Source
r/homelab•
mexitech

Suggestions for starting a homelab w/ existing hardware

Solved

I'm freeing up some hardware to start my homelab experience. Looking for some suggestions on what to run.

  • Ryzen 7 1700
  • 32gb ram
  • 2tb Intel 660p
  • 1tb Inland Professional SSD
  • 2tb Firecuda SSHD
  • RX 460 gpu

For starters, I'll want to run a Unifi Controller. I'm a software engineer that's done some front-end, Java, node.js development and know enough Linux to be dangerous. Want to get more into using Docker. Saw a video that stated that installing Proxmox on a drive doesn't allow you to use for anything else.

Posted Feb 28, 2021, 1:22 AM UTC

38
beyonddc•

Proxmox or VMware ESXI (the free one) as bare metal hypervisor to host VMs.

One of your Linux VM can be used as your docker host. If you don't need to scale such as using K8s then you can consider installing portainer along with docker for container management.

2
mexitechOP•

Thanks! I've seen Proxmox pop up several times; I think I'm gonna try that first.

1
beyonddc•

If you are a software engineer maybe give VMware ESXI a try. Reason is most companies use them, give you another experience that you can add to your resume.

0
justpassingby77•

Install whatever distro you're comfortable with, install docker and for VMs throw either virt-manager or cockpit-machines on it.

2
mexitechOP•

I guess I had worded poorly. My intention for this machine was to be headless. From the examples I've seen on this subreddit, I think I'm gonna try out Proxmox.

I've used Virtualbox in the past. Any pros for virt-manager or cockpit-machines?

1
justpassingby77•

I assumed headless, and most distributions have a headless variant, or are based off of a distro with a headless edition.

virt-manager is a cli program cockpit-machines runs a webserver.

1
4ssw1per•

Sounds to me like you are worried that you have to either give 1 or 2 TB for proxmox but that is not true, you install proxmox and can use the rest of the disk for VM disks.

I have it set up so I have 60GB allocated for proxmox and the rest of the disk for vm disks.

What’s your source on “installing proxmox on a drive does not allow usage for anything else”?

2
mexitechOP•

Thanks for the clarification. Maybe I misunderstood, but this is the video where it's stated can't use disk for anything but Proxmox.

https://youtu.be/7OVaWaqO2aU?t=95

1