October 19, 201312 yr I am currently planning the next build of my media center. Currently I have a very modest set-up, and I use it to download, run Sabnzbd and sickbeard, and PLEX. My plex server is serving two Roku's and the occasional iPad. I am considering moving to a virtualized setup for several reasons. One, I would like to get all of my non-server activities off of the server; I want a clean install of unRAID. I would run an ubuntu system with all of the goodies running on it. I would also like to have an encoding station for storing, and occasionally playing blu-rays. Finally, I want to be able to remotely access the system. If I am going to build a virtualizing-capable system, how much extra horsepower am I really going to need to throw at it? I was planning on a Haswell class i5 or maybe i7, and at least 16GB RAM. I see people talking about Xeon chips, and am trying to figure out what the advantages (and/or disadvantages) would be. I am not looking to build a WOPR, just a nice system that keeps everything separated and allows me to stop using unraid plugins for the "extra" stuff.
October 19, 201312 yr While ESXi will run on some CPUs that aren't specifically listed in the VMware compatibility guide; it's best, if you know you're going to be focusing on ESXi, to build a system that is specifically supported by VMware. The guide is here: http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php ... probably the best choice for a new system is an E3-1200v3 series Haswell Xeon. I'd use this motherboard/CPU pair: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116905 (the Xeon equivalent of a high-end Core i7) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182822 or perhaps this excellent motherboard with a built-in 8-port LSI controller that you can pass-through to your UnRAID VM without the need to add any additional controllers (at least until you need more then 8 drives): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182821 (currently out-of-stock -- but just hit "Auto-Notify" or buy it elsewhere)
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