Planning - Can you display VM output without using GPU passthrough?

[XAPBob]

I have an HP micro server that I am looking at virtualising for a number of reasons.

 

It would need to run at least one windows VM (Running RadioDJ, so no need for dedicated GPU) and at least one linux VM (depends how I split up the other associated work - network access, security, streaming, recording).
The Windows VM would need access to a physical display, as well as USB peripherals (pass through is likely here for multiple USB sound cards)
Additionally we need to display a clock on a second display, this could either be unRaid doing it itself, or one of the linux VMs accessing another display on the host.

 

 - Can unRaid handle VM displays like this, or does it only do GPU Passthrough (thus requiring me to have multiple GPUs)

 - Can unRaid put an analog clock to it's screen (then only the Windows box would need a GPU, which might be plausible)

 

Cheers,

[testdasi]

Answers to your 2 question.

Q1: Sort of. The Unraid (boot) GUI can be used to access the Linux VM VNC display and show it. The "sort of" part is the display resolution is terrible so really nobody wants to do that.

Q2: Nope.

 

Displaying an analogue clock is one of the most idiosyncratic use cases I have ever seen on this forum. 😅

 

 

Edited February 26, 2020 by testdasi

[trurl]

Your VMs can use VNC as a virtual display from the Unraid boot GUI or from another computer on the LAN.

[XAPBob]

1 hour ago, testdasi said:

Answers to your 2 question.

Q1: Sort of. The Unraid (boot) GUI can be used to access the Linux VM VNC display and show it. The "sort of" part is the display resolution is terrible so really nobody wants to do that.

Q2: Nope.

 

Displaying an analogue clock is one of the most idiosyncratic use cases I have ever seen on this forum. 😅

 

 

 

Display resolution not *that* important when all you are showing is xclock fullscreen (I'm assuming 640*480?)
Would need to ensure that there is basically no display lag (I wouldn't have thought there would be)

The clock specifically is a very niche use case, I absolutely agree - I'd not have thought that the slightly more general being able to push VM displays to physical displays without passing through whole GPUs was completely unheard of.