Playing around with Dell R520 server

After I got my first major tech job, I learned that a major part of the job would be working with Dell servers, setting up ESXi hosts, vCenter installation, etc. so I thought it would be a good idea to practice this at home in my own lab environment so I went and bought a Dell R520 server from the Facebook marketplace for around 300 CAD$.

Let me explain how I set up the server. We'll go over the installation of ESXi in detail in another post. For now, let's assume that our server comes with ESXi pre-installed.

Let's start by ensuring that the server is plugged in. Most servers come with 2 different PSUs (Power Supply Units). These are meant to go on different Power Strips for power outage redundancy.

Once the server is plugged in, try to get your hands on an old monitor with a VGA cable, should cost about 20 CAD$ used. We also need a keyboard.

In my case, ESXi was pre-installed so all I had to do was set up the hostname and IP address. Since the internal IP address in my network is 10.0.0.0/24. I set the ESXi at 10.0.0.200.

Most of the time, servers are locked up in a Data Center in a different location from the office/workspace. In order to prevent having to go to the Data Center every time to manage the server, we use remote management software (also known as Out of Band Management). In the case of Dell servers, that is the iDRAC. Since the R520 came with a small display, we can use this to set up the iDRAC IP.

Once the IP addresses are set, it is now time to physically connect up the server with our home network. In this case, I'm using a FortiSwitch with an uplink to my home router provided by an ISP (gray cable). One of the white cables is attached to the iDRAC port and the other is attached to one of the many available network ports.

Once we have set up all of this, we are ready to start using our server remotely. I'm using my home PC connected to my home network. 

This is how the iDRAC page looks:

We can click on the Launch button to open the console and perform operations such as OS installation, rebooting the system, etc.

This is how the ESXi page looks:

From here, we can deploy and run VMs, manage storage/networking, etc.

That's it for this blog. Thank you for reading!