - dkr 1.755

    3x PCI Express 2.0 x16 (x16/x16/x4)

    1x PCI Express x1

    2x PCI

    - ASUS P6T Deluxe v2 x58, 2xGLAN (Marvell88E8056) - dkr 2.085

    2x PCI Express 2.0 x16 (x16/x16 support)

    1x PCI Express x1

    1x PCI

    2x PCI-X

    RAM - Triple DDR3 - min. 1333 MHz

    - 12Gb = 2x kit: OCZ Platinum DDR3, 1600 MHz, CL7, 6 Gb kit - dkr (805)

    - 12Gb = 2x kit: Kingston HyperX DDR3, 1600 MHz, CL8, 6 GB kit - dkr 830

    - 12Gb = 2x kit: Kingston DDR3, 1333 MHz, CL9, 6 GB kit - dkr 860 (704)

    The OCZ Platinum seem to have the best timings

    NETWORK

    - INTEL 9301CT Gigabit CT Desktop Adapter - dkr 228

    PCI Express x1

    - Intel PRO/1000 PT Quad Port Server Adapter - dkr. 2.622

    PCI Express x4

    SATA Hardware RAID controllers

    - Adaptec RAID 2405, PCIe x8, 4+0 channels, 128MB - max 256 disks - bulk - dkr. 1.555

    Raid 0, 1, 10, JBOD

    - Adaptec RAID 3405, PCIe x4, 4+0 channels, 128MB - max 128 disks - Bulk - dkr. 2.335

    Raid 0, 1, 5, 10, 50, JBOD, 1E, 5EE, 6 og 60

    + Adaptec ABM-800 Battery Module - dkr 980

    - Adaptec RAID 3805, PCIe x4, 8+0 channels, 128MB - max 128 disks - Bulk - dkr. 3.330

    Raid 0, 1, 5, 10, 50, JBOD, 1E, 5EE, 6 og 60

    + Adaptec ABM-800 Battery Module - dkr 980

    HD options SATA drives

    * 3.5" 1TB drives:

    - Samsung SpinPoint F2EG Cheapest - dkr. 500

    - Western Digital WD Caviar Green WD10EADS - dkr. 554

    Good Speed (max 102, avg 78) MB/sec

    Fine Power (idle 2.9w, video 4.3W, streaming 5.4W)

    - Segate Barracuda 7200.12 - dkr. 572

    High Speed (max 130, avg 100) MB/sec

    OK Power (idle 5w, video 5.3W, streaming 7W)

    * 2.5" 500Gb drives

    - WD Scorpio Blue WD5000BEVT Best price - dkr. 599

    Good Speed (max 83, avg 68) MB/sec

    Best Power (idle 1w, video 1.26W, streaming 2.56W)

    - Seagate Momentus 7200.4 ST9500420ASG Higher price - dkr. 830

    Great Speed (max 97, avg 77) MB/sec

    Great Power (idle 1w, video 1.3W, streaming 3.1W)

    Text about: Seven 2.5” 500 GB Drives @ www.tomshardware.com

    HD test charts @ tomshardware

    PWR-DK: CoolerMaster eXtreme Power RP-650-PCAP - dkr. 634

    PWR-US: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V

    EPS12V SLI/CrossFire Ready

    Active PFC 80 PLUS Certified

    Compatible with Core i7

    Video-DK: ASUS EAH3450

    Video-US: GeForce 8400 GS 512MB PCI-e 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The choice!

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    CPU - Xeon E5520 - socket 1366

    Its a good balance betwen price and performance, now that is HAS to be a Xeon with a 1366 socket

    - NewEgg 369

    - dkr. 2.815

    CPU Cooler - ZALMAN 120mm 20dbA

    I HATE noisy computers. I used to like it as it felt like they were "talking" to you. But then after a few years in the late '90 listening to several at work, and one big case at home (so basically 24/7) that all changed.

    - NewEgg 60

    - dkr. 348

    MBD - ASUS P6T

    This gives good options for expansion cards, and as I would not plan to overclock anything in a production environment, I think the capacitor count will be enough on the "simple" P6T version.

    - NewEgg 250

    - dkr. 1.755

    RAM - 12Gb OCZ Platinum - CL7

    The Platinum has better timing than the Gold versions, for just a few dollars more.

    - NewEgg 200

    - dkr. 1.610

    NETWORK - INTEL 9301CT - Gbps

    Has to be a network card that is on the ESXi Hardware Compatibility list . This one I could find in both DK and US, and at a reasonable price.

    - NewEgg 30

    - dkr. 228

    HD - WD Caviar Green

    I opted for a balance between price, speed and power consumption. I would rally have liked to use 2.5" disks, but that would bust the budget, and I am not shure where to find a hot-plug (or just easy to use) cabinet plug-in for 2.5" <-> 5.25" conversions. If I had to have the machine located in my current appartment, I would however just mod something, as no-noice machines is a MUST.

    - NewEgg 360

    - dkr. 2.288

    HD ctrl - Adaptec RAID 3405

    Seems like a reasonable priced and up-to-date controller. With SAS adressing capabilities for any future use.

    - NewEgg 340

    - dkr. 2.335

    Case - CM Sileo 500 Black Aluminum Bezel, ATX Mid Tower Case

    PWR - Rosewill RG530-2 530W 80Plus CertifiedActive-PFC, SLI Ready, Power Supply

    Any case with 5x5.25 external drive bays and 4x3.5 internal drive bays will do.

    If I were to actually build this system, I would mod a case, or re-use/re-mod the already modded server case I made a few years ago.

    - NewEgg Combo 80

    - dkr 500+634

    Video - GeForce 8400

    This card has HDMI (and HDCP) out. Who knows if that might some day come in handy.

    - NewEgg 40

    - dkr. 181

    Total price: US$ 1,943 - dkr. 12.694

    I Denmark we have a 25% sales tax, so dkr. price list will add up to more than ~ US$ 2,000

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    So I basically end up with the same concept as you did on Hak5. Just some slightly different parts here and there.

    I did consider an iSCSI solution with an ITX board and FreeNAS, but I am unsure what to do to make sure it would work, and I am unsure about performance compared to local SATA connected disks.

    I am however still considering using smaller disks for the ESXi setup, and then making NAS storage large, as I have a hard time imagining what data would take up 2-3 TB of online storage space on the servers (besides video).

    ---------------------

    I'd be most interested in getting reports of actual power consumption from some of the systems that have actually been built. And numbers on CPU idle/active status.

    i'd love to start using LINUX

    in Everything Else

    Posted

    After trying to learn stuff about Linux over the years, working with first DD-WRT and the OpenWRT on routers, finally got me into deeper details about the inner workings of Linux.

    Over the years I have tried several Linuxes and BSD's in virtual PC's. Now I only have Ubuntu in VirtualBox on my windows pc's.

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