New to VMs/Unraid 6.

[Jawswing]

Fairly new to virtualisation and I'm currently building a new server and switching from Windows back to Unraid 6. But I like the idea of being able to Virtualise Windows still.

I've seen two AsRock motherboards I like. But both or sort of niche server motherboards and I'm finding it difficult to find anywhere that sell them.

 

So I'm also possibly looking at the X99 AsRock ITX motherboard. But before I do buy it, I'm just wanting to check whether it's possible to VM on this: http://asrock.com/mb/Intel/X99E-ITXac/

[jonp]

Fairly new to virtualisation and I'm currently building a new server and switching from Windows back to Unraid 6. But I like the idea of being able to Virtualise Windows still.

I've seen two AsRock motherboards I like. But both or sort of niche server motherboards and I'm finding it difficult to find anywhere that sell them.

 

So I'm also possibly looking at the X99 AsRock ITX motherboard. But before I do buy it, I'm just wanting to check whether it's possible to VM on this: http://asrock.com/mb/Intel/X99E-ITXac/

 

From reviewing the manual here:  ftp://europe.asrock.com/manual/X99E-ITXac.pdf

 

It appears that board has support for VT-x and VT-d.  Should work just fine so long as you also get a CPU with support for those capabilities.  Just an FYI, you don't need a CPU with VT-d unless you want to be able to assign physical PCI devices (think graphics, sound, etc.) to VMs.  If you just want standard "headless" virtual machines, the processor need only support Intel VT-x.

[Jawswing]

Cheers for the reply!

I managed to find one of the ones I were initially looking at. E3C224D4I-14S      http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=E3C224D4I-14S#Specifications

 

I'm pretty much all set to order everything else now. Going to take me awhile to do though. I'm completely new to VMs and such. Never had a need for it until now. This new build is mostly for Plex and such. So I'll most likely be running Plex through Unraid and having a Windows Server with 1 core assigned to it for anything else I need. One thing I have been wondering about though, where do I install the VMs to? I'm guessing I'll have to put a new SSD in there just for Windows?

 

Anything you guys I think I'll need to know, being new to VMs (and Unraid 6). Cheers.

[jonp]

Cheers for the reply!

 

You're welcome!

 

One thing I have been wondering about though, where do I install the VMs to? I'm guessing I'll have to put a new SSD in there just for Windows?

 

SSDs can improve performance for virtual machines for fairly obvious reasons, but they are not technically required.  Storage for a virtual machine is handled by creating what is known as a virtual disk.  Imagine a big file on your array with a .img extension.  That's a virtual disk.  To the virtual machine, it looks like a full blown storage device.  The location of the vdisk (array vs. cache) will also have an impact on performance.  The best location is in a cache/cache pool with SSD(s).

[Jawswing]

I see. So you can install a VM to either the pool or the cache drive. I'll be getting a large SSD for the cache anyway, so that sorts that.

Is it possible to install on a drive not part of the array at all? I was planning on getting a 250/500GB SSD just for music. So if possible, I suppose installing a Windows VM on there would be useful.

[itimpi]

I see. So you can install a VM to either the pool or the cache drive. I'll be getting a large SSD for the cache anyway, so that sorts that.

Is it possible to install on a drive not part of the array at all? I was planning on getting a 250/500GB SSD just for music. So if possible, I suppose installing a Windows VM on there would be useful.

Yes - you can use drives that are not part of the array.  The Unassigned Devices plugin helps with managing such drives.  I run my own VM's from a drive that is not managed by unRAID.

 

Note that unless you have the Pro license drives that are not managed by unRAID still count against the license (which has an attached devices limit).