The 8 cores vs 6 cores is really not apples to apples in this case, and while you will almost always be better off going with the best you can afford at a given moment, the truth is that you'll be positively fine with 6-cores.
The key, as others have already mentioned is RAM -- closely followed by disk. CPU is a bit further out. Get tons of RAM. Now, I have to ask. Why 3 hosts? You only have 8 systems to virtualize, plus some growth. Define the reasonable range of growth for 1 year? 4 VMs? 8 VMs? Unless you said, "20 VMs", I'd be very much inclined to tell you to save yourself the hardware and licensing costs of one host server right now. We're running dozens of production VMs across a pair of quad-core host servers. For 190 users, you'll be fine. I second Brian on the NetApp recommendation. As for the services part of the quote, why do you think the $28K is unrealistic? What are the quoted timeframes for the project? What is the proposed scope of work? Regards, * * *ASB* *http://XeeMe.com/AndrewBaker* *Harnessing the Advantages of Technology for the SMB market… * On Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 3:36 PM, David Mazzaccaro < [email protected]> wrote: > ** > > Greetings, > > Getting very close to moving into the VM world, and have a couple ofquestions > … > > 1) I am trying to figure out if I should go with 8 core or 6 core > processors in my 3 hosts for my upcoming VMware environment. > > The price is about double. And I’m not sure I need 8 cores. > > The layout that has been quoted is as follows: > > 3 hosts connected to a PS4100XV SAN running VMware Essentials Plus Kit. > > The host servers I am looking at are either: > > HP DL360 G8 2x Intel® Xeon® E5-2640 (6 core, 2.50 GHz, 15MB, 95W) $5356 > each > > HP DL360 G8 2x Intel® Xeon® E5-2690 (8 core, 2.90 GHz, 20MB, 135W)$10,061 each > > I currently have 8 physical servers (Win2003, E2003, Citrix 4.0) that we > will be P2V’d. > > After I P2V the servers, the plan is to begin creating new Windows 2008 > R2 VMs and migrating each server’s role (2008R2 domain, Exchange 2010, > and Citrix XenApp 6.5). > > I want enough power to be able to run my existing 8 servers in a virtual > environment and migrate them to AD2008/E2010/XenApp as well as leave some > room for testing and growth. > > 2 of the vendors said 6 core is fine, another vendor is quoting 8 core > processors. > > 2) The quotes I have for the “services” part of this are: > > $40,000 ($12k for AD/Exch, $8k for XenApp 20k for VMware) > > $38,000 (not itemized) > > $28,000 ($11k for AD/Ex, $6k XenApp, $11k for VM) > > Do these sound legit? I have ~190 users if that helps. > > I really think 28k is either too aggressive or simply not realistic. This > is the same vendor who quoted me (3) single processor servers, so I have > to go back to them and tell them I want dual proc. > > 3) For the SAN, I have 2 options: > > PS4100XV (12 600GB 15k SAS) $23,000 > > NetApp FAS2240 (12 600GB 10k SAS) $22,000 > > I have 2 vendors pushing the PS4100XV, and the other pushing the NetApp. > > From what I have been told, I’ll get better IOPS w/ the 15k drives in the > Equalogic. And fuller feature set. > > Any one w/ experiences w/ either of these models want to add their $.02? > > This is a completely new world for me, so any help is appreciated! > > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
