Project Titan: To build an ESXi server for small business

I’ve been pottering around North Leitrim for a while now since I got back from my stay at a Maltese hospital.  The pace of life here is a little slower than I’m used to in Dublin.  I’ve checked out local sources of information, the Sligo Champion, Sligo Post and the Weekender, as well as meetup.com on the Internet front to see if there’s anything interesting to do on the tech front, but alas, the cupboard is bare.

Bottom line: I’m bored and I still have a few bob – What to do?

The only surprise was it took me so long to decide to do this.  I’ve decided to start a project to keep my mind busy and as many of my skills up to date.  I’m going to build an ESX server that will provide all the network services for a business with ~ 200 staff using only free and/or open source software.  And blog about it!

I tweeted @aaronmckenna at Komplett with a few questions on the hardware requirements which he forwarded onto their techs and a day or so later I had my hardware list.

I added the D-Link Wi-Fi Card as I also wanted to test out if I could run a Wireless Access Point off the box as well.  The case, a NOX Cube, was chosen because of its size, had a handle on the front for ease of transport and just looked a bit cool with the glass windows and internal blue light!

The parts arrived last Friday and I began assembly on Saturday.  After a few incorrect connections from the front panel of the case to the motherboard, I eventually figured it out, pressed the on button, and there was light!

To come: Installation of the ESX server from VMWare and building a Virtual Machine.

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