Question Suggestion for home lab build to run multiple VMs

[vikas027]

Hello Everyone,

I am planning to build a custom PC for my home lab which will run Proxmox VE and can run a lot of VMs. I think at max, I will need it to run 15 VMs.

Can someone please suggest me a configuration?

This is what I have in mind as of now:

• AMD Threadripper 1950X
• Motherboard which supports 128 GB RAM and Thunderbolt. I think, for now, I will put 64 (4 x 16) GB RAM
• Samsung - 970 Evo 1 TB M.2 SSD

What do you think guys? How many VMs this build would be able to support?

PS: Due to space and noise restrictions, I cannot get a physical server.

Thanks in advance!

Cheers

 

[NightHawkRMX]

That seems like a good start. Knowing how many vms a particular build will support depends onnwhat the vms run.
What is your budget?
Do you need powerfull graphics for gaming or any gpu accelerated task?

 

[USAFRet]

"15 VMs" ? Simultaneously?

What OS and for what usage in these VM's?

 

[vikas027]

What is your budget?
Do you need powerfull graphics for gaming or any gpu accelerated task?

Nope, nothing do with graphics. I just want to connect that machine to by Thunderbolt dock to run dual monitors. I think I will happy to spend about $2500 AUD on the same.

"15 VMs" ? Simultaneously?
What OS and for what usage in these VM's?

I will use Proxmox (Debian based). 15 VMs is at max, mainly I will use CentOS 7 or Ubuntu based VMs for multiple small Kubernetes clusters coupled up with a GitLab setup. None of my VMs will run Windows or GUI stuff, so I think they will not use a lot of resources.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Ubuntu linux isnt too hard to run.
PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Threadripper 1950X 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor | $827.20 @ Newegg Australia
CPU Cooler | be quiet! - Dark Rock Pro TR4 59.5 CFM CPU Cooler | $119.00 @ PCCaseGear
Motherboard | MSI - X399 SLI PLUS ATX TR4 Motherboard | $399.00 @ Austin Computers
Memory | G.Skill - Ripjaws V 64 GB (4 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | $498.30 @ Newegg Australia
Storage | Samsung - 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $309.00 @ Umart
Video Card | MSI - GeForce GT 1030 2 GB 2GH LP OC Video Card | $110.00 @ Umart
Case | Deepcool - DSHIELD-V2 ATX Mid Tower Case | $49.00 @ Scorptec
Power Supply | Antec - Earthwatts Gold Pro 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | $144.00 @ Skycomp Technology
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $2455.50
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-05-25 22:14 AEST+1000 |
Something like this look good? Threadripper has no igpu so you need a graphics card. A GT1030 is low end but newer and will have driver support for a long time.

 

[USAFRet]

Ubuntu linux isnt too hard to run.

"64GB RAM" isn't enough if there are going to be 15 simultaneous VMs running. Not if they're actually doing anything beyond idle.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Threadripper 1950X 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor | $827.20 @ Newegg Australia
CPU Cooler | be quiet! - Dark Rock Pro TR4 59.5 CFM CPU Cooler | $119.00 @ PCCaseGear
Motherboard | MSI - X399 SLI PLUS ATX TR4 Motherboard | $399.00 @ Austin Computers
Memory | G.Skill - Ripjaws V 64 GB (4 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | $498.30 @ Newegg Australia
Storage | Samsung - 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $309.00 @ Umart
Storage | Seagate - Constellation ES.2 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $37.92 @ Amazon Australia
Video Card | MSI - GeForce GT 1030 2 GB 2GH LP OC Video Card | $110.00 @ Umart
Case | Deepcool - DSHIELD-V2 ATX Mid Tower Case | $49.00 @ Scorptec
Power Supply | Antec - Earthwatts Gold Pro 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | $144.00 @ Skycomp Technology
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $2493.42
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-05-25 22:18 AEST+1000 |
Added a 2tb hdd. This motherboard supports 128gb ram. You can upgrade if 64gb iant enough. Id trust USAFRet on this one.
I have only ran like 2 vms on top of linux.

 

[vikas027]

Motherboard | MSI - X399 SLI PLUS ATX TR4 Motherboard | $399.00 @ Austin Computers

This motherboard does not have support for Thunderbolt. Any other suggestions? Thanks!

 

[vikas027]

"64GB RAM" isn't enough if there are going to be 15 simultaneous VMs running. Not if they're actually doing anything beyond idle.

What do you recommend? The motherboard has 8 DIMM slots, shall I go for 128 GB (16 x 8) RAM?

 

[USAFRet]

What do you recommend? The motherboard has 8 DIMM slots, shall I go for 128 GB (16 x 8) RAM?

In terms of RAM, yes...128GB.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Well 64gb leaves 4gb for each vm and 4gb for host. Agreed id want at least 8gb for each vm.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

Now you probably don’t need that much ram per vm. depending on what you’re doing. I run a build machine VM with two core processor and four gigs and it’s perfectly fine and super fast and that’s running all of the latest visual studios and all your latest packaging software like install shield professional

We often have more than six VMs running on that box at the same time which is a 2700 X with 32 GB of RAM. So 128 should be fine. Ubuntu doesn’t need tons of RAM to run efficiently

 

[NightHawkRMX]

This motherboard does not have support for Thunderbolt. Any other suggestions? Thanks!

Thunderbolt is an Intel standard, so no AMD systems have it currently.
Some X570 motherboards do from what I heard, but none of that has been released.