I have recently been looking at solution for hardware for a new home lab. The primary need was a lower power solution, with plenty of ram and the ability to run hyper-v.
The solution I have chosen is a small form factor from Intel called nuc5i5mybe. The hardware purchase list is as follows:
Crucial 16GB (2x 8GB) DDR3 1600 MT/s CL11 SODIMM 204 Pin 1.35V/1.5V Memory Module Kit CT2KIT102464BF160B ***NOTE THIS IS LOW VOLTAGE RAM compatible with the board***
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007B5S52C
Price: £97.60
BLKNUC5I5MYHE
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel-nuc-core-i5-5300u-dual-core-23ghz-ddr3l-so-dimm-m2-plus-sata-iii-6gb-s-25-internal-intel-hd-55
Price: £346.98
M.2 Type 2280 500GB Fast Solid State Drive/SSD Crucial MX200
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500gb-crucial-mx200-ssd-m2-type-2280-with-555-mb-s-read-500-mb-s-write-100k-iops-random-read-87k-iop
Price: £168.60
Total Cost: £613.18
This enables the running of several visualized guests, which so far I have two domain controllers, and one edge server allowing a site to site vpn to azure. This means my home lab can integrate seamlessly with the cloud offering from MS.
