Requirements for a system that can run around 14-15 Virtual Machines?

[Bradderz]

Hey guys working on a project currently and I need to build a system to use that can have around 14-15 VMs running at the same time! Not sure what kinds of info you need so feel free to ask - it won't be for gaming and stuff like that, but the max budget is probably around £1500-1600 ish hopefully including a couple monitors if possible too. Any help would be appreciated - thanks guys!

 

[kanewolf]

You will have to characterize your VMs better. How many vCPUs, how much RAM and how much disk? After you have some basic sizing, then you need to estimate how busy each VM will be. That will help you determine how many physical cores are required. You can oversubscribe your physical cores, but the oversubscription ratio will be determined by how busy each VM is.
Rule of thumb is 1:1 to 4:1 for CPUs, RAM should be close to 1:1, Disk is 1:1

 

[bambiboom]

Hey guys working on a project currently and I need to build a system to use that can have around 14-15 VMs running at the same time! Not sure what kinds of info you need so feel free to ask - it won't be for gaming and stuff like that, but the max budget is probably around £1500-1600 ish hopefully including a couple monitors if possible too. Any help would be appreciated - thanks guys!

Bradderz,

Ideally, having a CPU core to run each VM would be ideal, and they don't have to be screamingly fast so consider:

HP Workstation Z620 2 x Intel Xeon Quad E5-2603 1.8GHz 24GB Nvidia NVS 300 1TB > Sold for
£370.00 (28/11/16)

___ [This provides the case, motherboard, CPU fan/heatsinks, power supply, and 2nd CPU riser]

+

2X Intel Xeon E5-2670, LGA 2011, Sandy Bridge-EP, 8 Core, 2.6GHz Base, 3.3GHz Turbo >
£157 (Sold for £78.70 each 16/1/17)

___ [16-cores / 32 threads @ 2.6 / 3.3Ghz) Passmark CPU Mark= 18359 (dual CPU) and Single Thread Mark = 1602]

+

Pny Nvidia Quadro K2000D Pcie 2Gb DDR5 > £112.24 (sold 31/1/17)

___ [Provides 2X DVI monitor connection]

+

128GB RAM: 8X 16GB PC3-12800R DDR3-1600MHz REG ECC Samsung Memory M392B2G70BM0-CK0 {JK} > £385 (£48.10 each)

+

SanDisk Ultra II 480GB SATA 3 Performance SSD/Solid State Drive[ > £131.99

+

Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" SATA Internal Hard Drive/HDD OEM > £83.99


___ [The OS is included with the z620.]
___________________________________

TOTAL = about £1,240

Monitors:

2X BenQ GL2460HM 24" LED Monitor with TN Panel > £248 (£123.98 each)

TOTAL System + Monitors = about £1,488

This is based on having quite good prices on the used parts, but none of those quoted are the best ever. And there you have 16 cores /32 threads up to 3.3GHz, 128GB of RAM, 2GB Quadro, 480GB SSD, 3TB HD> and two quite good 24" LED monitors.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

CAD / 3D Modeling / Graphic Design:

HP z420 (2015) (Rev 3) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 (6-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz) / 32GB DDR3 -1866 ECC RAM / Quadro K4200 (4GB) / Samsung SM951 M.2 256GB AHCI + Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) + Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card + Logitech z2300 2.1 speakers > 600W PSU> > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit >> 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440)
[ Passmark Rating = 5581 > CPU= 14046 / 2D= 838 / 3D= 4694 / Mem= 2777 / Disk= 11559] [6.12.16]

Analysis / Simulation / Rendering:

HP z620 (2012) (Rev 3) 2X Xeon E5-2690 (8-core @ 2.9 / 3.8GHz) / 64GB DDR3-1600 ECC reg) / Quadro K2200 (4GB) + Tesla M2090 (6GB) / HP Z Turbo Drive (256GB) + Samsung 850 Evo 250GB + Seagate Constellation ES.3 (1TB) / Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium PCIe sound card + Logitech z313 2.1 speakers / 800W / Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > > HP 2711x (27" 1980 X 1080)
[ Passmark System Rating= 5675 / CPU= 22625 / 2D= 815 / 3D = 3580 / Mem = 2522 / Disk = 12640 ] 9.25.16
[ Cinebench R15: OpenGL= 119.23 fps / CPU = 2209 cb / Single core 130 cb / MP Ratio 16.84x] 10.31.16

 

[velocityg4]

If you want the most processing power you can build it yourself with used and new parts. For about £to $1000 to £1200 you could build a 12 core (24 with hyperthreading) Westmere workstation from 2.93Ghz to 3.33Ghz, 96GB RAM to 192GB RAM and SSD.

