Let's Get Ready to Virtualize!
After many months, and a few miscellaneous upgrades to other parts of my network, I'm finally about to get a jump on my home virtualization overhaul project. A number of things have changed from the original plan, however.
Since that plan was presented back in October, Microsoft has released Windows Server 2008, with a beta of Hyper-V, their new server virtualization product. From a number of reasons, licensing benefits, 64-bit support and performance, and cost of systems management being the biggies, I'm going to go with this over VMWare Server. And, I'm waiting on the iSCSI storage subsystem for a few more months -- we'll go with local storage for now.
I'm also going with a non-rackmount system for this project, using a case I already own. I put together a really good list of parts from NewEgg including the following:
As you can see, I went with a single Quad-core CPU rather than a two-way, dual-core system as I originally intended, as it kept my motherboard costs lower. I also ordered a video card from Geeks.com, because they were having a special, and it probably makes sense to get a decent video card for system -- especially for a meager $50.
Using Enterprise Edition of Windows 2008 Server, I will be able to host up to 4 Windows Server VMs with that same Windows license. And I'll be able to manage it all with System Center Essentials and System Center Virtual Machine Manager. I'll probably add one Linux VM in the mix as well.
I should be getting the equipment this week, and deploying it in the next week or two (especially with the aggressive return policies that the vendors have), after which I will update my now ancient network diagram.
About Logik!
Andrew S. Baker aka ASB aka Logik!
Andrew is an accomplished, hands-on IT Executive with a solid track record of providing timely and cost-effective business solutions using technology. With over 16 years experience in Information Technology, he has proven to be effective both as a Team Leader and as an individual contributor in designing, deploying, securing and maintaining enterprise networks.
His personal interests include Astronomy, Basketball, Bible Study, Chess, Comics, Computers,
Family Life Ministries, Reading and Strategy/Role Playing games...
Some of his contributions include several whitepapers on technology and Information Security, the UltraTech Knowledgebase, various postings to technology mailing lists and forums, active participation on LinkedIn Answers, along with a number of interviews for articles published in industry magazines.
A condensed version of
Andrew's current resume is available here.