Hey folks,
I'm looking to set up Proxmox on bare metal and create multiple virtual machines (VMs) for different services like Ubuntu/Debian servers for various purposes. My aim is to use this as a general-purpose homelab, running services like firewall, VPN, media server, file hosting, networking/monitoring and some FOSS software. I also want to access some services in my private network from the outside (maybe via Cloudflare Zero Trust Tunnels).
Here's the current hardware I'm working with: HP EliteDesk 800 G5 SFF (specs: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06414352)
- CPU: Intel i5 9500
- GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 630
- PSU: 250 W (80 PLUS Platinum)
- RAM: Crucial Pro DDR4 2666 (2 x 32GB)
- SSD SATA: Crucial MX500 (1 x 500GB)
- SSD NVME: Crucial P3 (2 x 2TB)
- HDD: Seagate Exos X18 (2 x 16TB)
For services, I'm planning to use:
- Firewall: OPNsense
- VPN: OpenVPN / WireGuard - what is the more robust solution?
- Media: Jellyfin, Sonarr, Radarr, Prowlarr
- File Hosting and Synchronization: Nextcloud, PhotoPrism
- Networking and Monitoring: AdGuard / PiHole, Cloudfare, Nginx Proxy Manager / Traefik, Uptime Kama, Grafana
- Password Manager: Vaultwarden
- Dashboard: Heimdall / Homarr
- Software Development: GitLab
- Download Clients: Deluge
- Misc: LocalAI, Paperless, Kasm Workspaces, Kavita, Audiobookshelf, FreshRSS, Invidious (YouTube), Teddit (Reddit)
I'm comfortable with Docker, so I'm thinking of running multiple Docker hosts in dedicated VMs (like Ubuntu/Debian server) and managing the services with Portainer.
However, I'm unsure about using Kubernetes and Rancher instead. Is it worth learning these tools for enabling HA clusters which would result in a more robust setup?
I'm also undecided on storage / backup solutions. I've heard good things about TrueNAS Scale since it has built-in periodic snapshoting and simplified file sharing system (NFS) but using it as a guest VM might involve extra effort using an HBA PCIe card to passthrough the disks (HDDs). Is it worth it?
As for file systems I'm also not an expert. What would be a reasonable configuration for this system?
I've heard ZFS has great features but consumer-grade SSDs might not be ideal (wearing on heavy workload), so I should only use ZFS for the HDDs. Any thoughts on this?
In terms of VM setup, should I dedicate a VM for each service category for better isolation and file sharing? Are there any best practices you recommend?
Lastly, do you think the CPU and RAM I have are sufficient for these tasks?
What are your thoughts on the assigned storage dedication (SATA SSD (EXT4) for boot drive, NVME SSDs (EXT4) for VMs, HDDs (ZFS) for file storage and backups)?
Thanks a bunch for your input!
I'm looking to set up Proxmox on bare metal and create multiple virtual machines (VMs) for different services like Ubuntu/Debian servers for various purposes. My aim is to use this as a general-purpose homelab, running services like firewall, VPN, media server, file hosting, networking/monitoring and some FOSS software. I also want to access some services in my private network from the outside (maybe via Cloudflare Zero Trust Tunnels).
Here's the current hardware I'm working with: HP EliteDesk 800 G5 SFF (specs: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06414352)
- CPU: Intel i5 9500
- GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 630
- PSU: 250 W (80 PLUS Platinum)
- RAM: Crucial Pro DDR4 2666 (2 x 32GB)
- SSD SATA: Crucial MX500 (1 x 500GB)
- SSD NVME: Crucial P3 (2 x 2TB)
- HDD: Seagate Exos X18 (2 x 16TB)
For services, I'm planning to use:
- Firewall: OPNsense
- VPN: OpenVPN / WireGuard - what is the more robust solution?
- Media: Jellyfin, Sonarr, Radarr, Prowlarr
- File Hosting and Synchronization: Nextcloud, PhotoPrism
- Networking and Monitoring: AdGuard / PiHole, Cloudfare, Nginx Proxy Manager / Traefik, Uptime Kama, Grafana
- Password Manager: Vaultwarden
- Dashboard: Heimdall / Homarr
- Software Development: GitLab
- Download Clients: Deluge
- Misc: LocalAI, Paperless, Kasm Workspaces, Kavita, Audiobookshelf, FreshRSS, Invidious (YouTube), Teddit (Reddit)
I'm comfortable with Docker, so I'm thinking of running multiple Docker hosts in dedicated VMs (like Ubuntu/Debian server) and managing the services with Portainer.
However, I'm unsure about using Kubernetes and Rancher instead. Is it worth learning these tools for enabling HA clusters which would result in a more robust setup?
I'm also undecided on storage / backup solutions. I've heard good things about TrueNAS Scale since it has built-in periodic snapshoting and simplified file sharing system (NFS) but using it as a guest VM might involve extra effort using an HBA PCIe card to passthrough the disks (HDDs). Is it worth it?
As for file systems I'm also not an expert. What would be a reasonable configuration for this system?
I've heard ZFS has great features but consumer-grade SSDs might not be ideal (wearing on heavy workload), so I should only use ZFS for the HDDs. Any thoughts on this?
In terms of VM setup, should I dedicate a VM for each service category for better isolation and file sharing? Are there any best practices you recommend?
Lastly, do you think the CPU and RAM I have are sufficient for these tasks?
What are your thoughts on the assigned storage dedication (SATA SSD (EXT4) for boot drive, NVME SSDs (EXT4) for VMs, HDDs (ZFS) for file storage and backups)?
Thanks a bunch for your input!
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