Hello
I cannot decide which OS I should I install, I have the following machine which will be on 24/7:
- intel Core i7 9700
- 2x32GB RAM
- 1x 256GB M.2 SSD (Booting OS)
- 2x4TB Samsung 870 QVO
and I will use it for:
- NextCloud or other self-hosted cloud
- Git Server (Git Tea or GitLab)
- Plex Server
- VirtualMin
- DNS Server
- FTP/Samba Server
- Remote Downloader
I will also configure each service with a subdomain and HTTPS, for example:
- https://cloud.example.com => NextCloud
- https://plex.example.com => plex server
- https://gitlab.example.com => GitLab Server
- etc.
I am a Web Developer and most of apps can also be ran with docker or in a VM and I will be also developing my own APIs so portability is essential because in the future some of the apps will be ran on a VPS
I am also comfortable reading documentation and configuring everything with ssh/CLI, so configuring things with a UI is nice to have but not mandatory.
I have played with both Ubuntu Server and TrueNas Scale in the past, felt comfortable with both but still for my needs, its a little bit unclear to me with which I should go for.
Proxmox core, Ubuntu server vm for all your docker compose services.
As a web dev, I use a highly optimized vm running centos (centmin) .
This way my Plex + 30ish companion services separate from my dev projects
It came in handy today when I spinned up three windows vms to test some software
ideally, you’d want to have a separate NVMe drive dedicated to storing VMs. If that’s not an option, then it’s best to have the VM disks stored on the Proxmox drive rather than within TrueNAS.
You might check out unraid too…
I went from TrueNAS Core -> Unraid -> TrueNAS Scale -> And Landed back on Unraid.
My reasons were documented here: https://xtremeownage.com/2021/11/10/unraid-vs-truenas-scale-2021/
You should also have a look at ProxMox.
This would allow you to run TrueNAS as a VM as well as spin up other VM’s and LXCs as needed (including a VM running docker).
That said - regardless of which hypervisor you commit to, I’ll recommend that you plan to upgrade your RAM, and look closely at whether plex supports your GPU for hardware acceleration. (Also consider Emby instead of Plex).
Setting up a server to run VM’s can be quite a memory hog. NAS applications as well as media servers in particular.
TrueNAS is going to need 16GB of ram minimum right off the bat, and your media server will eat the other 16GB before you even get started with docker containers.
Hello, by the way, should the vm disks of virtual machines be placed in TrueNAS, or should the hard disks storing vm disks be directly managed by Proxmox?
Ideally you use a second nvme drive dedicated to storing VM’s - but if not you’ll want them stored on the proxmox drive, not inside TrueNAS.
I have 2x32GB, is that not enough?
It would probably be enough for TrueNAS and Plex but likely not much else.
You might squeeze in a couple of lightweight VM’s or LXC’s but I’d plan to at least double the RAM if not more as soon as possible - because TrueNAS and Plex are both memory hogs - especially if you have more than one person streaming video at the same time.
Mainly because you don’t want ballooning ram assigned to TrueNAS or your media server (where ProxMox issues the ram as needed instead of pre-allocating it to the VM)
You would for sure get better results if your GPU is supported by Plex (it probably is hit you’d have to confirm) because hardware acceleration takes work off the CPU and reduces ram impact for streaming operations.
At any rate - these are free to experiment with options so it can’t hurt to download proxmox and start experimenting. Just make backups and snapshots as you go and figure out how much you can stretch your current hardware.
I suggest a Hypervisor on the hardware always. Promox, ESXi or Xen. Then run your large OS’s as VM’s on top, you won’t regret it.
I suggest a Hypervisor on the hardware always. Promox, ESXi or Xen. Then run your large OS’s as VM’s on top, you won’t regret it.