I'm considering moving off of ESXi for home to XCP-NG.

I understand Proxmox seems to be the clear popular alternative, but it also appears to require more baby sitting. Is this true?

I want an alternative I don't need to mess around with. Something that just runs without constantly repairing or fixing.

What are some others using?

... The person who snores the loudest will fall asleep first

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Clutch BBS * telnet://bbs.clutchbbs.com (46:1/108)

niter3 wrote to All <=-

I'm considering moving off of ESXi for home to XCP-NG.

I understand Proxmox seems to be the clear popular alternative, but it also appears to require more baby sitting. Is this true?

You may want to check out, if you haven't already, the Homelab show
podcast or check out their video channel on YouTube - they do a lot of comparison between the two.

I want an alternative I don't need to mess around with. Something that just runs without constantly repairing or fixing.

I've been using Proxmox for about a year and a half, and I can't think
of any real babysitting needed. I've upgraded from Proxmox VE v6 to v7, done
a couple of minor upgrades. The process is typically me thinking I
haven't updated in a while, opening a shell and running "apt-get
update;apt-get upgrade". There were some additional steps to go from v6
to v7.

I'm running the BBS, a couple of old desktops, a Linux desktop and an AD environment (Windows Server 2019 and Windows 10) on it, and it's been
pretty good to me.

At a bare minumum, Proxmox is really just qemu, kvm and Debian with a
web GUI. You can add ZFS and clustering to make it more featureful, but
in a home lab environment it feels less fiddly than ESXi. I certainly
don't need to worry about hardware support, like I do with ESXi. I've
had hosts that were running in production fall off the compatibility
list for no reason. Those hosts ran Proxmox just fine. :)

I'd be curious to hear about your experiences with xcp-ng, I'd love to
find out more.



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Hello niter3,

16 Apr 23 06:58, you wrote to All:

I'm considering moving off of ESXi for home to XCP-NG.

I understand Proxmox seems to be the clear popular alternative, but it
also appears to require more baby sitting. Is this true?

I want an alternative I don't need to mess around with. Something that
just runs without constantly repairing or fixing.

What are some others using?

i am using Proxmox (10%) and Xen virtualisation (90%). i've tried proxmox two years ago and its very impressive (xen i've started in ~2007). but i like Xen's cli and i think i've mastered it better during the years.

Regards,
--
dp

telnet://bbs.roonsbbs.hu:1212 <<=-

... Uptime: 9d 12h 57m 7s
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On 16 Apr 23 06:58:09, Niter3 said the following to All:

I'm considering moving off of ESXi for home to XCP-NG.

I've ran Exsi here for years now... mind if I ask why move away from something that "just works" ?

Atreyu

--- Renegade vY2Ka2
* Origin: Joey, do you like movies about gladiators? (46:1/109)

I'd be curious to hear about your experiences with xcp-ng, I'd love to find out more.

I managed to get it up and running. Very easy to migrate your VMs over.

Just working through USB pass through at the moment.

... Shortcut: longest distance between two points

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
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On 16 Apr 2023, Atreyu said the following...

On 16 Apr 23 06:58:09, Niter3 said the following to All:

I'm considering moving off of ESXi for home to XCP-NG.

I've ran Exsi here for years now... mind if I ask why move away from something that "just works" ?

Broadcom purchase and their plans to push subacriptikn amd eventually to get rid of perpetual licensing.

... User Error: Replace user and hit any key to continue...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Clutch BBS * telnet://bbs.clutchbbs.com (46:1/108)

niter3 wrote to Atreyu <=-

Broadcom purchase and their plans to push subacriptikn amd eventually
to get rid of perpetual licensing.

They definitely made it clear that small and medium businesses are not
part of their planning -- the Broadcom CEO stated that they get 80% of
their revenues from a handful of large enterprise clients.

That's a shame, because some of their vCenter essentials tools are a
nice fit for SMB - 6 CPU, 3 physical servers and up to 100 VMs is a good
size for most small businesses.



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They definitely made it clear that small and medium businesses are not part of their planning -- the Broadcom CEO stated that they get 80% of their revenues from a handful of large enterprise clients.

That's a shame, because some of their vCenter essentials tools are a
nice fit for SMB - 6 CPU, 3 physical servers and up to 100 VMs is a good size for most small businesses.

I just migrated over to Proxmox. Keeping my ESXi backups in case there needed.

... It said "insert disk #3", but only two will fit...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
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niter3 wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

I just migrated over to Proxmox. Keeping my ESXi backups in case there needed.

