I've tried Googling, but most things seem to assume that I know more than I do. Could someone sum up in a few sentences why I would or would not want to virtualize an unRAID server? What is the general purpose of it?

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=29279.0

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=31226.0

 

Try these for starters.......

Its all about reliability, currently unraid plugins can cause instability, such as issues rebooting/shutting down, if you virtualize unraid then you can run this in "stock" mode with no plugins, you can then create another seperate vm for the applications you require, for instance sabnzbd+ etc and this won't interfere with your unraid vm in any way.

 

keep in mind there are ongoing conversations to take this a step further, and instead of having to jump through hoops to get the above working via VMware ESX (particular hardware required and config changes needed), you can instead run unraid on a full linux operating system (such as centos) and then either install the applications on the host operating system, or if desired create a separate vm and again install your applications on that, keep your eyes peeled for this on the forums as it just MAY appear fairly soon .

 

makes sense?

I've tried Googling, but most things seem to assume that I know more than I do. Could someone sum up in a few sentences why I would or would not want to virtualize an unRAID server? What is the general purpose of it?

 

#1 search this forum, this question have been asked several times already

BUT here it is again:

 

PRO OF UnRaid VIRTUALIZATION:

 

Virtualization of UnRaid is usually done for several reasons and mostly have to do with

 

a. consolidation of hardware as in you have several machines(servers) running and want to save power.

b. you want to run applications that might make your UnRaid setup unstable

or simply this applications have not been ported to UnRaid and can not be run in it.

thus you need to run several machines,  see reason "a."

c. even though an application have been ported to run in UnRaid as a plugin

it is outdated and/or not as good as commercial version.

 

CONS OF UnRaid VIRTUALIZATION:

a. you need a specific hardware that is compatible with your Hyper-visor of choice

to properly virtualize  unRaid. so need to first and foremost choose the Virtualization platform  IE. (VmWare EXi,Xen, KVM, XenServer)

to get all the benefits unRaid offer it must have a direct access to HDD controller(s)

thus virtualization requires hardware that capable of Pass-through of said controller(s) into unRaid VM. hence you might not be able to use hardware you already have and if buying new must be very cerefull to pick all components that are on HCL for this feature of  your Hyper-visor of choice.

 

b. unraid is not officially supports virtualization , so you will need to search this site for special images and guides from people like Ironic and few others who done it and can help you with setup based on your chosen Virtualizing platform 

 

choice is yours grasshopper. choose wisely :-)

 

 

 

Thank you for your answers. I more or less get it now.