[kwlug-disc] Docker Host Appliance

[Chris Irwin]

On Sun, Jan 15, 2023 at 03:57:39PM -0500, Andrew Sullivan Cant wrote:
>(FYI I am going to say some, but not from my own experience, so I am 
>happy to be corrected. :) )
>
>Is this was Proxmox is for?
>  https://www.proxmox.com/en/
>
> [...]
>
>Or would that be doing the same thing that XCP-NG is doing?

They both fill the same role, in that they're a hypervisor that runs 
Virtual Machines. Proxmox also supports LXC containers, which is 
different than docker containers I'm curious about.

A quick google search for "proxmox docker" indicates that it also does 
not natively support running docker containers, and the instructions 
are, again, creating a self-managed VM (or LXC container), in which case 
you're on your own for security updates, patching, etc.

https://bobcares.com/blog/proxmox-docker-portainer/

(FWIW, I know "docker containers" isn't totally accurate, but it tends 
to get better google results than just "containers", and avoid confusion 
with LXC, etc)

>Can I ask what hardware you installed TrueNAS Scale on?

* Ryzen 5600G on an A320 motherboard.
* 16GB RAM.
* LSI 9200-8i (in IT mode) + 2x SAS-to-SATA cables
* 2x old 64GB SSDs for TrueNAS itself
* A handfull of hard drives for storage
* Rosewill RSV-L4500U case

My previous storage machine was on used server hardware. The server 
chassis + hardware was integrated, making upgrades impossible. It was 
also very, very loud.

The 5600G has onboard graphics, meaning one fewer cards to slot 
in/power. It *should* support ECC ram, but I'm using spare RAM I had 
onhand still.

The RSV-L4500U case gives 15 non-hotswap 3.5" bays (3x 5-bay caddys).  
There's enough larger fans that the machine is pretty quiet. I replaced 
two of the 5-drive non-hotswap units with Mediasonic HT31-304 hotswap 
bays I found for a good price. Slightly lower density (4 drives vs 5), 
but I don't need to disassemble the server if I need to get to a drive.

It has a foam on the intake to stop dog hair from getting in the fans.  
This is a serious "pro" in my home :)

For the LSI 9200-8i card, it should be in IT mode (not RAID). You can 
reflash a RAID one to IT, but if you're buying one off ebay like I was, 
it's easier just to buy one in the right mode to start and not have to 
deal with firmware/flashing tools.

2x SAS-to-SATA cables give me 8 SATA ports through this card.  I only 
have 6 storage drives on it currently (2x OS drives are on the 
motherboard SATA)

Only hard part was trying to find a decent power supply that had a ton 
of SATA power connectors, but also wasn't super expensive.

>My home storage is on a little DNS-323, with 2 hard drives, which works 
>pretty well but I feel like one day it is going to die and not come 
>back. I some point I need to start planning for a replacement.

Many, many years ago I had a Synology 207+. I liked that it was an 
appliance, but didn't like that it went EOL when it was still useable.

While I don't really want to deal with the OS itself (upgrading samba, 
security audits, etc.), I also want some measure of upgradeability.  

That's why I finally settled on TruNAS Scale + commodity hardware.

>TrueNAS or OpenMediaVault, look like interesting possible FLOSS NAS 
>management software. I don't know how OMV would handle VM/container 
>images.

I haven't looked at OMV. I did previously try out RockStor, and mostly 
liked it.

TrueNAS's best feature is the reliable web interface, which was why I 
finally settled on it. In retrospect, I wish I had done a bit more 
research before settling. ZFS, while generally positive, has some 
drawbacks I wouldn't have assumed existed.

-- 
Chris Irwin

email:   chris at chrisirwin.ca
  xmpp:   chris at chrisirwin.ca
   web: https://chrisirwin.ca