Considering Proxmox use case...doubts.

[andyvs]

Hello all.
I´m planning to setup a new system and trying to determine the best way to implement it. The idea is to have a unique system where I can run Ubuntu's the main system, having Windows and MacOS to run certain apps that have no linux versions. It includes graphic programs in Ubuntu and MacOS. I'll have a Nvidia GPU for those. I've been reading that virtualized MacOS has many limitations, so these apps can be run in Windows if necessary.
The system will have this dedicated 3060 12gb gpu, an i5-12600 processor (the one I have has no video), 32 gigs of RAM.
The two options I consider are.
1. Proxmox as hypervisor and those 3 systems under it. Passthrough the GPU to each system as needed, I guess I cannot split the gpu and run two systems using it at the same time.
2.Ubuntu as the main system and the other two running as VMs inside KVM/quemu. Same idea about the gpu passthrough.

I have limited linux abilities and no experience with Proxmox. I'd like to hear your insights about these ideas.
Thanls,
Andy

 

[zodiac]

Virtualized Mac is certainly a bit more painful. Virtualized Windows generally works quite well, and passing through the graphics card is often a good option. Linux really depends on what you want to do. We'd have to know a little bit more about the programs you are running. You of course can run Linux in a VM and pass through the graphics card whenever you are not using it in the Windows VM.

But you might not even need that. For almost anything other than games, software rendering is often good enough. Modern CPUs can be quite fast. I am not a huge fan of recent Intel CPUs, and would probably favor something from AMD. But honestly, there are lots of good option.

And if you are fine with software rendering, then you can easily run both Windows and Linux at the same time. Give the GPU to Windows, as it seems to do better with an actual physical GPU, and let Linux do things in software. You can even run Linux in a container instead of a VM, if you prefer. That's similar to your option #2, but not quite the same.

What I wouldn't do is use PVE as a hypervisor, while also using the host as a working environment for the user. That's going to defeat a lot of the benefits of having something like Proxmox, and it is also going to frequently break. Keep all your different operating systems in virtualized environments.

 

[andyvs]

Virtualized Mac is certainly a bit more painful. Virtualized Windows generally works quite well, and passing through the graphics card is often a good option. Linux really depends on what you want to do. We'd have to know a little bit more about the programs you are running. You of course can run Linux in a VM and pass through the graphics card whenever you are not using it in the Windows VM.

But you might not even need that. For almost anything other than games, software rendering is often good enough. Modern CPUs can be quite fast. I am not a huge fan of recent Intel CPUs, and would probably favor something from AMD. But honestly, there are lots of good option.

And if you are fine with software rendering, then you can easily run both Windows and Linux at the same time. Give the GPU to Windows, as it seems to do better with an actual physical GPU, and let Linux do things in software. You can even run Linux in a container instead of a VM, if you prefer. That's similar to your option #2, but not quite the same.

What I wouldn't do is use PVE as a hypervisor, while also using the host as a working environment for the user. That's going to defeat a lot of the benefits of having something like Proxmox, and it is also going to frequently break. Keep all your different operating systems in virtualized environments.

Thanks for the answer. In Linux, I’ll use Darktable an DaVinci Resolve, which is very GPU dependent. In WIndows (guess I’ll forget MacOS for that), Photoshop, PhotoLab and Capture One, all using the GPU a lot too. But they don’t need to run at the same time (though it would be optimal) so I can use them one at a time with the GPU passed to them.
I didn’t quite understand your last paragraph. Wouldn’t I be using PVE exactly to keep all my different operating systems in virtualized environments?
I’m trying to compare this option with just running Linux as the primary OS and Windows as a VM inside it. Specially from the GPU use point of view. And then I would have one less system (PVE) consuming resources…

 

[LnxBil]

Wouldn’t I be using PVE exactly to keep all my different operating systems in virtualized environments?

PVE is not for virtualizing desktop operating systems. You will not have the same performance as a proper desktop virtualizer like VirtualBox or VMware Workstation.

I concur with @zodiac that using Linux as main OS and virtualizing Windows with e.g. VirtualBox gives the best experience.

 

[andyvs]

PVE is not for virtualizing desktop operating systems. You will not have the same performance as a proper desktop virtualizer like VirtualBox or VMware Workstation.

I concur with @zodiac that using Linux as main OS and virtualizing Windows with e.g. VirtualBox gives the best experience.

Bingo. So be it! Thanks !