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I have a question similar to Picking VM server hardware for development. I am trying to choose a machine that will run several (up to 4?) windows/linux VMs to be used for testing and development. A "home virtualization lab" to quote the linked question. One difference is that I want to use multiple monitors directly connected to the computer. I'm not sure of my budget, but $1000 dollars is probably a soft maximum, however less is good. I have built many machines, but I haven't usually picked components.

The linked question is a year and a half old, so I don't know what has changed.

I am intrigued by the idea of a used rack mount server as suggested by the second and fourth answers, and would appreciate suggestions regarding good models or models that are to be avoided at any cost.

If a new build is the way to go then I am mostly asking about RAM, CPU and board recommendations. I think I can handle the storage.

Thank you

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  • I purchased a used Dell 2900 last winter for $300 10 Tb 32GB Dual Quad core (low grade) redundant PS, Dual NIC, etc. You could get something nicer and faster for the budget you are looking for. Killer is consumer driven OS's (Read Mac and Windows) are not fully supported on servers; but most enterprise hypervisors will work great. I use XenServer. – Damon Sep 11 '17 at 8:02
  • I hadn't thought about the issue with consumer OS's. Thank you for mentioning that. What parts proved the most problematic, and does the problem still hold if you run them in a virtual machine? – user3034958 Sep 12 '17 at 2:09
  • I didn't have any problems because I use xenserver (enterprise grade) on the hardware (enterprise grade). Xenserver run just about any modern OS in a VM, consumer OS's as well. You will want your storage configured by what ever your host is, not the VM. I am using hardware RAID for the xen host and MDRAID for the datastores. If you want to use enterprise hardware, just know you should plan on using an enterprise grade (read server) OS. There is windows server as well although I have never used it. Xen has things like Xendesktop as well, look it up. – Damon Sep 12 '17 at 3:14
  • Thanks. If you make this into an answer, I will accept it. – user3034958 Sep 12 '17 at 3:30

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