Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : VPS Hosting : Is this combo from newegg good for a node? Is the price OK?

[drudoggy9000]

Hello,

I was looking for a server to put 24-28 virtual machines (xen) and found this combo deal from newegg:
newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.432250

I'll be buying 4 x 1TB western digital black drives to put into it for $80 each (always had bad luck with seagate drives). They'll have a RAID 1+0 setup.

My questions are:

Would this server be able to run 24-28 virtual servers reliably? Let's just assume that 7GB of the ram will be used for the virtual servers. I'll basically be leaving 1 core to run the server itself and have 3-4 virtual servers on each remaining core.

What would be my biggest performance constraint with this hardware?

Would you consider the hardware cheap?

Are there better deals out there?

I can't say exactly what purpose each virtual server will be serving, so I don't know what the exact load would be. If anyone has any advice to help me find the right server, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[NetHosted - Bret]

You realise that that machine only has 6GB of RAM, so you wouldn't be able to use 7GB for virtual servers

[drudoggy9000]

It comes with 2 x 3 packs of 2GB sticks - totalling 12GB - or am I misreading it?

[WHU-Mike]

6GB (3 x 2GB) 3 Sticks. Each stick has 2GB.

[drudoggy9000]

Kingston ValueRAM 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1333 Server Memory Kit (Model: KVR1333D3E9SK3/6G) - Two units

There are 2 units of the 3 pack of 2GB sticks of ram.

[NetHosted - Bret]

Ah, I mis-read it! 02:40 right now though so I guess I can play the tired card here :p Back on topic though, I would think you could get away with around 20 VPS on that node. I've seen more on a single desktop quad core node

[ubservers]

Its a question you only can answer. You wont be able to make 28 2048MB or ram VPS but you could do many 128MB. It only depends on the VPS themselves.

Simply dont oversell your server and it will be fill up when no more ram or space.

[drudoggy9000]

Originally Posted by Bret - dediShack

Ah, I mis-read it! 02:40 right now though so I guess I can play the tired card here :p Back on topic though, I would think you could get away with around 20 VPS on that node. I've seen more on a single desktop quad core node

Yep, it happens. It just means you're human.

Thanks for the reply.

Any reason why you say 20? Is that pushing it or is that getting the most out of it while playing it safe? I'm limited by physical space and need at least 24 virtual servers to isolate necessary web services from some testing and whatever else we'll need it for. I don't want someone to be testing a program and have it cripple the virtual server running our timesheet software.

@ubservers
I won't be selling anything with this server - I came here because it was the only place that I can think of that would give me some reliable advice about running a VPS.

Is there anyway I can limit the CPU usage for the virtual servers? For example, can I have it guarantee a machine to simulate a 500mhz processor and if the resources are available and need, it can burst higher?
Edit: My last question may have been answered by the xen creditscheduler. If there is any other method, please share.

Thanks again.

[Dougy]

I wouldnt put black editions in RAID, not in 1+0 ever, and not that many VM's on that few disk

[ubservers]

Originally Posted by Dougy

I wouldnt put black editions in RAID, not in 1+0 ever, and not that many VM's on that few disk

I dont agree. I find Black disk in raid 1+0 runs just smooth. What are you suggesting?

[SC-Daniel]

You can build a much better server on your own for cheaper...The kits are always overpriced.

Also, WD Black drives lack TLER, so they won't play nicely in a RAID-10 setup.

[hotpass105]

Originally Posted by drudoggy9000

Yep, it happens. It just means you're human.

Thanks for the reply.

Any reason why you say 20? Is that pushing it or is that getting the most out of it while playing it safe? I'm limited by physical space and need at least 24 virtual servers to isolate necessary web services from some testing and whatever else we'll need it for. I don't want someone to be testing a program and have it cripple the virtual server running our timesheet software.

@ubservers
I won't be selling anything with this server - I came here because it was the only place that I can think of that would give me some reliable advice about running a VPS.

Is there anyway I can limit the CPU usage for the virtual servers? For example, can I have it guarantee a machine to simulate a 500mhz processor and if the resources are available and need, it can burst higher?
Edit: My last question may have been answered by the xen creditscheduler. If there is any other method, please share.

Thanks again.

I'd recommend giving each VPS a share of all cores such as 200mhz x8 if it's Linux if it's Windows then one core per VPS sounds fair. The others are correct and eight real cores are going to preform better then eight cores of a Core i7, so how ever many vpses fit on 12GB of ram sounds like a pretty balanced server.

[ubservers]

Originally Posted by hotpass105

I'd recommend giving each VPS a share of all cores such as 200mhz x8 if it's Linux if it's Windows then one core per VPS sounds fair. The others are correct and eight real cores are going to preform better then eight cores of a Core i7, so how ever many vpses fit on 12GB of ram sounds like a pretty balanced server.

I agree with the real core load balance. use 2x Xeons for better results

[drudoggy9000]

Glad I came here to ask. I'm learning a lot already.

I thought black edition WD drives would be best for a server, but I guess that was wrong. What kind of drives would you recommend? Doesn't have to be western digital, but it's preferred.

Thanks for the load balancing tip.

edit: Would a RAID 1+0 be OK? I'm looking for reliability and performance primarily.

[ubservers]

Originally Posted by drudoggy9000

Glad I came here to ask. I'm learning a lot already.

I thought black edition WD drives would be best for a server, but I guess that was wrong. What kind of drives would you recommend? Doesn't have to be western digital, but it's preferred.

Thanks for the load balancing tip.

edit: Would a RAID 1+0 be OK? I'm looking for reliability, performance, and at least 500GB of storage total.

RAID 1+0 is good but it depends of your HD set. I still believe that for your needs those Black edition HD would work ok if not the most optimized. Their price is good and they offer fair performance (I have a setup of 4TB WD black RAID-10 on a backup server) and it works great