All new Registrations are manually reviewed and approved, so a short delay after registration may occur before your account becomes active.
What dedicated server should I migrate to?
GodsGiftToLET
Member
I have been using a dedicated server from So You Start for a couple of years. The operating system installed on the bare metal is VMWare ESXi 6.7 or VMWare ESXi 6.7 U2. The server hardware is not compatible with VMWare ESXi 7.0.
It has worked great for me. It still works great, as long as I stick with an unupdated 22.04 version of Ubuntu.
But, if I update/upgrade Ubuntu 22.04, use Ubuntu 24.04, Ubuntu 24.10 or the latest daily build of Ubuntu 25.04, I run into problems. So, I am looking to upgrade to a dedicated server where I can run VMWare ESXi 8.0 or later version.
My current So You Start has the following specs:
- CPU: 9.6 GH
- RAM: 64 GB
- Disk Space: 2 X 5.46 TB
I find that the above specs meet my needs. I tried a different server with 32 GB of RAM in the past, and it didn't quiet meet my needs.
I have been paying a little over $40/month for the server, and $32/month for a block of 16 IPs. So, a total of about $75/month.
I am looking for either a similar deal, or, alternatively, an ISP that will give me at least 8 separate static IPs at home, as I am often away from home. I am not technically savvy enough to configure a VMWare/PFSense combo to be able to accomplish the same thing with just one or two static IP addresses. I have tried that in the past. It didn't work for me, and I gave up. But, if you reply with a link to a location of idiot proof instructions/tutorial on how to setup VMWare/PFSense with just one or two static IPs (or even one dynamic IP and some DNS forwarding service), and if I don't find another reasonably priced solution, I might give it another try.
I have two Dell PowerEdge 730s at home. So, if an ISP could give me 8 static IPs, and won't block remote access, I can just setup the servers at home and accomplish, I believe, the same thing as with the rental of a dedicated server.
While I prefer a North America location (The SYS one is in Montreal, Canada), I would consider a location anywhere in the world.
The use is mostly semi personal. I run a GUI/Java program that, in January and February, needs to stay up as long as possible. I am not running a website or anything from the server. But I do want to eventually host some services such as Alfresco, Bugzilla, etc., to collaborate online with one or two remote assistants that I plan to hire. Maybe even eventually host a web application. I plan to also run a Windows VM that I will eventually need one or two of my future remote assistant(s) to be able to access.
So ... What is your suggestion? What should I replace my SYS with?
Comments
Virmach lol
What the heck is this CPU...
You mean 9.6 GT/s?
Oops ... It's not GH. It's GHz. Giga Hertz or Giga Herz. Hertz/Herz as in frequency, NOT the rental car company.
I think your time machine took a wrong turn at Albuquerque. We're only at 5Ghz at the moment.
I don't have a time machine. But I do have a mouse and keyboard, the combination of whom can do a copy/paste. Here is a copy past from the VMWare ESXi web interface:
CPU FREE: 8.7 GHz
<A green bar that didn't survive the copy/paste> 10%
USED: 941 MHz CAPACITY: 9.6 GHz
MEMORY FREE: 11.58 GB
<A green bar that didn't survive the copy/paste> 82%
USED: 52.32 GB CAPACITY: 63.9 GB
STORAGE FREE: 2.85 TB
<A green bar that didn't survive the copy/paste> 48%
USED: 2.6 TB CAPACITY: 5.46 TB
Here is another Copy/Paste from the Hardware section of the same web interface:
4 CPUs x Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU D-1521 @ 2.40GHz
So, it seems like they just multiplied 2.4 GHz by 4 to get the 9.6 GHz.
@GodsGiftToLET what is the cost of VMWare ESXi 8? are you going to buy it and use it for simple tasks? why not proxmox?
Last one year , Virtual Box Workstation Pro is free for personal use. I tried with Windows, but did not do well, probably due to Hyper-V and Windows 11 restriction. Later Virtual Box worked fine with Xubuntu guest on Windows host.
I wish to learn one proxmox or cockpit , cockpit seems to be free, proxmox still a licensed software?
According to https://community.broadcom.com/vmware-cloud-foundation/discussion/esxi-7-or-8-free-license-restrictions , it seems like I can buy a VMUG Advantage membership for $200 per year and have free access to ESXi 8.
I don't know anything about proxmox. Thanks for the suggestion. I will look into it. According to https://www.soyoustart.com/us/distributions/, it seems like I can even keep my current server and IP block.
Maybe our latest dedicated server offer is something for you: https://lowendtalk.com/discussion/201026/hostslim-netherlands-estonia-christmas-deals-thread-daily-deals-giveaways
Thank you all for your input. Here is what I have decided to do:
1) Install Proxmox on the two Dell PowerEdge R730 I have at home.
2) If I like Proxmox, migrate the ESXi VMs I want to keep from SYS's server running VMWare/ESXi 6.7 into the R730s/Poxmox, and not renew SYS.
3) If I find a way to access my virtual machines while on the road, keep using the two R730s. If not, I will pray for a 2025 Black Friday deal at SYS, and sign up at that time for a new server and ask them to install Proxmox on it.
@GodsGiftToLET i can help with proxmox, running with single static ip. if you ever switched, you can ask me.
Will do!! ... Thank you very much!!