Basic Questions About Virtualization

[hernandito]

Helllo,

 

Long time unRAID user, and just upgraded my v5 to v6b14. In addition, I upgraded from a Celeron w/ 2GB RAM, to an i7 w/ 8 cores and 12GB of RAM.

 

In unRAID, I was able to setup a Docker for MariaDB, to centralize my Kodi media library. Its all running fine. I also run Sab, SB, CP, etc from plugins from Phaze.

 

I would also like to run PlexMedia Server (in another Docker container).

 

Prior to my upgrade, I have also been running a separate computer server, where I run Ubuntu 14.04 Server. On this server, I host a personal web site with PHP, have another MySQL server, it runs an nZEDb indexer (a Newznab clone), rTotternt/ruTorrent. I would love to fold all of this Ubuntu server functionality into my upgrade unRAID.

 

What would be the best method of achieving this? Is there a Docker for a LAMP server? I would probably use the same MariaDB from the docker for my database needs. Or is this something that another visualization method would be better suited? I am completely new to Zen or KVM... Would my new unRAID server be OK to handle all?

 

Any guidance, pointers, or tips are greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

H.

 

PS... In my system I have 8 drives, 1 parity and one cache for a total of 10 drives. After upgrading, unRAID shows one of the drives as spun down and "data is invalid".

 

I suspect it's my power supply which is 735W. Is my power supply insufficient with this motherboard (it worked fine with the Celeron) and the 10 drives? Or is the drive failing... I would like to know whether I need to buy a new drive or power supply.

 

Thanks,

 

 

[jonp]

Helllo,

 

Long time unRAID user, and just upgraded my v5 to v6b14. In addition, I upgraded from a Celeron w/ 2GB RAM, to an i7 w/ 8 cores and 12GB of RAM.

 

In unRAID, I was able to setup a Docker for MariaDB, to centralize my Kodi media library. Its all running fine. I also run Sab, SB, CP, etc from plugins from Phaze.

 

I would also like to run PlexMedia Server (in another Docker container).

 

Prior to my upgrade, I have also been running a separate computer server, where I run Ubuntu 14.04 Server. On this server, I host a personal web site with PHP, have another MySQL server, it runs an nZEDb indexer (a Newznab clone), rTotternt/ruTorrent. I would love to fold all of this Ubuntu server functionality into my upgrade unRAID.

 

What would be the best method of achieving this? Is there a Docker for a LAMP server? I would probably use the same MariaDB from the docker for my database needs. Or is this something that another visualization method would be better suited? I am completely new to Zen or KVM... Would my new unRAID server be OK to handle all?

 

Any guidance, pointers, or tips are greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

H.

 

PS... In my system I have 8 drives, 1 parity and one cache for a total of 10 drives. After upgrading, unRAID shows one of the drives as spun down and "data is invalid".

 

I suspect it's my power supply which is 735W. Is my power supply insufficient with this motherboard (it worked fine with the Celeron) and the 10 drives? Or is the drive failing... I would like to know whether I need to buy a new drive or power supply.

 

Thanks,

 

Wow, that's a pretty big HW upgrade!  You have multiple options at your disposal for how you'd like to handle your setup.  I like to think of Docker Containers as simply like having an appstore for your NAS that can run applications from any Linux OS.  Containers are a great way to get right to using an app without having to install it.  Just download and run.  You can browse the containers provided by the community here:  http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=37958.0.  To make it even easier to add apps, I highly recommend the new Community Repositories plugin.

 

VMs, on the other hand, are a great solution for two primary use cases:  localized virtual desktops and localized virtual servers.  A localized virtual desktop is where we use a desktop-class OS in a virtual machine, but where we assign physical graphics, audio, and input devices.  This lets you hook up a monitor, mouse, and keyboard to a GPU add-on card and use your machine as a powerful desktop (Windows, Linux, etc.), isolated from your other applications.

 

Localized virtual servers, on the other hand, are a great way to add server-based applications to an OS that you control and maintain.  They are not like containers, as they can support ANY OS type (not just Linux) and they keep all data, both system and user, inside a virtual disk for storage.  This makes them ideal for running apps that you want to maintain directly, or apps that don't work on Linux.  As for hardware, my signature has a link to the unRAID 6 wiki and in it, there is information about what's involved in configuring virtualization as well as hardware requirements.

 

As far as the issue with your array, I'd recommend posting a separate thread on that topic as it's completely unrelated from questions about virtualization, and may not get the attention of others to help diagnose.

 

I hope this helps and if I can be of further assistance, just ask!

[garycase]

Helllo,

 

Long time unRAID user, and just upgraded my v5 to v6b14. In addition, I upgraded from a Celeron w/ 2GB RAM, to an i7 w/ 8 cores and 12GB of RAM.

 

...

 

PS... In my system I have 8 drives, 1 parity and one cache for a total of 10 drives. After upgrading, unRAID shows one of the drives as spun down and "data is invalid".

 

I suspect it's my power supply which is 735W. Is my power supply insufficient with this motherboard (it worked fine with the Celeron) and the 10 drives? Or is the drive failing... I would like to know whether I need to buy a new drive or power supply.

 

 

If you really built a system with the 8-core i7-5960X Haswell-E, you may indeed have a power issue, as this is a 140w CPU plus the supporting 2011-v3 motherboards require a good bit more power than Socket 1150 boards.

 

But if you actually used a 4-core Socket 1150 CPU (with 8 THREADS ... NOT cores), then 735w should be plenty of power ... so it's likely that you need a new drive, NOT a new power supply.

 

A couple simple ways to test this:

 

=>  If you have a Windows PC, connect the questionable drive to a SATA port on it; then run WD's Data Lifeguard for Windows and do a quick and extended test on the drive.    If it passes both tests, it's probably fine -- you most likely need a better power supply on your system.

 

=>  If you don't have an available PC to do that test; just disconnect a few drives on your UnRAID system; then boot with a new flash drive with the trial version of UnRAID installed on it; and assign ONLY the questionable drive as a data drive -- and see if you can "see" the data on it okay, with no errors.  If so, the drive is probably fine.

 

If either of the above fail, then replace the drive.

 

 

[hernandito]

Thank you guys for the reply. Very helpful stuff.

 

Jon, I do prefer the Docker method for its ease and simplicity. Is there an existing container/repository that provides the PHP/Apache, MyPHPAdmin functionality? I did not see one on the forum's list of useful repositories.

 

The i7 is a 1366 socket model. So I am guessing its a power hog. I am buying a 1000W power supply today.

 

Thanks again gentlemen!

 

 

[garycase]

Yes, if it's a Socket 1366 i7, it's likely a 130w processor, so a bit more power isn't a bad idea.

 

Note, however, that there weren't any 8-core Socket 1366 processors ... these had either 4 or 6 cores.  I presume you have a 4 core version that supports 8 threads -- right?

 

[hernandito]

Thank you Gary... you are right, I confused cores with threads.

[garycase]

It's still a very nice processor