Newbie links/references for what fits my HP ProLiant DL580 G5, 2 x quad core Xeon E7430?
I have a machine to play with virtualisation, a "ProLiant DL580 G5, 24 Gb RAM, 2 x quad core Xeon E7430@ 2.13GHz", and would really appreciate some references/links to know what will and what will not fit.
The machine has only 2 *72GB SFF SAS drives + 2*146GB SFF SAS drives, so disk storage is my first upgrade. I understand that there are new G8 drives that would NOT fit - will everything else? How mad is it to buy 2.5" SATA "laptop" drives , and fit in a cheap caddy from eBay for £5? I understand HP SATA drives would work, but likely more expensive, would this work: http://www.ebuyer.com/363299-hitachi-1tb-travelstar-internal-hard-drive-0j22413
Anyone had any joy with (non-HP) SSDs?
I've installed VMware ESXi5.1 on a RAID-1 partition over the 72GB drives, and plan to eject these and install Centos 6 & KVM (http://www.linux-kvm.org) on a RAID-1 partition over the 146GB drives. Will this work OK? Do I need to keep ejecting the drives to ensure the machine boots the desired O/S, or is there a better way?
Can I fit a generic USB 3 PCI (PCI-e?) card? Anyone done this successfully, any cards recommended?
Similarly, could I fit a generic SATA PCI (PCI-e?) card to allow me to use the 3.5" SATA (home PC) drives I already have? Would I be able to power these drives OK, any recommended adapters/supplier...?
I see many parts on eBay for sale, how can I tell if any part will fit/work in my machine? For example, would a "AB545-60001 1000Base-T PCI-X Quad-Port" fit and work? I'm hoping that there is an URL at HP which would help with parts compatibility...?
I was disappointed to find that it appears I need to buy a licence to use the remote control [full video] support.Is there an educational licence option, or similar, for non-production, non-profit making, personal use?
All advice gratefully received :-)