We're approaching the time to refresh our small, somewhat comical "datacenter" that consists of two DL280 Gen 10 servers, each with a single 16-core CPU and 384GB RAM. We also have a Unity 300F storage shelf with 10 1.5TB SAS SSDs, but it's reaching its End of Support in about a year. Our servers will be out of warranty in October. We're currently running VMWare 8.01, but moving our setup elsewhere isn't really a possibility since our management isn't keen on putting our systems in an MSP's server room, and we can't afford to host everything on Azure. I've heard a lot about hyperconvergent solutions, but I think we could manage everything with just two 1U servers alongside a standard MSA with SAS SSDs. I'd love to hear what others have done in similar situations and get some insights on transitioning either in-house or with an MSP!
7 Answers
Since you're staying on-premise, think about your long-term storage plans. If you’re invested in vSphere, you’re fine, but if you’re considering leaving, it could limit your options. A three-node hyper-v S2D cluster could be worthwhile if you're leaning towards Windows VMs. Alternatively, Proxmox with Ceph is also popular for hyper-converged needs.
I just dealt with a similar overhaul. We had aging Dells for our ESXi cluster and looked at Azure but ultimately went for a used R740 setup from eBay to create an N+1 cluster instead. It's working out great with 512GB RAM and lots of HDD space per host. If you're not using much storage, you might consider using local storage on the hosts instead of a SAN.
That's an interesting route! I was also thinking about just using disks in the hosts. It's frustrating that Dell discontinued the VRTX; it would have been a perfect fit for us.
I’m actually in a very similar position with identical servers. I'm considering downsizing to three servers for some added resilience. If you’re thinking about Azure, I’d stick to well-known products since smaller companies might face some uncertainty. Better safe than sorry, right?
Good thoughts, I appreciate that!
It's hard to say without knowing what services you’re running. Azure might not be as pricey as you think with a 3-year reserved instance. Consider an easy route: use Hyper-V converged S2D with two hosts or stick to an MSA for simplicity.
Is the 2-node cluster still not ideal? I would suggest a minimum of three hosts.
We're probably fine with stepping down to 7.2k RPM SAS drives since most of our workloads aren't too intensive. We just migrated most of our heavy lifting to the cloud.
Since your needs aren’t extensive, make sure your storage solution can handle regular snapshots. Being able to take snapshots frequently can be a useful recovery method, even if it’s not a substitute for full backups!
Have you thought about using a non-public cloud IaaS provider? That could be a viable option to keep costs down.
Yeah, definitely adding that to the list of options.
Going with 1U servers sounds solid for your needs! Just out of curiosity, do you have a remote backup solution in place? That’s something you should definitely consider.
Yeah, we do have a remote backup. One of our main suppliers is hosting an offsite repository, along with a secondary backup in another building.
We might end up leaving VMware. We’re exploring options to rent licenses to avoid Broadcom's high fees. Proxmox is on my radar since I’m not a big fan of Hyper-V.