UNRAID for MacOs


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Built a new computer with the following  parts:

  • Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master motherboard
  • AMD Ryzen 3900 CPU
  • 32GB 3600Hz memory
  • AMD Radeon 5500 GPU
  • Sabrent Rocket Gen 4 2TB SSD (for both, OS, apps, caches...etc.)
  • two Sabrent Rocket Gen 3 2TB SSD (to create a 4TB RAID 0 for documents, pictures..etc)
  • one HGST 8TB HDD (for use in backing up the computer)
  • Dell UP3216Q monitor

 

My intent is to move from my 2017 iMac to the new computer and continue to run MacOS.  I want the performance as close as possible to bare metal.   It seems as if I have several options:

  • OpenCore to patch and hid all the hardware details from Macos.    I heard that even the smallest dot release from Apple can train wreck such implementations
  • Type 1 hypervisor based on Linux with QUEM/KVN and assorted support.   It is my understanding that UNRAID is a commercial package of that.
  • Type 1 hypervisor based on Windows (no way), or VMware or Virtual box or other.

 

Questions:

  • Is my understanding of UNRAID correct for my needs of a type 1 hypervisor?
  • If I setup a VM for MacOs,  I could pass through all hardware (GPU, SSDs, HHD, ...etc.) each the USB controller that handles the UNRAID USB stick.   Any reason I would want to leave any hardware out of the VM other than the UNRAID stick?
  • Can I assign all 12 cores and all 32GB to the VM or do I have to leave cores and memory for the Server?   Are there any guidelines on this?
  • If I understand correctly, the server can be headless using VNC all be accessed as needed by another device on the same network such as my iPad Pro.
  • Does the VM tell Macos what Mac model and type of CPU is being used?    The reason I as is that I would like MacOS to think the VM is a new Mac Pro.
  • Would MacOS inside the VM be able to use the two Sabrent Gen 3 SSDs to create a RAID 0?
  • Would MacOS inside the VM be able to use the HGST HHD to do Time Machine backups of the entire VM (VM not the entire server)?

 

Any and all feedback and suggestions are GREATLY appreciated!!!!

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18 hours ago, MCA said:

Questions:

  • Is my understanding of UNRAID correct for my needs of a type 1 hypervisor?
  • If I setup a VM for MacOs,  I could pass through all hardware (GPU, SSDs, HHD, ...etc.) each the USB controller that handles the UNRAID USB stick.   Any reason I would want to leave any hardware out of the VM other than the UNRAID stick?
  • Can I assign all 12 cores and all 32GB to the VM or do I have to leave cores and memory for the Server?   Are there any guidelines on this?
  • If I understand correctly, the server can be headless using VNC all be accessed as needed by another device on the same network such as my iPad Pro.
  • Does the VM tell Macos what Mac model and type of CPU is being used?    The reason I as is that I would like MacOS to think the VM is a new Mac Pro.
  • Would MacOS inside the VM be able to use the two Sabrent Gen 3 SSDs to create a RAID 0?
  • Would MacOS inside the VM be able to use the HGST HHD to do Time Machine backups of the entire VM (VM not the entire server)?

 

Any and all feedback and suggestions are GREATLY appreciated!!!!

1. not intenionally, but at the end - yes

2. at least one HDD and the USB stick has to be with unraid directly - all other components can be passed through to the VM. At the end I would not passthrough your drives but rather have a big virtual VM disk and several shares the VM can access. Makes it way less complicated to set up and including a parity drive you have kind of backups.

3. Basically you can but it is recommended to have the core 0 and 4GB of RAM remained for unraid. But also for passing through all cores, I never experienced any issues.

4. The server / unraid itself can be accessed by any browser. Your VM can be remotely accessed by using VNC - which does not make fun at all or by any other virtualization e.g. splashtop, teamviewer, anylink, parsec, etc. But to make the best use of your VM, add a monitor / TV and peripherals to your server directly and enjoy the zero lag performance. 

5. you can make mac os think the vm is any mac. It's just a setting in clover configuration.

6. should be done by unraid itself but yes, a "raid 0"-like big share considering both SSDs is possible

7. in unraid a share has to be created and assigned to your drive. by share creation you can select that this is a timemaschine share. Then of course you can use this share as a regular drive for TimeMachine Backups. That's the way I also do it for my new macOS VM on unraid as well as my MBP. Additionally you can set up a periodical backup of your VM itself in unraid (the full image file including config files) - of course depending on the VM disk size and the free space on your unraid drives ;-)

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  • 2 weeks later...

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