MakeItZone

Hi- hoping the community can help me figure out a reasonable 1 CPU, multiple user system. Target use is as for a computer learning lab. Rough outline of hardware I'm looking for, and uses: - 6, but preferably 8 student seats - PCIe Passthrough to mid level AMD, or possibly NVidia GPUs - to be used for programming, lego & vex robotics, WebGL (online CAD/CAM software, eg TinkerCAD), CAD (fusion 360) - VMs will typically be Windows 10 home, but also Linux, FreeBSD Goals are: - reduced IT management (snapshots are easier to manage than multiple desktops...) - flexible CPU resources (eg 1 VM with all resources, or 8 with 1/8th...) - hardware cost savings (I know, they won't be huge to start with, but over several years I think there will be. E.g. even one extra stick of RAM benefits everyone.) I'm reasonably experienced with computer architecture, OS installation, etc. Right now I use a lower end i7, 3 GPUs, Linux, XNest, and lots of USB 2 ports to power an up-to 10 seat system that can handle Minecraft & TinkerCAD, Python, etc. Unfortunately I can't get some things to work with Wine. I just don't have the bandwidth to keep up/figure out all the (poorly) documented nuances of PCI passthrough, eg ACS support. Right now I'm looking at this MoBo: https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Motherboards/X99E_WSUSB_31/ And pairing it with the best Xeon E5 (probably 2609) I can afford, to get the most PCIe lanes. I believe this combo will provide true ACS isolation for all 7 PCIe slots, allowing a 1 CPU, 7 student setup. (I'm not interested in ACS override patches- tried that in an older system, got random weird behaviour after some hours, will be multiplying that potential several fold.) But there's been a few CPU and hardware announcements lately So question time- Is this going to have the ACS isolation I'm looking for? Is there a better MoBo/CPU combo I should be looking at? I'm not against dual CPU boards, but would probably have to start with Xeon E3s. My understanding is they don't have the same ACS isolation- so that might not work. Or populate one CPU socket with an E5. But my understanding is that can mess up the PCIe map/access as well- maybe not all PCIe sockets would be active? Suggestions appreciated! Also for Canadian suppliers; the ones I've checked all have 4-8+wk lead times on that motherboard. Thanks! (Small update: someone pointed out that Windows Server 2016 has a "multipoint" feature that could do what I want... but I can't find confirmation that there is 3D acceleration; but maybe I'd run that under unraid virtualization with pass through But it might allow me to use a cheaper i7 and motherboard, plus fewer GPUs.)