Modular and Energy-Efficient Server Setup for Virtualization
In this blog post, I will share my server setup designed to be modular and energy-efficient, with a focus on virtualization and storage. The chosen components aim for higher core counts to support virtualization and drives with high endurance ratings (TBW) at an attractive price point.
Main Components
Proxmox Virtual Environment
Proxmox Virtual Environment is a comprehensive open-source platform for managing virtualization, providing a powerful and flexible solution for running and managing virtual machines and containers.
ASUS PN50 4800u Mini PC
The ASUS PN50 4800u is a compact and versatile mini PC that offers excellent performance for its size, making it a great choice for a virtualization server.
Akasa A50
The Akasa A50 is a fanless thermal case designed for the ASUS PN50. By removing the fan it lowered temperature, reduced noise, and created a more energy-efficient setup.
Storage
For storage, I have chose the following based on their price point and high endurance rating:
Memory
Unfortunately, RAM is limited at 64GB so I selected:
Backup Server
For our backup server, we are using the same components as our main server:
Proxmox Backup Server
- ASUS PN50 4800u Mini PC
- 2 TB M.2 TEAMGROUP T-Create Classic PCIe 4x4 SSD
- 2 TB SATA SSD TEAMGROUP EX2
- 64 GB TEAMGROUP T-Create Classic SO-DIMM
Additional Proxmox Virtual Environment Server
To further enhance our virtualization capabilities, we have added an additional Proxmox Virtual Environment server using the following components:
Intel NUC 12 Extreme NUC12DCMi9
The Intel NUC 12 Extreme NUC12DCMi9 is a powerful and compact mini PC that provides excellent performance for virtualization tasks.
Intel A770 Graphics
The Intel Arc A770 Graphics 16GB will allow me to experiment with GPU processing for AI/ML models by passing through the GPU to the virtual machine.