Welcome to the club! WHen you start playing with containers, Proxmox
gets pretty fun in a homelab. I had a Ubuntu server running Docker but
moved to separate containers for some of my apps.

Check out https://tteck.github.io/Proxmox/ for some great scripts to
enhance proxmox, and check out TechnoTim on Youtube - he's got a whole
Proxmox series.




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Welcome to the club! WHen you start playing with containers, Proxmox
gets pretty fun in a homelab. I had a Ubuntu server running Docker but moved to separate containers for some of my apps.

Check out https://tteck.github.io/Proxmox/ for some great scripts to enhance proxmox, and check out TechnoTim on Youtube - he's got a whole Proxmox series.

Thanks, will do!

I'm actually considering swapping out my server for a mini pc. There is mini pc's that now have more cores and threads then my current setup. It would be nice to reduce my foot print and wattage....

... I don't have the time for a hobby. I have a computer.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
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niter3 wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

I'm actually considering swapping out my server for a mini pc. There is mini pc's that now have more cores and threads then my current setup.
It would be nice to reduce my foot print and wattage....

servethehome.com has a nice blog and a youtube channel; the author's
been focused on what he called tinyminimicro servers - those commodity 1
liter sized ultra-small form factor PCs. They make great home servers.
Some them max out at 16gb of RAM, which is a little low for
virtualization, but they cluster nicely.






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On 16 Apr 2023, Atreyu said the following...

I've ran Exsi here for years now... mind if I ask why move away from something that "just works" ?

Same. I first installed it when 6.5.0 (2017 or earlier maybe?) dropped and haven't had to mess with it since. Maybe if I ran some actual servers that generated income in vast amounts, I'd consider possibly upgrading or looking at what's newer out there, but for BBSing in general as long as it works and I don't have to babysit it, I'm happy with it. ;)

Regards,
Nick

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/02/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (46:1/701)

On 17 Apr 2023, poindexter FORTRAN said the following...

They definitely made it clear that small and medium businesses are not part of their planning -- the Broadcom CEO stated that they get 80% of their revenues from a handful of large enterprise clients.

I can definitely make it clear that paying them any monetary value is and always has been completely out of the question. ;)

That said, 6.5.0 (free version) seems like it'll last longer than the machine I run it on, so I'll stick with it!

Regards,
Nick

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/02/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (46:1/701)

On 20 Apr 23 17:35:43, Accession said the following to Atreyu:

I've ran Exsi here for years now... mind if I ask why move away from something that "just works" ?

Same. I first installed it when 6.5.0 (2017 or earlier maybe?) dropped and haven't had to mess with it since. Maybe if I ran some actual servers that generated income in vast amounts, I'd consider possibly upgrading or looking at what's newer out there, but for BBSing in general as long as it works and

Not messing with things is why my board has remained on-line without problems for...... decades.

Btw email me, nandre@net229.org, have a new Fighto node for you.

Atreyu

--- Renegade vY2Ka2
* Origin: Joey, do you like movies about gladiators? (46:1/109)

servethehome.com has a nice blog and a youtube channel; the author's
been focused on what he called tinyminimicro servers - those commodity 1 liter sized ultra-small form factor PCs. They make great home servers. Some them max out at 16gb of RAM, which is a little low for virtualization, but they cluster nicely.

Nice, I will check it out.

... Oxymoron: Race walking

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
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Atreyu wrote to Accession <=-

Not messing with things is why my board has remained on-line without problems for...... decades.

I suppose I've been fortunate - I started realitycheckBBS in 1991, and
made a couple of changes, from Telegard to Maximus to Synchronet, then
DOS to OS/2 and Windows, and from bare metal desktops to laptops and now virtualization. at no point have I lost *everything* and needed to start
over (knocks wood vigorously).



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On 21 Apr 23 07:50:00, Poindexter Fortran said the following to Atreyu:

Not messing with things is why my board has remained on-line without problems for...... decades.

I suppose I've been fortunate - I started realitycheckBBS in 1991, and
made a couple of changes, from Telegard to Maximus to Synchronet, then
DOS to OS/2 and Windows, and from bare metal desktops to laptops and now virtualization. at no point have I lost *everything* and needed to start

But you are not changing your BBS software like underwear or putting up multiple boards for the sake of running multiple boards.

Atreyu

--- Renegade vY2Ka2
* Origin: Joey, do you like movies about gladiators? (46:1/109)

Atreyu wrote to Poindexter Fortran <=-

Not messing with things is why my board has remained on-line without problems for...... decades.

