PCIE passthrough edition
Hi, I'd like to present this is a new thread idea, I'm generally too lazy to create threads(or maybe not enough autism?)
-What virtualization platform are you running?
-What are you using it for?
Looking into using KVM on proxmox for a file server for my local museum and archive. Never done this before, thoughts?
OP here, I have two systems
-Desktop
AMD fx8320, AMD r9 290, 16gb ram, 2x 128gb, 1x 256gb ssd's, 1x 1tb HDD.
-Server
AMD phenom 904(6 core), NVIDIA gtx 570, 8gb ram, x2 500gb, x2 300gb HDD's
I want a couple of cloud gaming vm servers. Additionally fileserver VMS
I'm unsure what to run on these systems, I've had them running proxmox but I found the UI lacking, tried EXSI but the UI is shit also (only windows support for vsphere)
I'm now looking at unRAID and windows server 2016 (now allows for pci-e pass through AFAIK), thoughts on these?
I've had GPU passthrough running plenty of times locally (via arch, debien etc) but I want a platform managed by web interface, migration support etc
>>55435192
Proxmox is great and surprisingly stable. It has limited filesystem support, everything is focused around zfs.
Of course the filesystem support is there kernel side but their storage pools only support zfs, this could be my biggest consideration if theirs already data on disk, as they will have to be formatted as zfs.
Besides that, using devices via paravirtualised schi bus provided by virtio will give you near native disk and network speed on windows and Linux guests, its all managed via Proxmox web ui.
>>55435340
I'm using hand me down computers with 4gb ram. I hear ZFS is slow without 8gb or more... Or is that just freenas shenanigans? This is a very small museum with likely only 1 or 2 concurrent users so it's not like in serving a large audience
>>55435402
Do you really need a virtual environment? Could just throw Debian or freenas on it and make a quick samba share.
I think the general rule of thumb is 1gb of ram per 1tb of zfs storage but I've been much under that ratio and not had any problems
>>55435243
Bear?
>>55435610
Huh?
>>55435641
Nevermind, thought you were someone else who shitposts here.
>>55435606
I probably don't. I was initially planning just Debian with samba share, then I considered freenas so that others would have an easier time configuring it after I left (it's an 8 week contract). But the tech for the library suggested using proxmox and then just cut/pasting his vm set up. I don't really see the advantage honestly either except that if they have trouble after I leave, library tech could fix it comfortably. That said, it would also be a good opportunity/excuse to learn more about virtualization. I only have experience with VMware workstation/virtual box etc.
>>55435708
I mean, one advantage even in a basic setup is the abstraction.
If the guest server goes tits up or needs a restart for what ever reason, you'll have a vnc connection at the BIOS level of the VM, as opposed to userspace level SSH/vnc level
This means, if the VM isn't booting for what ever reason, you can diagnose and fix the issue remotely, despite the guest not having access to its user space.
>>55436058
That's interesting, I never thought about that, but it's obvious now that you mention it.
Thanks, still not sure what I'll do. They have 4 donated machines and suggested I try different set ups on each one to see what will work best for them.
>>55436058
Ever heard of a KVM switch or a IPMI port?
Also what if it's the hypervisor who is having problems?
Using virtualization in this case make literally no sense it just add one level of abstraction without adding any advantage.
>>55436195
A KVM switch isn't really applicable in my situation. If necessary I would just bring the keyboard video mouse to the closet containing the server. I haven't heard of IPMI specifically, but the concept sounds familiar. In any case, as I have said, I'm using hand me down desktops so I'm not sure IPMI is applicable to my situation either. That being said I think I am leaning away from virtualization for this task, but I'll set it up and see how I like it before I cross it off the list
>>55436195
The keyword is remote. Maybe in his case its just a regular desktop in a server role, but consider racks of headless servers.
In this use case, imagine our anon is SSH'd into this server remotely, he updates packages on his guest server, and reboots.
Systemd breaks something, now userspace doesn't load. Our anon has to now travel their and physically repair the server.
With proxmox or its equivalent, anon has full BIOS access to the VM (qemu/KVM uses seabios, which has an emulated VGA device bound to a VNC server)
Alternatively he could restore a snapshot, backup and/ or migrate the VM to another host to limit downtime
That level of abstraction can be useful in every implementation, I've personally used a Virtual machine as my primary desktop for years.
