Seeking Advice: Best Server Specs for Large-Scale EVE-NG Lab (BGP/SD-WAN/ISE)

[helendam]

Hi everyone,

I’m currently planning to build a dedicated server for EVE-NG to prepare for advanced labs (CCIE Security/Enterprise + SD-WAN + ISE integration). My main concern is finding the right balance between CPU cores, memory, and storage speed.

Here’s what I have in mind so far:

Chassis: Dell PowerEdge R740xd

CPU: 2 × Intel Xeon Gold 6252 (24 cores each)

Memory: 384GB DDR4 ECC (scalable to 768GB later if needed)

Storage: 2 × 1TB NVMe for system + 4 × 2TB SSD in RAID10 for VM images

Network: Dual-port 10GbE SFP+ NIC

Remote Management: iDRAC9 Enterprise

The setup seems powerful on paper, but I’m wondering if:

Is this overkill for running 40–50+ nodes simultaneously (CSR1000v, vMX, vSRX, FTDv, ISE)?

Would higher single-core performance CPUs (like AMD EPYC) be better than adding more cores for EVE-NG?

For long lab sessions, do you recommend RAID10 with SSD or is NVMe-only storage more reliable in practice?

If anyone here has tested similar large-scale deployments, I’d really appreciate your input on performance bottlenecks, cost optimizations, and long-term stability.

Thanks in advance for your insights!
— HelenDam

[rusty725]

You can't mix different disks types
Storage: 2 × 1TB NVMe for system + 4 × 2TB SSD in RAID10 for VM images
get 4TB nvme drives which should be enough.

The cpu is not good too. Get something like this Intel® Xeon® Platinum 9242 Processor (x2) or Intel® Xeon® Platinum 9282 Processor (x2)