MakeItZone Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 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.) Quote Link to comment
ucliker Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 (edited) 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, 2017 by ucliker Quote Link to comment
tdallen Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 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. Quote Link to comment
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