I'm facing a bit of a dilemma with our Citrix VDI server replacements this year. We originally planned on using 3 Dell hosts, each with dual 64-core AMD CPUs and 24 sticks of 128GB RAM. Unfortunately, the lead time for these servers is 6 months, which aligns perfectly with our migration from VMware to Xenserver. Dell has proposed an alternative: 6 hosts with dual 32-core CPUs and 24 sticks of 64GB RAM each. I'm weighing the pros and cons of this change.
On the pro side, if a server fails, it would affect only 1/6 of our total capacity instead of 1/3. The neutral part is that both setups would fit in the same 1U chassis space, and licensing shouldn't be an issue since we have sufficient Xenserver licenses. The downside? I'll have to manage double the number of hosts and contend with more cables, both for power and networking. Plus, 1U servers can be noisier, and my office is just down the hall.
Another option might be Supermicro, but their pricing for similar specs is about $10k higher than the Dell proposals. What do you all think? Am I missing anything in this consideration?
1 Answer
Make sure you have the power to support doubling the server count. If the existing infrastructure can handle it, then go for it! Don't forget to consider heat generation and the AC capacity of your server room. If noise becomes an issue, maybe a good door or some soundproofing foam could help.
Absolutely! I hadn’t thought about the noise issue. A good door might do the trick.