IMTheNachoMan

Yes. I get that. But I'm saying there are folks like me that would appreciate a super slim version that doesn't even have references/code for the other stuff. It boots, auto mounts disks to standard mount points, and that's it. No storage management. Just containers + VMs. But, now that I think about it, I'm thinking this might require more than a few code changes to unRAID core....

Remove all the array aspects of the web UI. Remove any of the associated array jobs like mover and what not -- like removed from the configs and files in the OS. I know I could disable these myself but my thought is a light weight version of unRAID would take care of it all.

Yes, I know. I feel like I didn't do a good job of explaining. I know you can do what I'm explaining with unRAID. But I still feel there is a use for a cleaner configuration. Just a managed Linux installation with a webUI and with container and VM support. IMHO

Yes. I know. But I still think there would be use/demand for a version that just mounts disks as normal disks, no pools, parity, cache, etc. I know you can disable all that but folks like me wouldn't mind a "cleaner" setup.

unRAID is quite powerful. The more I use it and the more I read about other products, the more I see how uniquely positioned unRAID is. While unRAID is primarely meant for storage, I think there is a good use-case for a version of unRAID that isn't heavy on storage features but still retains containers + VM feature (with passthrough capabilities). Imagine you wanted a server to run containers + VMs on. Say it has disk for storage. Right now you don't have a lot of good options: Proxmox containers are LXC and many Docker containers won't work out of the box You could install Linux directly but then you have to manage the OS like updates, securing, etc... You don't have these problems with unRAID. Yes, I know you can just use unRAID as-is but all the array stuff would be unnecessary bulk for this use-case. It would be cool if there was a version of unRAID that didn't have the array features, but still had everything else. Just a thought. I feel like if a version of unRAID like this existed, it might be a promising option for folks who don't need/want all the storage features.

No. The more I read, the more I realized how many complications can arise and I didn't want that stress. But I did read that you basically create virtual NICs in the VM.

I feel like RAM transcoding was popular when HDDs were more prevalent?

Were you able to get this to work? I am thinking of getting a P400 for passthrough to a Windows 10 VM and I'm trying to figure out if it'll work.

Thanks. I guess I need to get a PSU too now. Fun times. Thanks for your help.

Oh. I'm not sure what all that means. So I shouldn't get an AMD GPU?

So I have to buy a VGA card. Now to find an inexpensive low profile DisplayPort video card that works with unRAID for passing through to a Windows 10 VM. I haven't had to buy a VGA card in 20+ years.

I have an HP ProDesk 600 G4 SFF I use for unRAID. It has an i5-8500 and 32 GB RAM. It does not have an external GPU -- I am using the integrated UHD Graphics 630. Right now I am running a few containers. One of them is Plex and I use the Intel Quick Sync of the GPU/UHD for HW transcoding. I want to use the machine as a primary desktop running Windows 10 for online surfing, bills, some light HTML/JS/CSS development. I'm not gaming on it. I know I can pass through the GPU but then will HW transcoding for Plex still work? Or is there a way to get my desired configuration working without an external GPU?

This could work but I feel like there must be a way to create a virtual NIC in unraid that plugs into a virtual NIC on the VM.

One configuration mistake, or some issue, and you could write gigs to a log file. It depends on the log file. You generally never want to write logs to a boot folder/partition/drive.

My unRAID box has 2x ethernet ports that are passed through to a pfSense VM. One port is for WAN and connected to my FIOS ONT One port is for LAN and connected to a switch Everything works as expected. But I can't figure out how to connect to unRAID through my network? I assume I need to create some kind of virtual NIC connecting the unRAID host and the pfSense VM but I'm not sure how to do that?