New server configuration - request for suggestions, hints and opinions

[Macavity]

Hello,

i'm currently planning a server for a new site.

Major tasks will be running some (non mission critical - downtime up to 24h is acceptable) Linux VMs / Docker containers and probably one or two Windows VMs (only administrative tasks).

I would like to use local ZFS storage.

I came up with the following configuration as it seems to deliver the most bang for the bucks:

- 1 x AMD EPYC 7313P
- SuperMicro H12SSL-NT Mainboard (Dual 10GB NIC + 2 x M.2 onboard)
- 128GB ECC RAM (DDR4 3200)
- 2 x 58GB Intel Optane P1600X (ZFS RAID1 Boot-Drive)
- 2 x 1.92 TB Intel D7-P5520 (ZFS RAID1 Data Storage)

I also thought about adding another Intel D7-P5520 and use RAIDZ1 for data storage.

Does this sound resonable? Anything i probably missed? Any suggestions will be highly appreciated.

Best regards

 

[Deepen Dhulla]

For Simple VM, it would seems ok, But do have External Backup Storage for safety.

 

[Macavity]

I will be running a seperate server for the backup.

What would be our suggestions if i had to run more VMs?
I know my colleagues - they do have "fancy" ideas, what can be run on the same machine, after it was ordered.

 

[Deepen Dhulla]

Its more about planning , how much resource you want in total ...as thumb rule would suggest atleast have 30% free resource , be it HDD/SSD IOPS, CPU,RAM and Network for LAN & Backup. , these days IOPS is lot key for Application.

 

[jaytee129]

Am eyeballing very similar setup (same mb, maybe 7200 series CPU - not sure yet) so will be following this thread.

My workload is similar but I propose to have one of two Windows VMs set up to support low to mid end gaming by passing through a mid-range graphics card (inspired by Techno Tim's suggestions on this front https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgx3NMk6F54 but probably using a slightly higher end card). Any thoughts/cautions/recommendations on that would be great.

I also have a question. Why Intel Optane for boot drive? There are cheaper SSDs that would do the trick, no? Also I'm not totally clear on Optane but isn't the use case / value proposition to help with caching for mechanical HDD on Intel systems?

Also @Deepen Dhulla says "For Simple VM, it would seems ok." As an endorsement, it sounds pretty lukewarm. Wouldn't this config be much better than OK for the workloads suggested? Seems like plenty of horsepower and RAM. As for storage, let's say Windows VMs got 120GB each = 240GB; and lets say the same total amount (240GB) for all Linux / Docker. That leaves over 1.4TB for backups and other stuff.

 

[Deepen Dhulla]

Its totally Depends on Windows VM/Windows Server + DB Requirement , as in 128GB ..let assume you keep 32 GB always free for OS+ ZFS use., + 30% overhead for VM allocation, so its like running two Windows VM with 32GB Each...and if its MSSQL-DB ..you might need 64GB so might use up all RAM ...therefore its like OK Config from RAM point of it., but again. as said earlier its more about planning.

 

[Dacesilian]

- 2 x 1.92 TB Intel D7-P5520 (ZFS RAID1 Data Storage)

Hello, did you end up buying the server with D7-P5520? Can you share the settings for zpool, if you're using ZFS? I think we should use ashift=13 or 12 and also change NVMe formatting, but not sure to what profile (there are 5 of them).

Supported LBA Sizes (NSID 0x1)
Id Fmt  Data  Metadt  Rel_Perf
 0 +     512       0         2
 1 -     512       8         2
 2 -    4096       0         2
 3 -    4096       8         2
 4 -    4096      64         2

EDIT: I've ended up with ashift=13 and LBA ID 2 (no metadata), as I think this is optimal.