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The configuration of this Dell PowerEdge 11G T410 consists of :-

1 CPU - Intel(R) Quad Core E5520 Xeon(R) CPU, 2.26GHz, 8M Cache, 5.86 GT/s QPI, Turbo 
16GB Memory (4x4GB), 1333MHz, Dual Ranked RDIMMs for 1 Processor 
1 500GB 3.5-inch 7.2K RPM SATA II Hard Drive - Non Hotplug
1 Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Server 2008 x64 R2 Std Ed

I am intending to procure this server as a Test Server - for a .NET3.5 Web application - and it will basically have multiple VM's on it acting as Web / Application / Database tiers.

Reason for

  1. Dell - My company has an existing relationship / other servers + support from Dell.

  2. Tower - Lack of Rack Infrastructure but there is space to put a tower server.

Future Support:

  1. Ability to add another CPU

  2. Increase the physical RAM memory further if needed to host more VM's.

I would like some opinions, regarding limitations - if any, about this Dell server / hardware configuration - from peoples's experiences.

Also, is there an equivalent model in the Rack configuration? My company is considering getting extra rack storage itself - based on future needs - and in that case, i may go in for the rack equivalent.

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You would have better luck if your question was more focused. – Dennis Williamson Jul 7 '10 at 4:18
@Dennis - Do you think that the question is too generic or that i should have put in the two questions (Re the limitatons one / rack configuration one) as separate questions? – In Sane Jul 7 '10 at 5:46
The rack configuration portion is specific. The limitations portion is somewhat vague. The FAQ says "Avoid asking questions that are subjective..." You have four close votes so far on this question (five would close it). Only those who voted to close know what their reasons are. – Dennis Williamson Jul 7 '10 at 7:05

closed as not a real question by John Gardeniers, EEAA, Mark Henderson♦, Dennis Williamson, Zypher♦ Jul 7 '10 at 17:02

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

1 Answer

up vote 1 down vote accepted

I actually own that exact server but with 2 cpu's, half the ram and ESXi instead of server 2008.

We also use this server along with the T and R 610's at our smaller offices and we just love them.

I would need more specific questions to better help you but let me give you the pros that I like about this server.

1: price was pretty good. 2: 6 disk Drives. 3: quiet - makes very little noise except when you turn it on which is normal. 4: option for the second cpu, plenty of memory options and Raid options.

for your configuration I would highly suggest putting more then 1 drive, perhaps 2 drives Mirrored or 3+ drives in a Raid 5?

I would think that having a single drive with VM's would slow things down especially if some of the VM's do a lot of I/O.

The Perc controller is not a cheap option but well worth the price.

let me know if you have more questions.

Luc

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Thanks! This is exactly the kind of usage related pros / cons that i was looking for! Thanks for the tips about the RAID - I think thats a very useful pointer for me! – In Sane Jul 7 '10 at 5:37

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