Hello all
I want to switch from ESXi to fully proxmox in my homelab.
Currently, I have the following hardware:
- Dell R240 with ESXi with 3 VMs (the only one that runs permanently as it also has our Smart Home stuff on it)
- Dell R620 with Proxmox with 2 VMs
- Dell R320 empty
- Dell R520 empty
The first question I have is if I should use Proxmox Clustering. I don't want HA or live migrations. Almost all VM data will be local only. I would only want clustering to easily move VMs around or to have a single webpage to administer all servers. Also most of the time, at least some servers will be shut off (for power saving, as I need most only for labbing / partially). Also I don't really want to setup a dedicted network just for the cluster communication, it's just a homelab. Would all this just cause more trouble than just using scp for copying and multiple links to manage the servers or is this a valid scenario for Proxmox Clustering?
My second question is about storage: To be honest, I just don't understand it. Searched a lot but didn't find answers. All servers have a HW-Raid controller and usually, I do Raid 1 with 2 disks, sometimes this is all I have and sometimes, I have another 2 disks in Raid 1. As I mentioned before, I almost exclusively just use local storage and probably never need to expand it (even 1TB is enough for all VMs for 1 host). Should I keep it that way and just install proxmox with ex4 and have this 100GB local and the rest local-lvm (thin I think)? Or should I go any other route? Also for the servers where I have two raid 1 virtual volumes, as what should I add the second? As directory to be flexible? As lvm-thin? In the same volume group or different one? Or should I scrap the HW-Raid and go zfs or something?
It would be really helpfull to get some tips and hints for this setup.
Many, many thanks in advance.
I want to switch from ESXi to fully proxmox in my homelab.
Currently, I have the following hardware:
- Dell R240 with ESXi with 3 VMs (the only one that runs permanently as it also has our Smart Home stuff on it)
- Dell R620 with Proxmox with 2 VMs
- Dell R320 empty
- Dell R520 empty
The first question I have is if I should use Proxmox Clustering. I don't want HA or live migrations. Almost all VM data will be local only. I would only want clustering to easily move VMs around or to have a single webpage to administer all servers. Also most of the time, at least some servers will be shut off (for power saving, as I need most only for labbing / partially). Also I don't really want to setup a dedicted network just for the cluster communication, it's just a homelab. Would all this just cause more trouble than just using scp for copying and multiple links to manage the servers or is this a valid scenario for Proxmox Clustering?
My second question is about storage: To be honest, I just don't understand it. Searched a lot but didn't find answers. All servers have a HW-Raid controller and usually, I do Raid 1 with 2 disks, sometimes this is all I have and sometimes, I have another 2 disks in Raid 1. As I mentioned before, I almost exclusively just use local storage and probably never need to expand it (even 1TB is enough for all VMs for 1 host). Should I keep it that way and just install proxmox with ex4 and have this 100GB local and the rest local-lvm (thin I think)? Or should I go any other route? Also for the servers where I have two raid 1 virtual volumes, as what should I add the second? As directory to be flexible? As lvm-thin? In the same volume group or different one? Or should I scrap the HW-Raid and go zfs or something?
It would be really helpfull to get some tips and hints for this setup.
Many, many thanks in advance.
