Hi-

 

hoping the community can help me figure out a reasonable 1 CPU, multiple user system.

 

Target use is as for a computer learning lab. Rough outline of hardware I'm looking for, and uses:

- 6, but preferably 8 student seats

- PCIe Passthrough to mid level AMD, or possibly NVidia GPUs

- to be used for programming, lego & vex robotics, WebGL (online CAD/CAM software, eg TinkerCAD), CAD (fusion 360)

- VMs will typically be Windows 10 home, but also Linux, FreeBSD

 

Goals are:

- reduced IT management (snapshots are easier to manage than multiple desktops...)

- flexible CPU resources (eg 1 VM with all resources, or 8 with 1/8th...)

- hardware cost savings (I know, they won't be huge to start with, but over several years I think there will be. E.g. even one extra stick of RAM benefits everyone.)

 

I'm reasonably experienced with computer architecture, OS installation, etc.  Right now I use a lower end i7, 3 GPUs, Linux, XNest, and lots of USB 2 ports to power an up-to 10 seat system that can handle Minecraft & TinkerCAD, Python, etc. Unfortunately I can't get some things to work with Wine.

 

I just don't have the bandwidth to keep up/figure out all the (poorly) documented nuances of PCI passthrough, eg ACS support.

 

Right now I'm looking at this MoBo:

 

https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Motherboards/X99E_WSUSB_31/ 

 

And pairing it with the best Xeon E5 (probably 2609) I can afford, to get the most PCIe lanes. 

 

I believe this combo will provide true ACS isolation for all 7 PCIe slots, allowing a 1 CPU, 7 student setup.

(I'm not interested in ACS override patches- tried that in an older system, got random weird behaviour after some hours, will be multiplying that potential several fold.)

 

But there's been a few CPU and hardware announcements lately

 

So question time-

 

Is this going to have the ACS isolation I'm looking for?

 

Is there a better MoBo/CPU combo I should be looking at?

 

I'm not against dual CPU boards, but would probably have to start with Xeon E3s. My understanding is they don't have the same ACS isolation- so that might not work. Or populate one CPU socket with an E5. But my understanding is that can mess up the PCIe map/access as well- maybe not all PCIe sockets would be active?

 

Suggestions appreciated! Also for Canadian suppliers; the ones I've checked all have 4-8+wk lead times on that motherboard.

 

Thanks!

 

(Small update: someone pointed out that Windows Server 2016 has a "multipoint" feature that could do what I want... but I can't find confirmation that there is 3D acceleration; but maybe I'd run that under unraid virtualization with pass through   But it might allow me to use a cheaper i7 and motherboard, plus fewer GPUs.) 

 

3D acceleration is probably more hardware dependent. You want 6 to 8 users so that means 6 to 8 GPU's but I would assign 2 cores per user if possible. 

My last X99 (Unraid) build was ruining 3 users without a problem. Asrock extreme 4 motherboard, E5-2670 v3, 3xGTX 980, 64GB DDR4 2133 1200w PSU. 

Windows Server 2016 has multipoint but I have never seen it implemented. I own a copy so maybe I will test it out. 

Edited July 16, 20178 yr by ucliker

Get dual E5s from eBay, corporate server decomm/pulls.  There are whole threads here on people doing the same.  I'll let others comment on how well it will work, but don't go bankrupt trying this out.