Trying to put all the pieces together before I make a mistake installing. I have a cache drive, a few drives in my array, and an unassigned disk(already precleared).

 

I want to put in a Windows 8.1 vm to run security software(record video daily). Ideally, I'd like to use my unassigned disk to store video. I don't need it parity protected or have user shares overflow into it.

 

I'm unsure where the vdisk will be stored and if the vm will be able to write to this disk. Could use some guidance or better ideas on doing this. Thanks.

Here is what I've done in the past on 6b5 (back to ESXi currently but will switch to 6 stable eventually):

[*]Setup the virtual disk on my cache drive with enough space for Windows to run and have some expansion available (50GB for Windows 7 x64)

[*]Pass through a controller where I connect my recording drives for SageTV (also passed through the tuners that SageTV used to record TV).

Maybe something like that will work for you.

I did see that there is a Docker container available that has something to do with Video Cameras.  I don't know ANYTHING about that stuff or if it will suit your needs but you may want to look into it.

 

EDIT:  the one I was thinking of is here (Zoneminder):  http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=39413.0

 

John

Here is what I've done in the past on 6b5 (back to ESXi currently but will switch to 6 stable eventually):

[*]Setup the virtual disk on my cache drive with enough space for Windows to run and have some expansion available (50GB for Windows 7 x64)

[*]Pass through a controller where I connect my recording drives for SageTV (also passed through the tuners that SageTV used to record TV).

Maybe something like that will work for you.

My cache is a 250GB Samsung SSD. Would it be wise for me to have the vm use that much space?

Also, should I just add my "camera storage" disk that I had lying around into the array and create a share that only lives oh that disk? Can I turn parity protection off on that share since it will constantly be written to? I wanted to keep this non critical, captured data separate which is why I was attempting to keep it off the array.

I did see that there is a Docker container available that has something to do with Video Cameras.  I don't know ANYTHING about that stuff or if it will suit your needs but you may want to look into it.

 

EDIT:  the one I was thinking of is here (Zoneminder):  http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=39413.0

 

John

Thanks, I'll look it over, but it seems Blue Iris is what people like and is more mature. Free is great though. So is having a built in docker.

Here is what I've done in the past on 6b5 (back to ESXi currently but will switch to 6 stable eventually):

• Setup the virtual disk on my cache drive with enough space for Windows to run and have some expansion available (50GB for Windows 7 x64)
  
• Pass through a controller where I connect my recording drives for SageTV (also passed through the tuners that SageTV used to record TV).
  

Maybe something like that will work for you.

My cache is a 250GB Samsung SSD. Would it be wise for me to have the vm use that much space?

Also, should I just add my "camera storage" disk that I had lying around into the array and create a share that only lives oh that disk? Can I turn parity protection off on that share since it will constantly be written to? I wanted to keep this non critical, captured data separate which is why I was attempting to keep it off the array.

If all you have on it is software installs and no data then NO I wouldn't use all 250GB for it.  You may want to install other VMs and you get the best performance (I've read anyway) from RAW format rather than QCOW2 so so the image would actually occupy whatever you give it.  You could add your camera storage to an array disk but NO you cannot turn off parity protection on a single array disk.  You could use the Unassigned Devices plugin to mount it outside the array and not have parity protection on it.  I believe the plugin will allow sharing from the devices it mounts but I've never used it so far so I could be wrong.  I always wanted more than one disk and the fastest access to the drives so I always have passed through a controller.  But if you just want a single device the plugin would probably be the best option for you.