January 19, 20179 yr My system is still pretty much the same as it was when I configured it many years ago, save for drive and drive-cage upgrades: unRAID server Pro, version 6.2.4 Model: Motherboard: Supermicro - C2SEA Processor: Intel® Pentium® Dual CPU E2180 @ 2.00GHz HVM: Not Available IOMMU: Not Available Cache: L1-Cache = 64 kB (max. capacity 64 kB) L2-Cache = 1024 kB (max. capacity 1024 kB) Memory: 4 GB (max. installable capacity 4 GB) BANK0 = 2048 MB, Unknown BANK2 = 2048 MB, Unknown Network: eth0: 1000Mb/s, full duplex, mtu 1500 Kernel: Linux 4.4.30-unRAID x86_64 OpenSSL: 1.0.2j P + Q algorithm: prefetch64-sse (7760 MB/s) + sse2x4 (5617 MB/s) Uptime: 0 days, 0 hours, 16 minutes, 23 seconds I do understand the advantages of VT-x or AMD-V for direct hardware access, but lack the time and money atm to get into a major hardware upgrade. My question is whether it is possible to run a simple VM on my system that would give me simpler access to the local unRAID resources...I know that I can run a Norton Commander style shell for file management, but if I wanted to run other file utilities from - say - a Linux desktop with remote desktop functionality, would that be possible and are there online resources (maybe even here in the forum or wiki) for configuring such a VM?
January 19, 20179 yr It looks like it won't work: http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/UnRAID_Manual_6#System_Requirements I believe that some hypervisors can run a 32bit OS without VT-x, not sure about KVM. At any rate, seems like it either wouldn't work or would be limited. Dockers do not have the same limitation - they can run without VT-x.
January 19, 20179 yr If you are just looking for a GUI for moving files around on your server, check out the Dolphin and/or Krusader dockers.
January 19, 20179 yr Author points well taken tdalien and jevans04 and thanks for your feedback. actually, I was trying to move large amounts of data between disks in the array today using Dolphin and Crusader and gave up after a couple of hours of frustration...I then went back to using Midnight Commander via ssh, which is still going as I type this. the writing's on the wall and it says "upgrade system to new hardware", but I had hoped that I might be able to run some sort of "Crossover" style VM that lets me run a proper filemanager or maybe even some other utilities in a desktop environment...but if it is what it seems that hope may be wasted. I'll start scouring the HW topics and speccing out something that makes my sparse $$ go as far toward that goal as possible...at least I've got good drive cages and disks already. any recommendations for a price-efficient baseline system for running a full-blown Linux or Windows VM are welcome!
January 19, 20179 yr My system is still pretty much the same as it was when I configured it many years ago, save for drive and drive-cage upgrades: unRAID server Pro, version 6.2.4 Model: Motherboard: Supermicro - C2SEA Processor: Intel® Pentium® Dual CPU E2180 @ 2.00GHz HVM: Not Available IOMMU: Not Available Cache: L1-Cache = 64 kB (max. capacity 64 kB) L2-Cache = 1024 kB (max. capacity 1024 kB) Memory: 4 GB (max. installable capacity 4 GB) BANK0 = 2048 MB, Unknown BANK2 = 2048 MB, Unknown Network: eth0: 1000Mb/s, full duplex, mtu 1500 Kernel: Linux 4.4.30-unRAID x86_64 OpenSSL: 1.0.2j P + Q algorithm: prefetch64-sse (7760 MB/s) + sse2x4 (5617 MB/s) Uptime: 0 days, 0 hours, 16 minutes, 23 seconds I do understand the advantages of VT-x or AMD-V for direct hardware access, but lack the time and money atm to get into a major hardware upgrade. My question is whether it is possible to run a simple VM on my system that would give me simpler access to the local unRAID resources...I know that I can run a Norton Commander style shell for file management, but if I wanted to run other file utilities from - say - a Linux desktop with remote desktop functionality, would that be possible and are there online resources (maybe even here in the forum or wiki) for configuring such a VM? I have the same? board, and am running a Windows 7 Pro VM with 4 simultaneous RDP users. M/B: Supermicro - C2SEA CPU: Intel® Core™2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz HVM: Enabled IOMMU: Disabled Cache: 128 kB, 8192 kB Memory: 8 GB (max. installable capacity 8 GB)* Network: eth0: 1000 Mb/s, full duplex, mtu 1500 Kernel: Linux 4.4.30-unRAID x86_64 I wouldn't recommend trying it without 8GB of RAM, but your motherboard doesn't HAVE to be upgraded to run a non-passthrough VM. You could spend less than $100 on a CPU and some RAM and be good to go for a little while anyway.
