Daily driving unraid via VMs over local network.

[adrianedelen]

Lately I have been considering the idea of swapping my server with my desktop PC.

 

My server is an old surplus lenovo s60 with an ancient xeon, not enough sata, and slow ram.

My current desktop is much more powerful, and seeing as I am using my server to do more and more heavy lifting, I figured it would make sense to swap (or just get rid of the server and get a cheap desktop).

 

My intention/goal would be to install/transfer unraid and drives to desktop PC. and then create an appropriate VM on unraid for my needs. Then on my new cheap desktop, just connect to the Vm on unraid. Kind of like a thin client.

 

Additionally, My server is about 40 feet away with several walls in-between and it is connected via cat6 and various switches.

 

I am still new to using VMs and I currently have a few running on unraid, I connect to them on my desktop using TigerVNC, however, there is a lot of latency, stuttering mouse, artifacting, and other nuisances that would make using the VM as a daily machine an unpleasant experience.

 

I am willing to sacrifice the overhead of virtualization, But I am wondering, is there a better way of connection to a VM then something like vnc?

is daily driving a VM on a remote machine, with gpu passthrough a reasonable thing to do?

 

Additionally: I have considered using SFP/in wall fiber for things like usb/display port/etc. however this is not Ideal as i would like the felxibility of ethernet (and running that stuff through the attic is a pain)

Edited July 6, 2022 by adrianedelen

[JonathanM]

Try nomachine.

[adrianedelen]

6 minutes ago, JonathanM said:

Try nomachine.

Thanks for that suggestion, I will check this out.

 

I will do a test run tonight, using my current setup.

 

What I am trying to avoid is commiting to swapping all of this hardware around, getting the rackmount case, etc. if it is not a suitable setup.

 

 

Edited July 6, 2022 by adrianedelen