We have now grown to the point where we are thinking of adding an additional Workstation, so that the employee running the printers does not have to be interrupted by an artist who has to do color-matching on the same Workstation. Instead, we want another WS that has the capabilities of providing this. Since we aren't utilizing both CPU slots, would it be best to add another CPU, another GPU, RAM, Storage, and KVM, to allow a virtual client to run off of the same tower, instead of spending the money on a duplicate system?
What do I need to do as far as Operating Systems go? I'd like to keep Windows 7, or maybe even 8.1 (even though I hate 8/8.1) only because I don't know if there would be compatibility issues between the software and Windows 10. Would I need to add a storage drive, and run Linux server and then have the original Windows 7 System that is on the PC now, and then add the second client?
Effectively you are thinking of turning your existing workstataion into a server with two virtual machines each with its own GPU, and keyboard mouse etc?
I think you would be better off deploying a seperate second workstation - for the simple reason that one problem means two workstations are now offline.
If you were to do the 2-in-1 I would suggest looking at VM ware ESXi or Proxmox as your bare-metal hyper-visor, both support hardware passthrough of USB and GPU's. You should be able to image the existing Win7 disk for use with a VM, seperate disks are not required but giving the workstation a RAID array to host the virtual disks would make the most sense.
One point to note if you do go for virtual is that Nvidia GTX GPU's are not the best for pass-through, it can be done but Nvidia only support GPU passthrough for their professional GPU's. AMD GPU's can usually be passthrough fine under ESXi.
The only reason I'm against a second station is that with an open CPU slot, it seems viable. If I can set the system up over a weekend that would be fine.
I was definitely looking at adding a professional video card.
Since the current WS has just 1 Intel PCI-E 400GB SSD, do you think I should get an additional 400GB, or get 2 of the 1.2TB in a raid array? Or just get some SATA 6 SSD's?
For a use case scenario where people's work is dependent on these stations being operational I have to agree, damage control is important. Plus, if you rely on hyper-v to manage the OS you're adding in layers of complexity and points of failure.
Second 400GB SSD and a RAID 1 Mirror to host a C: virtual disk for each VM. Then a RAID 5 or RAID 10 Sata array to hold a larger D: drive for each VM.
The Hyper-Visor OS could be on the RAID 1 array or just on a small 32GB SSD.
I'd still recommend just deploying a second workstation, but you do get an advantage of being able to snapshot your VM's prior to patching or installing new software etc.
It's a couple of years old but worth reading if you are going the virtual root:
Very well, another reason I am for a 1 PC, 2 User system is space saving. Let me try to explain how this department operates...
We have multiple Dye-Sublimation printers which is what this computer controls. With the software, we create custom colors to match what our customers want on their finished goods. The issue is when the Print Room Manager is working on the station, an artist cannot create colors, print a sample, etc without making the Manager move out of the way. This is a time consuming process for the artist, and to make the production as fluent as possible, that is where another station comes in.
Thank you guys for all the input, I'm confident I can make all this happen, but outside advice is amazing!
I'm going to put together a parts list for another machine, and also a list for upgrades to the current machine to handle 2 VM's and link it for you guys to review (if you don't mind)