Feedback request - TS-1273U build for ESXi 6.5 + NFS
Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2017 9:24 pm
I'm writing to seek a sanity check on this build and configuration. I have a fairly serious home lab that I need some shared storage for. Maybe a dozen guests doing light duty, ramping up to ~40 guests or so for a networking cert lab. 2xHP DL360s with 4x1G each, moving to 10G later. No large bulk file transfers, no media services, no on-box virtualization - I just need a stable NAS to run NFS for ESX. My basic requirements are: rack mount, dual PSU, 8 or 12 bays, 4x1G + 2x10G, PCI expansion, and M.2 cache slots.
Looking at TS-1273U-RP-8G, and will do 4x1G LACP with 4xWD RED 2T in RAID10 to start. Would be NFS4. Going with these lower end drives because I am blowing my budget on the chassis (need 8 or 12 bays) and like the ability to ramp into more drives later. Also want to keep this thing quiet.
Specific questions
* Thoughts on risk around this brand new chassis? For this investment, was hoping to buy something at the beginning of a refresh / release cycle so I'm not behind.
* I've removed the M.2 SATA SSD caches from my build plan because it seems like this feature isn't going to provide significant benefit for me now, and/or this feature is broken in some ways (see viewtopic.php?f=25&t=124852). Sound accurate?
* This unit is not on the VMware HCL. Not super concerned, but should I be?
* Any other input / feedback welcome
Looking at TS-1273U-RP-8G, and will do 4x1G LACP with 4xWD RED 2T in RAID10 to start. Would be NFS4. Going with these lower end drives because I am blowing my budget on the chassis (need 8 or 12 bays) and like the ability to ramp into more drives later. Also want to keep this thing quiet.
Specific questions
* Thoughts on risk around this brand new chassis? For this investment, was hoping to buy something at the beginning of a refresh / release cycle so I'm not behind.
* I've removed the M.2 SATA SSD caches from my build plan because it seems like this feature isn't going to provide significant benefit for me now, and/or this feature is broken in some ways (see viewtopic.php?f=25&t=124852). Sound accurate?
* This unit is not on the VMware HCL. Not super concerned, but should I be?
* Any other input / feedback welcome