Comments for My Ultimate ESX Whitebox: Small, Aesthetically Pleasing and under $1000 http://www.thincomputing.net Fri, 10 Sep 2010 03:24:26 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.thincomputing.net/index.php?option=com_content"&"task=view"&"id=3993"&"Itemid=17#pc_132 Hi Michel, thanks for sharing. So you can use the onboard SATA controller for VMFS volume? that's good to hear. I'm wondering how you manage to get this "server" through customs. It can easiliy be mistaken for something that blows up things. ;-) Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:24:15 +0100 http://www.thincomputing.net/index.php?option=com_content"&"task=view"&"id=3993"&"Itemid=17#pc_133 Yes you can use the onboard SATA controller for VMFS. They make me take it out at customs but they treat it like a laptop: very suspiciously. I have managed so far, thankfully :-). Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:00:46 +0100 http://www.thincomputing.net/index.php?option=com_content"&"task=view"&"id=3993"&"Itemid=17#pc_170 Hi There, I'm looking at purchasing the Asus Terminator 3-P5G43 based on your recommendation. Can you please confirm again that you were able to get ESX working no problems? How does ESX handle the SATA drive/s? Have you tried running XenServer on it? Any other feedback you have would be appreaciated. Thanks. Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:46:01 +0100 http://www.thincomputing.net/index.php?option=com_content"&"task=view"&"id=3993"&"Itemid=17#pc_190 T61 / T400 laptops make perfect ESX/ESXi hosts. I fit three laptops in one bag, and another laptop and powerpacks, cables, and an 8 port gig swtich in the other bag. 8GB in each laptop and 1TB in one as an iSCSI server. Yes ESX/ESXi runs native on these, that's what the VMware reps use. Michel it sounds like you could get away with one or two of these instead of a SFF computer. Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:25:24 +0100 http://www.thincomputing.net/index.php?option=com_content"&"task=view"&"id=3993"&"Itemid=17#pc_191 forgot to mention, the T61 runs ESX/ESXi 3.5 and 4.0 but runs 4.0 without modification. Also uses the built-in SATA drive if present. Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:29:04 +0100 http://www.thincomputing.net/index.php?option=com_content"&"task=view"&"id=3993"&"Itemid=17#pc_192 That is great information Chris. Much more portable. The only issue might be pricing. What does a T61 go for these days? €1100 / $1400 ? What about the disks? are they fast enough? Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:32:49 +0100 http://www.thincomputing.net/index.php?option=com_content"&"task=view"&"id=3993"&"Itemid=17#pc_209 Hello Michael, This indeed is a great post, however I'm looking for some better clues on the ESX 4.0 compatibility (not ESXi). Can you provide some details if the above configuration would run properly with ESX 4.0 OS and by utilizing both the SATA and NIC onboard controllers ? I would like to consolidate a bit on my older HP servers with faster but at the same time lower power consumption machines, however I don't want to waste my money for something that may not work at all. Another question that I have is if it would be wise to get CPU's higher than Q6600 (from compatibility point of view). I read some doubting opinions on many web sites that higher versions of the Core 2 Quad CPU's may have issues with the OS but Q6600 is just exactly what can be used for full functional ESX server on a low cost MB. Thanks in advance. Cheers Sun, 16 Aug 2009 17:02:23 +0100 http://www.thincomputing.net/index.php?option=com_content"&"task=view"&"id=3993"&"Itemid=17#pc_210 Hi asg2ki, I have not tested my system with ESX 4.0 but if there is any kind of backwards compatibility in place then it should work just fine. I would get a similar CPU and not buy the fastest model on the market because they have a bad $ per Ghz ratio. Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:28:00 +0100 http://www.thincomputing.net/index.php?option=com_content"&"task=view"&"id=3993"&"Itemid=17#pc_216 Thanks a lot for your response. If you have a chance to test out ESX 4.0 in your spare time with such machines (or perhaps another type) I would appreciate it very much and I guess others would do as well. ESX 3.5 is great but is getting kinda out-of-date in terms of available technology, however ESX 4i may not necessarily be the choice of everyone especially if looking for some advanced options related to Backup and Security, so this is why I'm looking primarily to get a working ESX 4.0. Many thanks for your activities in advance. Regards Sun, 30 Aug 2009 05:23:48 +0100 http://www.thincomputing.net/index.php?option=com_content"&"task=view"&"id=3993"&"Itemid=17#pc_291 Another option may have been to look at shuttle PC's. I built one recently as a Lab/Demo box. I run Xenserver 5.5 on it. See my blog entry for the spec http://thinworldblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/xenserver-55-on-shuttle-xpc.html Wed, 19 May 2010 22:58:45 +0100