Migrate Windows Server Shares to a CIF/NFS or LXC with Samba

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alexinux

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Aug 21, 2023
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Hey all,

So I have an airgapped PVE with to Windows Server 2016 VMs that host data that is accessed over the network for AutoCAD and SolidWorks, among patches and other stuff. They each have 10cpus, 20GB of RAM and 2 1.5TB drives that are shared for Windows clients. My questions are as follows:

- Can the NFS or SMB/CIF storage options of the PVE do the same thing without me requiring 2 VMs?
- Is it better to use TrueNAS to host this data?
- I'm trying to consolidate servers and previously had a Windows Server just for serving AutoCAD licenses that I converted into an LXC container which runs better..... can I do this for the data servers?
- I'm trying to look for efficient ways of serving the data to Windows Clients and see how AD permissions integrate or can be configured.
 
Hi @alexinux ,

I think you are misunderstanding the mechanics of CIFS&NFS storage pool purpose in PVE. If we were to compare the PVE pool to your Server/Client infrastructure - PVE is the client. PVE does not serve storage but rather connects to your existing storage device (SAN, NAS (NFS or CIFS)) and then accesses the files located on that SAN/NAS in the similar fashion that your Windows clients operate with your Windows Server.

You can run a VM or LXC in PVE that would act as a NAS device, ie a Windows Server or a Linux with Samba.

Cheers

Blockbridge : Ultra low latency all-NVME shared storage for Proxmox - https://www.blockbridge.com/proxmox
 
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bbgeek17 said:
Hi @alexinux ,

I think you are misunderstanding the mechanics of CIFS&NFS storage pool purpose in PVE. If we were to compare the PVE pool to your Server/Client infrastructure - PVE is the client. PVE does not serve storage but rather connects to your existing storage device (SAN, NAS (NFS or CIFS)) and then accesses the files located on that SAN/NAS in the similar fashion that your Windows clients operate with your Windows Server.

You can run a VM or LXC in PVE that would act as a NAS device, ie a Windows Server or a Linux with Samba.

Cheers

Blockbridge : Ultra low latency all-NVME shared storage for Proxmox - https://www.blockbridge.com/proxmox
Click to expand...
Thank you for the clarification! I just wanted to know if they were viable options for migration from a Windows OS to a more cost/efficient one.
 
alexinux said:
Thank you for the clarification!
Click to expand...
You are welcome.
alexinux said:
I just wanted to know if they were viable options for migration from a Windows OS to a more cost/efficient one.
Click to expand...
They are not because they perform a function that is opposite to your needs.

TrueNAS started as a filer and now contains some hypervisor ability. PVE has always been a hypervisor. Your can still virtualize your FileShare inside PVE, but only by using a VM to serve the filer function.

Blockbridge : Ultra low latency all-NVME shared storage for Proxmox - https://www.blockbridge.com/proxmox
 
bbgeek17 said:
You are welcome.

They are not because they perform a function that is opposite to your needs.

TrueNAS started as a filer and now contains some hypervisor ability. PVE has always been a hypervisor. Your can still virtualize your FileShare inside PVE, but only by using a VM to serve the filer function.

Blockbridge : Ultra low latency all-NVME shared storage for Proxmox - https://www.blockbridge.com/proxmox
Click to expand...
So would a TrueNAS vm serve my 4 shares to the windows clients and be more efficient than the Windows Server 2016 OS? I just want to see if I can not pay Microsoft for their core count stuff if I can do it with something else.
 
Yes, a Truenas VM can provide a CIFS share to your Windows clients.
Truenas is quiet feature rich, which comes with rather large code base. You can get a CIFS share with a multitude of much leaner services.

Will replacing a Windows server with non-windows one work for you? It's impossible for me to say. Things like authentication, app compatibility, other possible dependencies need to be evaluated in your specific context. This would be outside of the scope for this forum.

Blockbridge : Ultra low latency all-NVME shared storage for Proxmox - https://www.blockbridge.com/proxmox
 
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