Size of proxmox disk and general set up

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jdfyj45fg

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Apr 17, 2025
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Hi there,

reading up on installing at the moment and am totally confused,

i3 13 gen processor, 32gb ram. I have 2 240gb SSD, a 240gb nvme (i think, might be 500) 60gb ssd and about 28 tb HDD across 9 drives.

Goal is to create a media server for emby, next cloud server, (ubuntu/debian), dns, windows VM, truenas and generally have a play and tinker.

zfs1 using 2 ssds seems get good reviews as an install disk for proxmox. Am i wasting the 240gb if i put it on them?
By all accounts proxmox needs 8gb.

If i use the nvme for the VMs/LXCs can i use snapshots to the 2 SSDs? or is that backwards VMs on 2 SSDs and snapshot to nvme?

I have 2 asmesdia 1064 pci cards already, i think i pass them through to truenas to handle my data and media, so will have 1 HDD spare. (can be 3,4 or 6 TB)

Any suggestions welcome
thanks
 
I would mirror the two 240gb SSDs for the boot drive. You can use the extra space to store ISOs and LXC templates. Snapshots are stored where the VM is stored, I don't believe you can change that. You will want to store your VMs on your fastest drive(s). NVME is good, but 240GB is kind of small. I also prefer to put my VMs on mirrored drives whenever possible.
 
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I would mirror the two 240gb SSDs for the boot drive. You can use the extra space to store ISOs and LXC templates.
Click to expand...
Good, i wasnt sure if it was totally wasted.

Snapshots are stored where the VM is stored, I don't believe you can change that. You will want to store your VMs on your fastest drive(s). NVME is good, but 240GB is kind of small. I also prefer to put my VMs on mirrored drives whenever possible.
Click to expand...
That makes sense thanks, i was just going a bit dizzy reading stuff. 2 NVME is a no no, only one slot on motherboard, could i get away with using a HDD to back up the VMs?

Am i right in thinking that as long as proxmox is installed correctly i can switch the disk with VMs after?

i have 12 sata ports and 1 nvme.

The 8 on the pci cards are HDDs, 2 more for proxmox, the NVME, so i have 2 sata ports and 1 spare HDD to use
 
That makes sense thanks, i was just going a bit dizzy reading stuff. 2 NVME is a no no, only one slot on motherboard, could i get away with using a HDD to back up the VMs?
Click to expand...
You can always add more NVMEs via a PCI slot. Yes, you can back up your VMs to hard disk. I do it via NFS, as I too have a passed through ASMedia card (1166) and I run TrueNAS scale virtualized.

Am i right in thinking that as long as proxmox is installed correctly i can switch the disk with VMs after?
Click to expand...

As long as you have back ups of the VM's that do not reside on the VM disk(s)
 
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You can always add more NVMEs via a PCI slot. Yes, you can back up your VMs to hard disk. I do it via NFS, as I too have a passed through ASMedia card (1166) and I run TrueNAS scale virtualized.
Click to expand...
Nothing is quite right about the motherboard, i only have 2 pci slots, and if the nvme is in use i lose a sata on the motherboard. Oh well, i shan't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Just one last thing, live in the countryside and get regular power cuts, probably 5 a year during storms etc, copy on write in zfs1 should be ok with sudden power losses?
 
jdfyj45fg said:
The 8 on the pci cards are HDDs, 2 more for proxmox,
Click to expand...

My personal and unusual approach would be this:

Run the installation to create the default ZFS "rpool" utilizing all HDDs; yes, only the classic disks. Side effect: each and every disk will be bootable.

After installation (and everything basically running) and before putting much data onto it add those two SSDs as a mirrored "Special Device". Make sure the SSDs have PLP - both their speed and their reliability are important.

This construct is an attempt to get the most out of a large set of rotating rust with only two fast supporting devices.

Just my two €¢...
 
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jdfyj45fg said:
Nothing is quite right about the motherboard, i only have 2 pci slots, and if the nvme is in use i lose a sata on the motherboard. Oh well, i shan't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Just one last thing, live in the countryside and get regular power cuts, probably 5 a year during storms etc, copy on write in zfs1 should be ok with sudden power losses?
Click to expand...
I am not one to bet on ZFS saving me during a power outage, although it has several times which I tripped over power cables, etc. Keep frequent backups and perhaps invest in a uninterruptible power supply. I would worry more about backing up your VMs and your data than the boot drive(s). I can re-install Proxmox from scratch in about 15-20 minutes. Having backups of your VMs will save you, as you can just restore them to your fresh Proxmox build in minutes.

By the way, I just learned about these adapters. I have one on the way to experiment with my main Proxmox node which is an ITX motherboard with one PCI slot. I use my PCI X16 slot for my 10gbe NIC currently, but the NIC only needs X8 bandwidth. PLUS my motherboard supports PCIE bifurcation, so it should work nicely with this, I am hoping. If it works out, I will gain two more M.2 NVME slots

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMWTRY9T
 
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UdoB said:
My personal and unusual approach would be this:

Run the installation to create the default ZFS "rpool" utilizing all HDDs; yes, only the classic disks. Side effect: each and every disk will be bootable.

After installation (and everything basically running) and before putting much data onto it add those two SSDs as a mirrored "Special Device". Make sure the SSDs have PLP - both their speed and their reliability are important.

This construct is an attempt to get the most out of a large set of rotating rust with only two fast supporting devices.

Just my two €¢...
Click to expand...
i appreciate the suggestion, i think i'll go with the other option now, most of the media on the HDD is media that is unmoving/slow moving, theres going to be 10gb a day + image uploads etc.
 
louie1961 said:
I am not one to bet on ZFS saving me during a power outage, although it has several times which I tripped over power cables, etc. Keep frequent backups and perhaps invest in a uninterruptible power supply. I would worry more about backing up your VMs and your data than the boot drive(s). I can re-install Proxmox from scratch in about 15-20 minutes. Having backups of your VMs will save you, as you can just restore them to your fresh Proxmox build in minutes.

By the way, I just learned about these adapters. I have one on the way to experiment with my main Proxmox node which is an ITX motherboard with one PCI slot. I use my PCI X16 slot for my 10gbe NIC currently, but the NIC only needs X8 bandwidth. PLUS my motherboard supports PCIE bifurcation, so it should work nicely with this, I am hoping. If it works out, I will gain two more M.2 NVME slots

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMWTRY9T
Click to expand...
that adaptor looks lovely, looks like im ordering another nvme so,

will i be able to pass through the asmedia card on top without the nvme cards do you think?
 
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