I suppose I've been fortunate - I started realitycheckBBS in 1991, and made a couple of changes, from Telegard to Maximus to Synchronet, then
DOS to OS/2 and Windows, and from bare metal desktops to laptops and now virtualization. at no point have I lost *everything* and needed to start

But you are not changing your BBS software like underwear or putting up multiple boards for the sake of running multiple boards.

I've done some of that but it has not really been for the sake of running multiple boards. I brought this one up because Synchronet was still under development and is linux-native, but I left my original DOS BBS online
because there were not many like it left (it may be the only GT Power board now) and it runs DOS doors easier.

I added a third board later because I wanted to support a new BBS project.
That one has outlived the project. :)


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On 22 Apr 23 07:25:00, Dumas Walker said the following to Atreyu:

I've done some of that but it has not really been for the sake of running multiple boards. I brought this one up because Synchronet was still under development and is linux-native, but I left my original DOS BBS online because there were not many like it left (it may be the only GT Power board now) and it runs DOS doors easier.

Ahh, GT Power... I haven't called one of those in pfffffffffffffft how many years? Good on you for running one.

I'd LOVE to call a Robo/fx board or TBBS system again.

I added a third board later because I wanted to support a new BBS project. That one has outlived the project. :)

Ha! Which one was this?

Atreyu

--- Renegade vY2Ka2
* Origin: Joey, do you like movies about gladiators? (46:1/109)

Atreyu wrote to Dumas Walker <=-

I added a third board later because I wanted to support a new BBS project. That one has outlived the project. :)

Ha! Which one was this?

Possum Lodge South still runs Magicka. ;) I was thinking of upgrading it
to apam's latest, Tallisman, or maybe trying something different with it,
but I have not had time to change it as yet. It is a nice package that
runs on a raspberry pi.




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I'm considering moving off of ESXi for home to XCP-NG.

I understand Proxmox seems to be the clear popular alternative, but it also appears to require more baby sitting. Is this true?

I prefer Proxmox in every way. Well... I suppose I shouldn't make that super blankey statement - as a lot of things are the same. I don't do a lof of babysitting AT ALL, w/ PVE.

In fact, PVE [Proxmox] runs all my production VMs without fail and its counterpart, PBS [Proxmox Backup Server] handles all the off-site backups. Set it up and forget it...

With the ability to add nodes to a PVE cluster, Proxmox begins to show why its the choice for corporations, schools and productions that use it to run all their machines - I think you'd like Proxmox if you give it a whirl. I rely on it.


|07p|15AULIE|1542|07o
|08.........
|07/s

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 2022/07/15 (Windows/32)
* Origin: ..wizardsrainbow.com..323.436.5249..los angeles.. (46:1/155)

I prefer Proxmox in every way. Well... I suppose I shouldn't make that super blankey statement - as a lot of things are the same. I don't do a lof of babysitting AT ALL, w/ PVE.

I ended up installing and been using with no problems at all.

I'm liking it so far.

... Old computers make great boat anchors

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Clutch BBS * telnet://clutchbbs.com (46:1/108)

paulie420 wrote to niter3 <=-

I'm considering moving off of ESXi for home to XCP-NG.

I understand Proxmox seems to be the clear popular alternative, but it also appears to require more baby sitting. Is this true?

I prefer Proxmox in every way. Well... I suppose I shouldn't make that super blankey statement - as a lot of things are the same. I don't do a lof of babysitting AT ALL, w/ PVE.

Ditto here. I support ESXi and Nutanix CE at work, but wanted to run on marginal hardware that neither supported. If it supports Debian and Virtualization, it'll support Proxmox.

I'm running a Docker host, the BBS, a PiHole LXC container, and a test
AD environment with a Windows 10 client and Windows 2019 server and
haven't had to baby-site the underlying hypervisor at all. Once in a
while I run the updater from the GUI and that's it.

In fact, PVE [Proxmox] runs all my production VMs without fail and its counterpart, PBS [Proxmox Backup Server] handles all the off-site
backups. Set it up and forget it...

With the ability to add nodes to a PVE cluster, Proxmox begins to show
why its the choice for corporations, schools and productions that use
it to run all their machines - I think you'd like Proxmox if you give
it a whirl. I rely on it.

a 3-node Proxmox cluster with ZFS and CEPH would be an attractive
corporate solution. Support is available at a cost, as well.

I have one Optiplex 3050 with a 1tb NVMe drive, I'm tempted to get 2
more and do just the same.




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