new computer for using with virtual machines

[StogieSteve]

I'm going for my IT Network Specialist degree at the local technical college. I need to get another computer for running virtual machines using VMware Workstation. I've looked at laptops and desktops. The main difference between the two is that desktops have 8 GB of DDR3 whereas the laptops come with 4 GB DDR3. I'm looking to spend somewhere around $1000 USD. I want an i7 processor or better. I want the computer to last for two years. Anyone know of any good places to buy from? All that's around here is Bestbuy. They got some decent deals. I've heard of newegg and tigerdirect. Anyone know of any other places out there for deals on computers? I've thought about getting Xeon setup but it's probably a little more than I want to spend even with the hookups I've got.

Thanks in Advance.

Steven

 

[b.dawgson]

If you've got a monitor/keyboard/mouse, just build your own computer with whatever you want in it. It's really pretty simple as long as you get components that can work together.

 

[grateful1]

What does VMWare recommend?

Or Dell, HP, other places?

Funny, buying hardware to run virtual!

Oh yea, we just implemented a full VM conversion on our servers.

As for notebooks vs desktops, desktops seem the preference.

 

[CigarDins]

We are trying to go virtual at my work. We already have all the servers running virtually and once we get the 3200 users situated and running virtually things should run pretty smooth. Getting there is going to be the tough part.

I would recommend building your own. Get what you want for cheaper then you could buy. Newegg is a great place to buy parts for computers.

 

[StogieSteve]

Grateful1,

For each VM you typically need at least 1 GB of RAM. I'm upgrading my host system to Windows 7 sometime in the next week. Which I'm told will be much less resource intensive than Vista. So figure running Server 2008, Vista, Linux (debain or ubuntu), and XP all at the same time. Ideally I'd like to be running 4 VMs as that's what some of our labs call for. I can run two maybe three on my current machine.

As far as building my own computer I checked that out. It wouldn't be much cheaper. Even with a buddy at Intel giving me cost on processors and motherboards.

Steven

 

[JHolmes763]

Look on Dell Small/Medium Business - Tower Servers >Link<

They're mostly Xeon processors, though. Not sure how that relates to i7 nowadays. You can get a dual-processor setup for under a grand. Skimp on the RAM and buy that separately - most of 'em will support over 8Gig.

Some friends of mine bought these to run router simulation software on that requires a lot of RAM per router and processor time. They can simulate up to 15-20 routers in their network and everything is working great. They actually got processor constrained (single CPU) before they ran out of 8Gig of RAM.

-John

 

[grateful1]

John's correct.

And you can look at Dell's factory refurbs...some times those are just systems that were built but not shipped.


edit - what I meant was, what machines do those other companies recommend. Also, look into some forums and see what's working