Looking for advice on Proxmox configuration

Mark5

New Member
Mar 1, 2023
2
0
1
Hi all. I've built and rebuilt Proxmox several times trying to figure out the best configuration for my needs.

This is going to be my homelab and cybersecurity training lab.

I have a main host with 24 cores, 128gb RAM, 256gb + 2tb nvme. And, if needed, I have a second host with 4 cores/32gb RAM, 256gb nvme + 512gb ssd. Finally, I have a 2tb and 8tb hdd.

I need to have about 6 "production" LXC/VM plus spin up several LXC's/VM's for virtual servers (linux and win64) as attack targets and virtual desktops. One "production" service needs to be sharing the 2tb hdd via SMB for user data files and the 8tb hdd for backup storage by anything that needs to be backed-up (production LXC/VM on Proxmox and both physical and virtual desktops).

Should I do everything on one Proxmox host, setup a cluster, or use the main machine for Proxmox and the the second machine with FreeNAS?
 
Should I do everything on one Proxmox host
As always: it depends. On your requirements and expectations.

When that single host stops working your complete business (in your homelab or at the training lab) comes to a standstill. For an unknown duration: if hardware is failing/damaged you may need several days or weeks to get back to a working condition. This is true for both your single PVE and your single FreeNAS.

As long as this is fine: a single host is cheaper than two or three. And possibly important: it consumes less power.

In my personal homelab I have family data that should be reliably available, backuped at least dayly and be served 24*7. And then there is a software router which also needs an uptime of 99.999% - or internet access fails for everybody, which is just not acceptable nowadays.
For these reasons (and some other) my personal homelab consists of several small computers (Minisforum + Odroid) plus HP Microservers - with a lot of redundancy hardware-wise and by using ZFS exclusively. And of course everything is in a cluster. Thank you Proxmox!

Just my 2 €¢...
 
Thanks for the response.

I don't need clusters, ha or hw redundancy at this time. I can consider that in the future.

I'm really just looking for advice on how to best share the hdd's. Frankly, I find configuring and managing storage on Proxmox very confusing.
 

About

The Proxmox community has been around for many years and offers help and support for Proxmox VE, Proxmox Backup Server, and Proxmox Mail Gateway.
We think our community is one of the best thanks to people like you!

Get your subscription!

The Proxmox team works very hard to make sure you are running the best software and getting stable updates and security enhancements, as well as quick enterprise support. Tens of thousands of happy customers have a Proxmox subscription. Get yours easily in our online shop.

Buy now!