You won't come close to that level of CPU and RAM resources using all new equipment for all those VMs to share. Going new really just gives you the option of a high IO NVMe SSD. Although with this build you have enough of a budget left to buy a multiple SATA SSD and just distribute the VMs across them.

CPU: 2x Xeon x5680 (2x6Core 3.33Ghz) £210 with hyperthreading that gives you 24 cores to work with in your VMs.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-Intel-XEON-X5680-3-33-GHz-12MB-SLBV5-6-Core-6-40GT-s-LGA1366-Matched-Pair-CPU/142153231936?_trksid=p2045573.c100505.m3226&_trkparms=aid%3D555014%26algo%3DPL.DEFAULT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20151005190540%26meid%3De7d6903eeeec47b1a84631369ebe1f4d%26pid%3D100505%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26

Motherboard: Intel® Server Board S5520HC dual lga 1366, Westmere support and max RAM 192GB
£125
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SuperMicro-Motherboard-X8DTi-Rev-2-Dual-Socket-LGA1366-DDR3-Gaming-Desktop-I-O-/192059006761?hash=item2cb79bdf29:g:39wAAOSw~gRVnsXZ

RAM: 96GB 12x8GB DDR3 ECC £175
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/96GB-12x8GB-PC3-8500R-DDR3-1066-ECC-Reg-Server-Memory-RAM-Upgrade-Kit-2Rx4-/201637659971?hash=item2ef28a8543:g:QIcAAOSwT4lWS69A

192GB 12x16GB DDR3 £350
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192GB-12x16GB-PC3-8500R-DDR3-1066-ECC-Reg-Server-Memory-Dell-PowerEdge-C6100-/191740468861?hash=item2ca49f5e7d:g:G3QAAOSwsFpWS3~i

New parts
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£40.40 @ CCL Computers)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£40.40 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£113.94 @ Aria PC)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case (£97.21 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 850W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£131.86 @ Amazon UK)
Case Fan: ARCTIC F12 PWM PST - Value Pack 74.0 CFM 120mm Fans (£19.28 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £443.09
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-21 16:41 GMT+0000

SATA III adapter $40
https://www.amazon.com/IO-Crest-SI-PEX40057-Hyper-Controller/dp/B00AZ9T264/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1487693055&sr=8-2&keywords=sata+III+pci-e+x4#Ask

 

[Bradderz]

Kanewolf, honestly I have no idea xD main reason I came here aha. Not too sure what each one will need - each will just needs to be able to run a browser smoothly sooo make of that what you will xD

 

[kanewolf]

If you have no idea of sizing for your VMs, then you need to do more research. There are lots of whtepapers and websites on VM sizing guidelines, you need to research them. Any suggested hardware config is premature IMO. You need to DESIGN on paper then get hardware that can implement a design.

 

[lordmogul]

I can run 15 MS-DOS or Windows 98 VMs quite fine. With 16 MB on a DOS VM or 128 MB on a 86 SE VM my 16 GB RAM are quite enough.

If you plan to actually run more recent stuff on them I'd suggest atleast 2 GB of RAM and 1-2 Cores/Threads per VM. Add the requirements for the host system and the VM management.
So think about atleast a 16 Core/32 Thread machine with atleast 36 GB of RAM. That leaves you with 1 core/2 threads and 2 GB per VM plus 1-2 cores/2-4 threads and 6 GB for for the host and the VM management software.

Since I'm neither experienced with actual server/workstation hardware and use my VMs only for personal uses, I can just guiess what could be needed to run that environment.