I've taken some time to read about how the new version of unRAID has VM and Docker support. I am in the middle of possibly planning some new builds, but I am a bit confused on the new features of unRAID, especially using Dockers. I read that there's a docker for Emby, but I am not sure how Dockers work. I contemplated building a dedicated Emby server with Win 7 on bare metal hardware since I have an AsRock H61M board with the i5 2500 (no 'K') and 16GB RAM that's been lying around and want to put it back to use.

 

The other thing is I recently built a new Server 2012 R2 machine and made the new DC in my home network. I thought on building another server machine and make that a secondary DC for backup and replication purposes. However, my question is whether it will be wise to create the secondary DC in the VM or just better to build it in actual physical hardware, which was my first choice.

 

In addition, when using VM with unRAID, say I installed Windows 7 in the VM running Emby Server....I have no need to connect a physical mouse and keyboard to the machine since I will only access the VM via RDP in Windows for maintenance and adjustments. Plus, I am running older SuperMicro hardware in the 846 chassis that supports virtualization, so I am not sure whether more modern hardware is needed to use the VM features unRAID has. I am not new to VMs as I have used ESXi and VirtualBox without issue.

 

If I can get a little understanding on how Dockers work and installing the apps that you can use that would be great. So far some google searching didn't reveal much info about them other than the technicalities. 

If you want to run VM's without passing any physical hardware through to them (i.e. Using RDP or VNC) then the virtualisation support you need is VT-x which most 64 bit systems support.  If you want to directly use hardware (e.g. GPU) then that is when VT-d support is also required, and that is far less frequently supported.

 

Regarding dockers then your there is a good description in the unRAID online documenattion.    You can also read up on it at docker.com.  In simplistic terms it is a way of providing isolation of Linux apps from each other without the full overhead of a VM which means they can easily be packaged independently of the details of the underlying Linux system that is hosting them.

No need to create and manage a VM if all you want is Emby.  Either run Emby via Docker, or easier still, you can run it as a good 'ol fashioned plugin.  Take a look at PhAzE's plugin selection.  I've used several of PhAzE's plugins before, including Emby, with no issues.