Superguide: Supermicro SuperServer 5028D-TN4T - THE Ultimate Home Virtualization Lab

Posted by Paul Braren on Sep 20 2015 (updated on Apr 26 2016) in

TinkerTry's tagline:

TinkerTry IT @ home Efficient virtualization, storage, backup, and more...

I tend to go pretty deep in my articles for nearly 5 years now, ever since I created my original self-built Core i7 beast aptly named vZilla in 2011. It worked well, but using a consumer motherboard had both benefits (cost) and drawbacks (Realtek NICs), and it's stuck at 32GB of RAM max, which really puts a limit on what can be run concurrently.

Every year since, I've been seeking the best single server I could recommend for the majority of folks that are serious about running a home virtualization lab 24x7. And this year, I've finally found it.

I knew the moment I first read about the Xeon-D 1500 SoC (System on a Chip) that an octacore Xeon CPU (worth about $850) paired with a tiny, efficient, and VERY capable motherboard, was exactly what I've been waiting for. It even has two 1Gbe and two 10GbE interfaces! What clinched the deal for me was that mere mortals could now obtain up to 128GB of RAM, easily, and reasonably affordably, using four sub-$300 Samsung 32GB DDR4 DIMMs. As for me? I'm at 64GB now, and 128GB eventually.

This powerful yet efficient server forms the basis for the next few years of articles here at TinkerTry. A solid foundation for tinkering with all the latest storage technologies (M.2, NVMe) and software out there, with room to grow.

You don't have to order the Windows 10 preload bundle, but you'll miss out on the free shipping and the unique extras.

While TinkerTry does earn a small commission from every visitor that comes from this site to a link to the Wiredzone site, turns out their prices for things like 32GB DIMMs are usually lower than Amazon and Newegg anyway.

Here's the parts list, Q&A, or just place your order.

If you're also interested in reading the full story, in chronological order, let me guide you with the must-read articles you should get started with:

Intel Xeon D-1500 crams incredible virtualization lab specs into tiny mITX size, codename Broadwell-DE
Mar 09 2015 - I can still remember the first time I read about this motherboard announcement.
Supermicro SuperServer mini-tower ordered with 64GB of memory for $1900, the ultimate home virtualization lab?
Jun 23 2015 - I put down my cash, and cross my fingers.
What fits in any home virtualization lab, has 8 Xeon cores, 6 drives, 128 GB memory, and 3 4K outputs from a Windows 10 VM? Your new Supermicro SuperServer Workstation!
Jul 15 2015 - Read along as I struggle to contain my enthusiasm.
TinkerTry Supermicro SuperServer Workstation bundle now available - Windows 10 with triple 4K GPU can run as an ESXi VM!
Aug 01 2015 - Perhaps THE very first Windows 10 Workstation available!

It wasn't hard to come up with a Windows 10 build procedure that Wiredzone now uses to create your Superserver, and you may want to check out this closely related article, My experience with the Samsung 850 EVO 2TB SSD, and how it fits into my hybrid home lab strategy, where I mention that I upgraded my SuperServer to VMware vSphere 6.0, booting my Windows 10 SSD as whole-hog fully functional VM workstation!

Now that you're familiar with the journey, here's a search for ALL the Supermicro SuperServer related articles:

TinkerTry.com/search?s=SuperServer

Complete list of SuperServer articles

In chronological order, newest on top.
The first list is just the titles.
The second list down below is the same set of articles, but with larger preview images added.