Proxmox build questions

Currently I have a surveillance PC , recording motion detected on windows 10 and would like to run proxmox on here. The specs of the PC are:
I7 870, 12GB ram, 128 GB SSD
Are these specs sufficient for running 2-4 VMs?

I am thinking of running proxmox and having a windows VM for surveillance, Ubuntu VM running DNS client and a reverse proxy in Apache and possibly other VMs for experimenting.
I also have a freenas server with 5 TB available and I was wondering if I could only have an SSD in the proxmox PC for the OS and everything else like containers for the OSes on my freenas?

Thanks in advance! :)

Yes, across the board. An i7, even first generation will handle 4 properly sized VMs like a champ. In my experience, Windows runs better in a virtual machine, so make sure you size it smaller than you would normally, and grow it up as necessary. I'd start at 1 core 2GB of memory.

For using FreeNAS as storage, you've got 2 options. NFS, or iSCSI. NFS is balls easy, but it has the traditional problem of all network file systems (like CIFS) where many small writes will murder your throughput. iSCSI does significantly better because it's not constantly opening and closing connections, which is what kills NFS and CIFS with small files. iSCSI is much harder to setup, but I highly recommend doing it if you're involved in technology in your professional life, because it's uncommon knowledge. And if you go that far, consider additional NICs for Proxmox and FreeNAS, and experiment with a dedicated data line.

2 Likes

@Levitance Thank you for your suggestions. What are the steps for setting up my box for proxmox?

Backup current win10 files, get windows 10 key back?, Format drive and just install proxmox?

Can I use be PC's windows 10 key, I got it from upgrading the PC from Windows 7.

@Blanger hi, do you have any suggestions? I am planning to transform my surveillance PC setup to a virtualization pc. Currently running win10 with the trendnet software, but I might run Proxmox virtualization server.
Proxmox server can run multiple OSes simultaneously, just wondering what you would recommend: windows (iSpy or trendnet) or Linux .
Thanks

1 Like

Afaik, If your W10 license is linked to your MS account, it should be fine.

1 Like

Yeah, unfortunately I don't deal well with software licensing, so you'll want to do a bit of reading on that to find out what to expect. Historically going physical to virtual I've found you've got about a 50/50 chance of having Windows freak out and want you to re-validate your key, or whatever the heck it's asking. But usually it re-ups without complaint. Sometimes it wants you to call into Microsoft where you tell someone that you're only using this key on one computer, and they unlock it for you.

As far as getting Proxmox on your machine, I've got a couple of tips.

  1. Make sure virtualization is enabled in the BIOS.
  2. You have the option to pool your disks together with ZFS. Don't. I love the shit out of ZFS, but I've encountered nothing but trouble with it in Proxmox. They may have upped their game since the last time I tried it, but I would hate for you to have to find out the hard way that they didn't on your initial foray into virtualization.

That's about all I've got.

1 Like

Never used Proxmox or Xen, just a KVM/QEMU/Vert-manager setup on Fedora WS, I like the idea sounds cool, as for monitoring software it's a situation where you need to try different solutions to see which provides you with what you want and need, by visualizing the guest OS you have the ability to build lots of different VMs and test out different software without harming or corrupting you host operating system.

In my case I need PCI or hardware pass through to give physical hardware to the guest OS so that the programs running on top of the guest have unfettered access to that hardware without having to take and hand back control of the hardware from the host OS which causes instability in both systems along with a lot of unintended quirks.

Honestly.....I'd try all of them, once you have the ability to create VMs you have a hell of a lot of options as far as testing over a bare metal install.

1 Like

I was able to install W10 in a VM without it bothering.

1 Like

I am planning to have a 128 GB for proxmox os and maybe a VM. Then use my freenas as other vm storage maybe use iscisi.

1 Like

@Levitance so I don't need to setup any type of pool? Just install proxmox first in SSD then once installed, configure storage option (iscisi or NFS)?

It depends on your guest OS needs. the issue, as I see it, is the 12GB of ram. You're potentially going to run into issues if you install Windows in the VM's. The i7 will be fine though. KSM (kernel-samepage memory, or basically ram deduplication) will help with your ram issue.

TL;DR: go for it, but keep an eye on your ram usage.

1 Like

For Linux you would recommend zone minder?
For Windows OS VM I would probably run iSpy or the trendnet software.

Do you think allotting 1 core and ~3-4GB ram would be sufficient for surveillance programs?
Thanks

1 Like

Yup, too bad this generation of i7 allows only for 16gb max.
I'll probably be only running a windows VM and 1-2 Linux VMs.

First time hearing about this, where can I learn more and what do I need to setup?

You won't need to install any kind of pool on Proxmox. If you've only got an SSD in there, I'd say go through the installation, there will be a point where you can either manually configure the disks (which will let you do special things like ZFS or RAID or what have you), or just let Proxmox handle it. Just let Proxmox handle it. You'll end up with an install that looks much like any run of the mill Linux install you may have seen, and that's just fine.

Once Proxmox is installed, you can go and configure FreeNAS for NFS or iSCSI. Once FreeNAS is configured and presenting storage, hop back into Proxmox, get to the storage options, and point Proxmox to the storage provided by FreeNAS.

1 Like

I'm pretty sure proxmox has it enabled by default. Derp, it's "kernel same-page merging" Checkout the wiki page!

It's really awesome, helps me when emulating my openstack clusters on my proxmox rig.

16GB max is plenty. I've got a 3770k in my cluster with 16GB ram.

with 1 windows and 1-2 linux vm's I'd recommend doing the following: use windows in an actual VM, and if you don't need a GUI on Linux, use containers for them. I've made linux containers run in 32MB (not a typo) of ram on my proxmox rig. They were very specialized systems that only did one small thing, but it was a 32MB instance.

A full Linux VM can easily run in 512MB of ram anyways, depending on what you need to do. Shouldn't be a problem.

EDIT: Be careful when using freenas over NFS/iSCSI for your vm drive storage. If you're not careful, you can lock up your network and prevent other devices from being able to access the internet. my recommendation is to create a storage area network (SAN) on a physically separate switch and put it on the 10.10.10.0/24 network. That way you have it physically separate and you get dedicated bandwidth for your vm storage.

1 Like

I have an extra basic unmanaged desktop gigabit switch, would that be fine?
So I would add another nic to my desktop that would go to the switch and from the switch to my freenas (has two NICs) .
And then the built in motherboard Ethernet would go to my regular switch for internet access for the vms

Yeah. that would be the basic configuration. Should work just dandy. In fact, that's how I'm using my current setup.

1 Like

@SgtAwesomesauce Do I even need the switch? Could I directly connect the proxmox box (ha it rhymes) to my freenas box?

Then I would just assign one of the Prox. Box nics for storing VMs to freenas. The other nic for internet. Like vlans? https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Network_Model

On my freenas box, one goes to my proxmox box (iscisi shares assign to a nic?) And the other nic to my regular LAN switch?

Using the secondary switch is only helpful if you're trying to use more than two devices. If you've only got two devices, go ahead and direct connect them.

1 Like