Spec'ing a new workstation rig for my office
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 @alexntg said: @scottalanmiller said: SSD are okay in RAID 5 too. RAID5 SSDs seem a bit overkill for a system drive. So does RAID 1  
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 @alexntg said: In that case, someone's prior suggestion of a basic workstation and an ESXi host would be the way to go. Don't use Hyper-V. HyperV has an option for a VM with direct access with a local console. 
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 @scottalanmiller said: @alexntg said: In that case, someone's prior suggestion of a basic workstation and an ESXi host would be the way to go. Don't use Hyper-V. HyperV has an option for a VM with direct access with a local console. That makes it a much better solution for a small home lab than ESXi 
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 @scottalanmiller said: @alexntg said: @scottalanmiller said: SSD are okay in RAID 5 too. RAID5 SSDs seem a bit overkill for a system drive. So does RAID 1  The OP expressed concern about their SSD failing. RAID1 would alleviate that. I don't see the justification of the third drive's cost. 
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 @Dashrender said: @scottalanmiller said: @alexntg said: In that case, someone's prior suggestion of a basic workstation and an ESXi host would be the way to go. Don't use Hyper-V. HyperV has an option for a VM with direct access with a local console. That makes it a much better solution for a small home lab than ESXi If on a desktop, yes. 
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 @alexntg said: @scottalanmiller said: @alexntg said: @scottalanmiller said: SSD are okay in RAID 5 too. RAID5 SSDs seem a bit overkill for a system drive. So does RAID 1  The OP expressed concern about their SSD failing. RAID1 would alleviate that. I don't see the justification of the third drive's cost. Potentially smaller, cheaper drives. 
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 @scottalanmiller said: @alexntg said: @scottalanmiller said: @alexntg said: @scottalanmiller said: SSD are okay in RAID 5 too. RAID5 SSDs seem a bit overkill for a system drive. So does RAID 1  The OP expressed concern about their SSD failing. RAID1 would alleviate that. I don't see the justification of the third drive's cost. Potentially smaller, cheaper drives. It's the system drive, not a data drive. A basic 120GB drive would work just fine. Edit: Besides, by the time you get a RAID5 card installed, it'd overshoot the cost of the drive. 
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 For a lab those are often one and the same. 
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 Thanks guys for all the input. 
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 VM's would run on the data drive, correct? 
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 Depends on what you are doing. Honestly though. Desktop VM systems aren't very good. Get a cheap, headless server. Works better and teaches you more. 
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