The Xeon D Supermicro SuperServer "Bundle 2" of joy, a complete home datacenter virtualization solution that really flies
I'm flying with this home datacenter tomorrow, to present at my 14th user group presentation this year. This time, it's to one of the biggest VMware User Groups in the US, over in Minneapolis Minnesota! OK, I'm not actually trying to fly with that UPS battery, but everything else is going with, mini-tower server itself tucked safely into luggage, easily fitting into the overhead bin. I even use a bunch of those little foam "TinkerTry IT @ home" houses to protect the in-transit server, and to toss a few to audience members that ask great questions ;-)
Of course, my live demo will show how fast this system really is, and I'll soon be publishing a video of what I show off at these live demos. Videos and presentation are now available!
BOM
Bill of Materials
Front view, left-to-right:
- Bicycle Poker Size Standard Index Playing Cards
Shown for scale.
Available at Amazon.
- TinkerTry'd Supermicro SuperServer SYS-5028D-TN4T Xeon D-1541 Bundle 2 8 core
Available at Wiredzone, with details at the TinkerTry.com/superservers order page, see also product page and articles, with VMware ESXi 6.5 installed on the included Sandisk Ultra Fit 32GB USB flash drive.
Assembled and burn-in tested turn-key solution, just add storage. Now available in Xeon D-1567 12 core too, compare at TinkerTry.com/compare.
- Black Carbon Fiber Vinyl Roll
Simply cut, then peel-and-stick over the black painted chassis cover, helps protect the finish during travel. Easy to remove/replace too, without the goo.
Available at Amazon.
- ASUS XG-U2008
Fanless unmanaged network switch with 2 10GbE ports and 8 1GbE port, see also product page and article.
Available at Amazon, B&H, Newegg.
- Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite
Million packet per second router.
Available at Amazon, B&H, Newegg, see also product page and articles.
Doing those DHCP reservations/DNS duties for easy VCSA deployment, and letting Windows and Linux hosts and VMs be friends, talking to each other by firstname, FQDN, or IP basis. I actually cloned the home's identical router to this travel/demo/development router, so my family still has web access when I'm away, and so my server gear doesn't even notice it left home.
- Ubiquiti mPower Pro
Smart power strip, with ethernet port and (mostly) web-based UI.
Available at Amazon and Newegg, see also product page, datasheet, and article.
- Cyberpower 1000PFCLCD
Sine wave UPS compatible with new PFC power supplies, featuring USB signal cable.
Notice the LCD display is showing that this entire vSphere 6.5 datacenter using only 66 watts at idle. The USB signal cable, in conjunction with the free VM appliance, does automated graceful shutdown of all VMs and ESXi during power outages.
Available at Amazon and B&H, see also product pages and article.
- TechFlex F6 Woven Wrap 3/8" 10' Wiring Split Wire Covering
Covers up that Ubiquiti power strip's white cable.
Available at Amazon.
Rear view:
- CablesOnline 1ft. Short 3-Conductor PC Power Cord
Replaces the 6' power cord that comes with the SuperServer, reduces clutter.
Available in 5pk at Amazon.
- Ultra Spec Cables Printer Power Cord/Cable 1ft (Figure 8, Dog Bone, Double Barrel)
Replaces the Ubiquiti router's included power supply cable, reduces clutter. Apparently that original Notebook Power Cord part is longer available, but this newer part sure seems to be the equivalent. I have not tested it, but it is highly-rated.
Available at Amazon.
- Monoprice Cat6a SlimRun patch cables
Everybody loves these when they see them in person, and can't believe how thin yet sturdy they are. Featuring 10GbE rating, using 8 1' lengths (as shown), with blue arbitrarily chosen to indicate 10GbE connections. You can also see my 14' and 14' SlimRun cables headed off to the left, the longest available, for my laptop and for the router's ETH0 WAN uplink to the demo location's college internet.
Available at Amazon and Monoprice, see also product pages and articles.
Inside view:
Not pictured. These items are optional. Of course, over time, newer SSDs will come out, you can install whatever M.2 or SATA drives you'd like.
- Samsung SM951 M.2 NVMe 128GB SSD
Formatted as VMFS 6.81 datastore, see also article.
Available at Amazon.
- Samsung 950 PRO M.2 NVMe 512GB SSD
Formatted as VMFS 6.81 datastore, see also article.
Available at Amazon and Newegg, but currently being replaced by the Samsung 960 PRO and EVO M.2 NVMe line, with a report of an implementation issue, and my 1TB Samsung 960 EVO still on back order.
That's it, no smoke and mirrors, no hidden cable management system, you're looking at everything front and back. The Bundle 2 even came with the 32GB USB drive for my ESXi 6.5 hypervisor. TinkerTry donates these to Wiredzone by the way, making your unboxing and install experience a little merrier. See for yourself, in up to 4K!
Always room for improvement
I'm still working to try to get these parts listed at Wiredzone, to ideally bundle them into one shipment. That UPS is a big challenge though, given the various SKUs needed for various geos. So you're likely much better off ordering your PFCLCD series UPS locally, visit Cyberpower's product page then select your country, now you have your part #. If you're near the EU, don't forget to choose the EU Bundle 3 that ships from The Netherlands.
Video
VMUG Minneapolis Presentation
Here's the link to the PDF version of the PPT shared at the conference!
VMware UIs showing SuperServer Summary
Dec 10 2016 Update
The folks at the VMUG in Minneapolis yesterday we're wonderful to hang out with and present to, and I quite enjoyed the enthusiastic audience's many questions afterward. They even put up with facility projector issues for the first 10 minutes, while I went ahead with "winging it." All good fun!
See also at TinkerTry
-
VMware ESXi 6.5 runs well on Xeon D Supermicro ServerServers, here's what you need to know
Nov 18 2016 -
Easy fix for Supermicro and other Xeon D systems experiencing SATA3/AHCI slowdown on ESXi 6.5
Nov 16 2016 -
First look at Ubiquiti mPower Pro power strip, home lab pricing, enterprise features, uncertain future
Aug 17 2016 -
Intel Core i7 Skull Canyon NUC6i7KYK spec comparison with all current Xeon D-1500 Supermicro SuperServers suited for home labs
Aug 08 2016 (share as TinkerTry.com/compare) -
TinkerTry's Xeon D cluster for VMworld 2016, man with a vSAN demo plan!
Aug 02 2016 - How to use a CyberPower UPS solution for proper automated shutdown of your VMware ESXi lab during power outages, including all VMs
Nov 27 2012