January 19, 20179 yr Author now *that* is the kind of news I was hoping for, johnathanm! I had already put a better CPU in my Amazon basket and more RAM, so I know it won't cost much to get to your specs...what I didn't know is that the upgrade to a better CPU, like the one you have, would also enable HVM...that's great news! Then that is what I'll set my eyes on as the next milestone...please don't hate me if I'll be asking you some technical questions once I get the HW upgrades in place...the world of running a VM on the unRAID platform is totally new to me...once I've got Win 7 up and running, though, I'll be golden (I am a Mac guy now, but spent 15 years running my business on half a dozen Windows workstations). thanks again for pointing that out, brother!
January 19, 20179 yr Author the Supermicro - C2SEA has an LGA775 socket at 1066, right? anything else to watch out for? looking for parts right now.
January 19, 20179 yr now *that* is the kind of news I was hoping for, johnathanm! I had already put a better CPU in my Amazon basket and more RAM, so I know it won't cost much to get to your specs...what I didn't know is that the upgrade to a better CPU, like the one you have, would also enable HVM...that's great news! Then that is what I'll set my eyes on as the next milestone...please don't hate me if I'll be asking you some technical questions once I get the HW upgrades in place...the world of running a VM on the unRAID platform is totally new to me...once I've got Win 7 up and running, though, I'll be golden (I am a Mac guy now, but spent 15 years running my business on half a dozen Windows workstations). thanks again for pointing that out, brother! NP, it's not a super spiffy machine, but I'm actually commenting right now using one of the logins. I have so many configurations, I honestly forgot that I'm logged into it, so I guess the performance is livable . I previously had a dual core with vt-x, and it was a little sluggish, so I'd definitely recommend the Q6600 if you can find it. Oh, it's a must to have an SSD for the VM disk image to live on. I've got an OLD intel 80GB SSD that this VM lives on, so it doesn't have to be a fast modern SSD, just not a spinner in the array. I can't remember if I had to update the BIOS for this CPU, it wouldn't hurt to check supermicro and find out what BIOS revision is needed. If you need to update, do it now before you swap CPU's.
January 19, 20179 yr Author good set of advice...I am looking at a few Q6600's on eBay right now and just made an offer for one with a fan for €25 incl. shipping. then it's on to the RAM. and yes, SSDs have come down in price enough to where it's not a big concern for me.
January 19, 20179 yr Author before I commit to the Q6600, do you know what the maximum Q series CPU is that will fit this mobo? would an Q8 or even Q9 series CPU work as well? or is the 1066Mhz FSB the limitation?
January 19, 20179 yr From the Supermicro website for your board: http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/core2duo/g45/c2sea.cfm Processor/Cache CPU Single LGA775 Socket Supports Intel® Core™2 Extreme QX9000/QX6000 series Supports Intel® Core™2 Quad Q9000/Q8000/Q6000 series Supports Intel® Core™2 Duo E8000/E7000/E6000/E4000 series Supports Intel® Pentium® E5000/E2000 series Supports Intel® Celeron® E1000 and 400 series System Bus 1333 / 1066 / 800 MHz system bus
January 19, 20179 yr Personally unless you can get an upgraded CPU cheap, I wouldn't invest any money in this. The overall increases in upgrading to a newer board, CPU and RAM will be massive. Unless budget is an issue, I would save until you can afford a newer board, CPU and RAM.
January 19, 20179 yr Author points well taken, ashman70...I will sit down and give it more thought over the weekend...my unRAID system has served me incredibly well for almost 10 years now and surely deserves a proper HW upgrade...it only boils down to the cost, and even more importantly, the time to take it all apart and re-assemble it...you probably know how much time a complete system build takes...and therein, even more than the money, lies the problem...but the increase in power and time saved on file-operations does pay off quickly, of course. time to hit the sack here in Germany and revisit the topic after some sleep. good night all!
January 20, 20179 yr Personally unless you can get an upgraded CPU cheap, I wouldn't invest any money in this. The overall increases in upgrading to a newer board, CPU and RAM will are massive. Unless budget is an issue, I would save for until you can afford a newer board, CPU and RAM. I'd tend to agree, and I went down this path. The Q9550 was a nice boost in CPU power and extended the life of my server a bit - but as you crack things open you start spending money. Especially if you want to get into VMs, that money is better spent elsewhere than 10 year old hardware.
January 20, 20179 yr Author I don't take your advice lightly, guys, and know that you're right...I'll start saving up to do this the right way and build a system that I can get another 5-10 years out of. I appreciate the guidance!
January 20, 20179 yr Here's a list of LGA775 CPU's and their respective passmark scores: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/socketType.html#id5 Might find that useful. Food for thought, my i5-4460 scores 6633 passmarks and currently can be had for $249 CAD.
January 20, 20179 yr Here's a list of LGA775 CPU's and their respective passmark scores: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/socketType.html#id5 All my years of using that site, and I never knew you could sort by socket! Thanks for the tip!
January 20, 20179 yr Here's a list of LGA775 CPU's and their respective passmark scores: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/socketType.html#id5 All my years of using that site, and I never knew you could sort by socket! Thanks for the tip! Just found it myself today too! LOL
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