# Need Suggestion on which is the best Suitable processor for building Virtual Server having 20 Virtual Machines AMD or Intel,



## gadgetgeek (Nov 20, 2019)

Dear All,

1. I need to know ,Which is the best Suitable processor for building Virtual Server having 20 Virtual Machines AMD or Intel?

2. Does AMD's AMD-V , SEV supports all the Virtualization standards which Intel's  *VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d supports?*


*AMD-V, SEV*Virtualization*VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d*






						AMD Ryzen 9 3900X vs Intel Core i9-9900K Benchmark, comparison and differences
					

Benchmark, test, review, comparison and differences between these CPUs in Cinebench 23 and Geekbench 5




					www.cpu-monkey.com
				





3. AMD's 3900X has 12 cores, does that mean, if I keep 4 cores for running Host OS of Windows 10 then remaining 8 cores will be used for 8 virtual machines?, Can I not run more than 8 Virtual machines in this scenario?

Kindly advise.

Thanks!


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## silentbogo (Nov 20, 2019)

Theoretically you can run as many VMs as you want, but in reality it all depends on what you actually want to run.
E.g. if you have 1 vCPU per VM, and you are running some lightweight headless linux on each one of them, then even Ryzen 5 3600 can do 20 instances.
But, if you want to run, let's say, something like a VDI deployment with 20 instances of Windows 10 which will be actively used _at the same time_, then you might need something much beefier than 3900X. Probably  something along the lines of 24-core Epyc or Threadripper.


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## gadgetgeek (Nov 20, 2019)

silentbogo said:


> Theoretically you can run as many VMs as you want, but in reality it all depends on what you actually want to run.
> E.g. if you have 1 vCPU per VM, and you are running some lightweight headless linux on each one of them, then even Ryzen 5 3600 can do 20 instances.
> But, if you want to run, let's say, something like a VDI deployment with 20 instances of Windows 10 which will be actively used _at the same time_, then you might need something much beefier than 3900X. Probably  something along the lines of 24-core Epyc or Threadripper.


Really valuable information you shared.

But will the 1st gen  *AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1900X do that job? or 2nd gen AMD Ryzen 2nd Gen Threadripper 2920X ?

How come the  AMD Ryzen 2nd Gen Threadripper 2920X has same 12 cores as 3rd gen 3900X but still/will it manages VMs well?*


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## TheoneandonlyMrK (Nov 20, 2019)

gadgetgeek said:


> Really valuable information you shared.
> 
> But will the 1st gen  *AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1900X do that job? or 2nd gen AMD Ryzen 2nd Gen Threadripper 2920X ?
> 
> How come the  AMD Ryzen 2nd Gen Threadripper 2920X has same 12 cores as 3rd gen 3900X but still/will it manages VMs well?*


As suggested ,it would depend on the loading of each Vm , can you describe what the Vm instance's are going to be doing?.


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## biffzinker (Nov 20, 2019)

gadgetgeek said:


> *How come the AMD Ryzen 2nd Gen Threadripper 2920X has same 12 cores as 3rd gen 3900X but still/will it manages VMs well?*


At the time 12 cores was still considered High End Desktop Territory, since Zen 2 though AMD has pushed 12/16 cores down to the regular desktop segment. The 2920X would give you quad channel DDR4, and more PCIe v3.0 lanes 44?


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## Solid State Soul ( SSS ) (Nov 20, 2019)

Ryzen R9 3900X


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## eidairaman1 (Nov 20, 2019)

gadgetgeek said:


> Really valuable information you shared.
> 
> But will the 1st gen  *AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1900X do that job? or 2nd gen AMD Ryzen 2nd Gen Threadripper 2920X ?
> 
> How come the  AMD Ryzen 2nd Gen Threadripper 2920X has same 12 cores as 3rd gen 3900X but still/will it manages VMs well?*



Yes answers your question


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## biffzinker (Nov 20, 2019)

You could even make use of unbuffered ECC DDR4 with the appropriate Socket AM4 board for the 3900X.


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## silentbogo (Nov 20, 2019)

gadgetgeek said:


> But will the 1st gen *AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1900X do that job? or 2nd gen AMD Ryzen 2nd Gen Threadripper 2920X ?
> 
> How come the AMD Ryzen 2nd Gen Threadripper 2920X has same 12 cores as 3rd gen 3900X but still/will it manages VMs well?*


I don't really understand either question. What do you mean by "do that job" and "manages VMs well"?
And once again, in order to give you the proper advice we need to know what are you trying to accomplish.


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## eidairaman1 (Nov 20, 2019)

silentbogo said:


> I don't really understand either question. What do you mean by "do that job" and "manages VMs well"?
> And once again, in order to give you the proper advice we need to know what are you trying to accomplish.



He wants to know if those cpus csn handle multiple vms.  Am4/TR4 can no problem.


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## R-T-B (Nov 20, 2019)

eidairaman1 said:


> Yes answers your question



Yes, yes brand cpu.  buy now!


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## biffzinker (Nov 20, 2019)

eidairaman1 said:


> He wants to know if those cpus csn handle multiple vms.  Am4/TR4 can no problem.


