« previous next »
Pages:  [1]     Go Down

Author Topic: Noob Virtualization Questions  (Read 2252 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline bear95

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 172
Noob Virtualization Questions
« on: Sat, 19 December 2015, 03:14:54 »
Until now I've been doing all my file sharing and backing up with an old computer with a Pentium d and windows installed using homegroup and storage spaces. I knew it wasn't the most elegant solution but it was something I set up with little to no additional cost other than adding a pci card to support two sata 3 ports for my dual 4tb hdds (it only had 2 sata 2 ports) and some duct tape since it didn't have any space inside (i already had to take out the floppy drive to fit my other hdd and this is porbably not the best for my hdd lol -picture included-).


I was able to let everything run and forget it and worked fine until a recent windows update and homegroup has been acting very frustratingly against me which I've given up on. Then I watched a recent video by linustechtips about a cheap 8 core pc built using old xeon server parts and an older video where he used unraid to virtualize two oses on the same pc. I was particualarly interested in how he was able to split hardware resources between the two oses using unraid.  Since I already used up all my space on the hdds, that got me thinking of building a cheap dual xeon computer to run not only a backup server but also perhaps a media center and some other things I have not thought of yet. I would also get an actual case to fit my hdds.

But before I get started on the hardware I wanted to get down on some software first. The software linus used in the video was unraid which is basically a type 1 hypervisor(sorry if I'm butchering terms here) to split hardware resources between the two vms? I went and researched some alternatives that were open source(you have to purchase unraid) and while there were many Linux based options I decided it was best to stick to a more windows based system which I am more familiar with. So Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 was basically what I am thinking of settling on that was free and somewhat lightweight(couldn't find any info to compare performance between solutions but this is what it was described as). As far as I can tell, I will be able to do the same things with it as I would be able to with unraid. Would this be an ok solution? I'm not sure if I'm heading in the right direction. Suggestions?
« Last Edit: Sat, 19 December 2015, 03:19:13 by bear95 »
Logged

Offline rowdy

  • HHKB Hapster
  • * Erudite Elder
  • Posts: 21175
  • Location: melbourne.vic.au
  • Missed another sale.
Re: Noob Virtualization Questions
« Reply #1 on: Sat, 19 December 2015, 03:24:46 »
Sounds more like you just need a NAS.

If you can get a Linux-based NAS, you can run other software on it (e.g. media centre) as required.
Logged
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline bear95

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 172
Re: Noob Virtualization Questions
« Reply #2 on: Sat, 19 December 2015, 03:34:58 »
I've considered going with a NAS but since I already have a few parts lying around I've found it to be a lot cheaper to go diy. I'm also going this route because I'm doing it frankly just for the fun of it. It also gives me an excuse to get a new-er-ish desktop since with all the moving around I've been doing I've sold all my computer related stuff minus the laptop I'm using and the old desktop above I've picked up from scrap.
Logged

Offline azhdar

  • Praise the AZERTY god
  • Posts: 2436
  • Location: France
  • 65% Enlightened
Re: Noob Virtualization Questions
« Reply #3 on: Sat, 19 December 2015, 03:53:39 »
Quote from: bear95 on Sat, 19 December 2015, 03:34:58
I've considered going with a NAS but since I already have a few parts lying around I've found it to be a lot cheaper to go diy. I'm also going this route because I'm doing it frankly just for the fun of it. It also gives me an excuse to get a new-er-ish desktop since with all the moving around I've been doing I've sold all my computer related stuff minus the laptop I'm using and the old desktop above I've picked up from scrap.

Nas can be DIY too.
It's nothing more than a computer with the right softwares.
Mine was a DIY project as 6+ drives NAS are very expensive.

Logged
Azerty Propagandiste

Offline DanielT

  • * Exquisite Elder
  • Posts: 1252
Re: Noob Virtualization Questions
« Reply #4 on: Sat, 19 December 2015, 03:58:50 »
Yep, you can build one from a normal PC, on mine I have used an old Core 2 Duo HP desktop, I used Solaris 11 because I wanted ZFS with all the bleeding edge features. I have snapshots , data replication etc...
But you have solutions like Free NAS, Open NAS
Logged
Semnătura lu’ pește prăjit ....

Offline rowdy

  • HHKB Hapster
  • * Erudite Elder
  • Posts: 21175
  • Location: melbourne.vic.au
  • Missed another sale.
Re: Noob Virtualization Questions
« Reply #5 on: Sat, 19 December 2015, 04:50:01 »
You can definitely DIY NAS.

Something like FreeNas, perhaps?
Logged
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline azhdar

  • Praise the AZERTY god
  • Posts: 2436
  • Location: France
  • 65% Enlightened
Re: Noob Virtualization Questions
« Reply #6 on: Sat, 19 December 2015, 07:45:05 »
You don't even need a specific NAS operating System. While they offer a lot of stuff usually you won't use half of the tools offered by NAS OS, so a basic linux/windows OS with the right tools is just as good.
Logged
Azerty Propagandiste

Offline notbrain

  • Posts: 33
  • Location: San Francisco
Re: Noob Virtualization Questions
« Reply #7 on: Mon, 21 December 2015, 17:27:30 »
Quote from: rowdy on Sat, 19 December 2015, 04:50:01
You can definitely DIY NAS.

Something like FreeNas, perhaps?

FreeNAS is the way to go. If you want to get crazy with it and never lose any bits to bit rot, look at ZFS and the respective levels that can repair themselves even if you lose 2 drives. Comes in handy if you are buying used hardware.
Logged
Pages:  [1]     Go Up
« previous next »