November 4, 201312 yr Hi Guys I'm running unRaid 5 on an HP microserver with 6.TB (incl. cache and parity) and am out of disk space. This streams blu0ray ISO's to 1 or max 2 users. I have a new iStarUSA 4U, 12 driver, chassis that can take a microATX MB. I'm hoping it can replace my unRaid server and my WMC machine (MacMini CoreDuo P7750 2.6ghz running Windows 7 Pro). i.e. can I consolidate the functions of 2 machines into 1 (and move my existing WMC to the master bed)? I used to know UNIX a long time ago, but am much more comfortable in Windows these days I was planning on moving to FlexRaid and running everything under Windows (as I need WMC for my DVR and MediaBrowser), so i could consolidate two hardware devices in to one, but it seems i may be able to run unRaid and Windows on two VM's. Noise is not an issue, as all AV gear is in basement. Not interested in MadVR or 3D BTW. I rip all my blu-rays to ISO. Not interested in saving 10GB/movie for MKV or alternative (I want full disc contents). I've used VM workstation and Fusion a lot, but not sure about server offerings. From what I've read there's a product called ESXI (but seems to cost several hundred or $1K+). From the comments I've read, I'm guessing I'm looking at the wrong product or in the wrong place. So my questions are: What MicroATX MB/CPU combo would work for this? Would like to keep cost to $3-400 for MB/CPU combo (I know I'll probably need an HBA to support 12x SATA and maybe a GPU for HD playback. I'm very familiar with Intel Core CPU's and I want Intel. I'm figuring Haswell, but am clueless about Xeon, etc. Which VmWare product do I need and what does it cost? Does it need a host Vm or does it run on bare metal? I fit needs an OS, which one? What do I need to look for in components? Will it access disks directly, so could I allocate 6 disks to unRaid, 3 to WMC and 2 to something else (say SQL server)? Given I can build a WMC player for $3-400, am I better off keeping this as a dedicated server (i.e. will it cost > $350 to have adequate hardware to support both functions?) Regards Mark
November 4, 201312 yr Esxi, xenserver run baremetal. The most important thing in components is that both. MB and CPU support virtualization. VT-d for intel or AMD-V iommu for AMD. ESXi is free and for the most things you do not need anything else from vmware to run it. Bit given the vmware propensity to swithc their licensing at will, I would look into some open source products like xenserver or xen or kvm. Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk
November 4, 201312 yr Author Thanks a lot. I agree about VMware and licensing. heard quite a bit about problems with 5.x too
November 4, 201312 yr Author Does this look like a good choice? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131977 Probably going with Xenserver for virtualization. How can I tell if pass-thru support will work with xenserver for disks and graphics? I realize it only has 6xSATA. Right now, I have only 5 drives so will buy a HBA when I need > 6. Considering i7 4771 to go with it. vt-d is a must have Appealing things are: TUF 2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8) 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 mode, black) 1 x PCIe 2.0 x1 4K support on HDMI ESD Guard UEFI bios Intel gigabit Doesn't say anything about IPMI, which I understand is a good thing to have
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.