Slow speed expected with this hardware setup?

[carlitos009]

I have a Proxmox server running on a dell mini PC equipped with an intel core i3-10100T at 3 Ghz. It has 32 Gigs of RAM and the primary storage is a WD Blue SN570 NVMe, this is where Proxmox is installed. I have secondary SSD installed which is a Crucial BX500 500Gb SATA. I have a 2TB SSD attached to a USB port for additional storage (was using it for storing footage from an NVR I made with a windows 11 VM but not longer in use for that).

I have the following machines always running: A VM based on Debian with a Unifi controller/console. I am not overloading it, 3 cores and 4 gigs of ram. CPU usage is always under 2% and RAM around 75%. CPU ramps up during updates.
I also have a Home Assistance Instance. 4 cpu's and 2 gigs of ram. Also usage is under 2% unless I am working on it or a script might run or I access the console which has to display some cameras on it, than it ramps up a bit. Ram is about 95% used all the time, doesn't go up more from there.

The following I run when I need them:
I had a NVR with BlueIris running on a windows 10/11 VM which I no longer use. I had it first with 16 Gigs of RAM but since I no longer use it as an NVR I reduced it to 8 Gigs of RAM.
I also have 2 linux VMs. One is Ubuntu 22.04 and the other Lubuntu 22.04. They are both installed and are encrypted (I wanted to check the drop in performance for both on a VM set up). They seem to run ok. I allocated 8 Gigs of ram to each and 8 cores to the Ubuntu and 4 cores to Lubuntu.

I do not run them all at once. If I run the Windows VM I only run additionally either the Ubuntu VM or the Lubuntu VM.

My problem has been the drop in speed in my Lubuntu box mostly. This happens when I have the Unifi and Home Assistant only then I launch the Lubuntu VM. I went from 4 Gigs to 8 Gigs of RAM and I still at times it essentially stops and I can't click on anything, It is apparently frozen, and after 25 to 40 seconds it goes back to normal. Sometimes it takes longer. I might be running a browser and co[ping files to my NAS (testing speeds with different file sizes etc). At this point I check the hardware usage and it is CPU in the 45% range and RAN about 65 to 70 % used. Should not lock up but It does seem to happen

This is my dilemma. The Ubuntu VM I feel is more bloated (I made the slimiest installation possible) and I am aware of the Ubuntu "weight" so I expect it a bit slower. The windows 11 VM usually is ok for the most part for being a VM.

Any suggestions of what might be happening or just laod them as unencrypted VMs? I ask even when this has happened with a previous Lubuntu VM which was not encrypted but I only had 4 Gigs of RAM.

Any help or suggestions? Thanks

 

[Kingneutron]

> the primary storage is a WD Blue SN570 NVMe, this is where Proxmox is installed. I have secondary SSD installed which is a Crucial BX500 500Gb SATA. I have a 2TB SSD attached to a USB port for additional storage

Basically, you're using desktop-class SSDs for a server and they can't handle the I/O requirements.

Upgrade to Enterprise-class, or at least something that is fairly well-known to work with Proxmox

I've had pretty good results (so far, for homelab) with Lexar SSD NM790 1TB nvme, it's been running 24/7 since Feb in a single-node cluster and wearout indicator is still at 0%. YMMV

 

[_gabriel]

I have a Proxmox server

is running ZFS ?

 

[carlitos009]

is running ZFS ?

No ZFS, I was educated enough on it. I have an additional Promox box (6th gen i5) with ZFS and 2 SSD's, simialr setup but far slower. I do not notice much slow down on that one.

 

[carlitos009]

is running ZFS ?

> the primary storage is a WD Blue SN570 NVMe, this is where Proxmox is installed. I have secondary SSD installed which is a Crucial BX500 500Gb SATA. I have a 2TB SSD attached to a USB port for additional storage

Basically, you're using desktop-class SSDs for a server and they can't handle the I/O requirements.

Upgrade to Enterprise-class, or at least something that is fairly well-known to work with Proxmox

I've had pretty good results (so far, for homelab) with Lexar SSD NM790 1TB nvme, it's been running 24/7 since Feb in a single-node cluster and wearout indicator is still at 0%. YMMV

Thank you for the information. I didn't think the SSD would be insufficient. I ran a similar setup on an older i7 with the VMs in the HDD and Promox in an SSD and it was ok.

just switch to an enterprise level SSD? NVME? Any other recommendation?

When it is the other VMs, other than the Lubuntu, it runs mostly well. While writing this post I went back to the Proxmox box and launched teh win 11 vm and the Ubuntu box and tested both o them while running the Unifi Controller and Home assistant and they both are what I expected, but I can see clearly that and NVME would definitely speed up things after looking at the specs compared to what I have right now. I am now inclined to think is something with the Lubuntu VM

 

[justinclift]

Crucial BX500 500Gb SATA

Ouch. That'll probably work ok in bursts, until it exhausts its SLC cache. At which point things waiting on it will pretty much stop (well... pause until it catches up).

Would something like this be available where you buy stuff, and fit within your budget?

https://www.scorptec.com.au/product...-state-drives-(ssd)/109422-mz7l3960hcjr-00w07

WD Blue SN570 NVMe

This ones a TLC drive according to its data sheet, so might not have as bad problems IO wise as the BX500 drive above. Not super sure though.

 

[_gabriel]

OP missing say which disks use its Lubuntu VM.