Xeon Rig for GNS3

Since I’m doing alot more network automation labs for my portfolio my i7 laptop is lagging behind. With its 2 core it has served it maximum purpose and its best for me to get another rig that is capable to handle the load.

After doing some research I decided to purchase a used Dell Precision T3500. Shown below is the exact look of the model.

The specs are stated below:

Processor : Intel Xeon E5640 4-Core 2.66GHz

Memory : 8GB DDR3 RAM. 9 DIMMS, up to 72GB Maximum memory

Storage : 1TB HDD SATA 7.2K RPM

Video controller : NVIDIA QUADRO 2000 1GB GDDR5

Operating system : Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

Socket/Processors: 2xLGA 1366 Socket Capable. Two quad core processors supported

Chipset : Intel 5520 Chipset

Networking: Integrated Broadcom 5754 Gigabit Ethernet controller

Slots: 2x PCI-e x16 slots wired as x8 (half length) / 2x PCI-e x16 Gen 2 graphics slots / 1x PCI-X 64bit/100MHz slot / 1x PCI 32bit/33Mhz 5V slot

I/O Ports: 8x USB 2.0 / 1x serial / 1x parallel / 1x PS/2 / 1x RJ-45

Performance

So far I find it very stable with since it has 4 cores to offer. I did run into some issues with Installing TP-Link Archer T2U usb adapter. I did spend quite some time to configure it.

My next venture is to communicate it with my MacBook GNS3 with the Xeon rig as the remote server.