Yes, but if there's a lot of CPU activity from the VM's then it changes what should be recommended.


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## ShrimpBrime (Nov 20, 2019)

So you need core count, memory and HDD capacity. 

You could use either AMD or Intel for VM adventures. Just need the above resources to make it happen.


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## newtekie1 (Nov 20, 2019)

The 3900X would be a good starting point.  You'll have 12 cores, and 24 threads to play with. So you can dedicate 4 threads to the host OS(though I don't think you'll even need that) and then 20 threads for the VMs. Plus it shouldn't be too expensive, relatively, to do 64GB of RAM. That will work for VMs that are going to see light use.


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## ChristTheGreat (Nov 21, 2019)

I run 9 vm on a ryzen 1700, no problem.

If the vm dont need alot of cpu power, you can also reduce the limit of the cpu usage. I have a couple of vm running 2 core set to 50%.

It all depends of the usage, but 3900x is a nice cpu, and has a very good IPC.


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## kapone32 (Nov 21, 2019)

If you want that many VMS Tr4 are the only real solutions. As good as the 3900X is it is (in my opinion) hampered by the lack of PCI_E lanes. The other thing is that the X399  boards are competitively priced vs a well specced X570 board. The quad channel RAM (up to 128GB) is also good for what you want to do. The 1950X and 2920X are both in the $500 range right now as well.


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## gadgetgeek (Nov 21, 2019)

silentbogo said:


> I don't really understand either question. What do you mean by "do that job" and "manages VMs well"?
> And once again, in order to give you the proper advice we need to know what are you trying to accomplish.


Here is what I want to achieve 

I want to setup entire IT infra  on my home Lab Server to practice any stuff for next 5 -6 years, like
I want to setup

On 1st  VM I will  install NetApp ONTAP OS (Cluster Node 1)
On 2nd VM I will install NetApp ONTAP OS  (Cluster  Node 2)
On 3rd VM I will install Linux Client 1
On 4th VM I will install Linux Client 2
On 5th VM I will install Solaris Client 1
On 6th VM I will install Solaris Client 2
On 7th VM I will install Windows 10 Client 1
On 8th VM I will install Windows Server 2012 Cluster Node 1 (Backup Server)
On 9th VM I will install Windows Server 2012 Cluster Node 2
On 10th VM I will install Windows Server 2016 Domain , Mail, NTP Server
On 11th VM I will install VMWARE ESX Server
On 12th VM I will install NetApp OCUM to monitor 1st and 2nd VMs of NetApp.
On 13th,14th and 15th VMS I will configure 3 Node ORACLE RAC and configure Database.

What I want to practice on my Home Lab Server is as follows:


I will be assigning the Storage from NetApp ONTAP OS to Windows , Linux and Solaris system.
Configure Cluster between Windows  & between Linux system.
Setting up the common mail server across all VMs.
Setting up common Domain  Server, NTP server.
Taking Backup of all VMs through Backup Server, doing restore of file level, Entire VM level ,snapshot Restore
Replicating data from one Storage Cluster Node 1 to another Storage Cluster Node 2
Perform Database Restore.
and other all possible stuff which can be configured on lab.

I hope I will be able to do this with

128GB of RAM, 
10TB * 2 Data Center HDD (One already own)
1 TB M.2 NMVE SSD
2 TB Samsung EVO SSD (already own)
256GB Samsung Pro SSD (already own)
*AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1900X or AMD Ryzen 2nd Gen Threadripper 2920X*


Kindly confirm.

Thanks.


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## kapone32 (Nov 22, 2019)

gadgetgeek said:


> Here is what I want to achieve
> 
> I want to setup entire IT infra  on my home Lab Server to practice any stuff for next 5 -6 years, like
> I want to setup
> ...



The 1900X is a super cheap processor right now. Normally I would not advise going against that vs the 2920X which is $220 more expensive (Amazon.com) but the performance upgrade of the extra cores, increased IPC and increased boost clocks would fall in line with what you want to do better than the 1900X. 

If you want to use an air cooler with the build you most likely won't be able to install 128GB. Unfortunately the AIO's fort TR4 have had teething problems with TR4 but the Alphacool Eisbear covers about 95% of the TR4 die and would allow you to have full utilization of your RAM channels. 

Other than that good luck on your build I am sure I and others on the community would like to know your results.


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## _ZoSo_ (Jan 26, 2020)

kapone32 said:


> If you want that many VMS Tr4 are the only real solutions. As good as the 3900X is it is (in my opinion) hampered by the lack of PCI_E lanes. The other thing is that the X399  boards are competitively priced vs a well specced X570 board. The quad channel RAM (up to 128GB) is also good for what you want to do. The 1950X and 2920X are both in the $500 range right now as well.



You can run 128GB on a Dual-Channel X570 board by using 32GB DDR4 sticks (updated from 64GB max, on the X470). Such 32GB sticks are currently available from Corsair and G.SKill. 

The prices are nuts, especially for faster than DDR4 3200, but you can get that much if you wanted to (without quad channel boards and TR).


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